The barges will arrive at the islands tomorrow and Wednesday. Business will be back to normal by Wednesday, when barges leave for Lana'i, Moloka'i and Hilo on the Big Island, Hong said.

The sailings resume after members of the Inlandboatmen's Union of the Pacific approved a new agreement yesterday. The agreement ended the strike started Thursday against Young Brothers and sister company Hawaiian Tug & Barge.

The strike cut off some shipments to the Neighbor Islands. Work at Honolulu Harbor resumed immediately after ratification of the agreement yesterday morning.

The barge leaving today for Kawaihae was supposed to sail Thursday. It will carry pipes, construction materials, lumber, canned goods, rice, drinks, chips and other cargo.

"We understand that there has been a lot of inconvenience," Hong said. "We feel good about the resolution" to the strike and " ... we're very sorry that it had to happen at all."

The union, which said contract negotiations centered on accumulated time off, has about 60 members at Young Brothers and represents mostly workers aboard tugboats, barges, tour boats and passenger ferries. The union's contract expired June 30 at midnight. The new contract lasts four years.

Fifty members voted, with 49 voting in favor of ratifying the agreement and one voting against, said Jonathan Lono Kane, regional director for the union.

"Overall, I think we got what we needed to go back to work for the company and do the best job we can," Kane said. "To the farmers from the outer islands trying to bring in their produce, we empathize with them. We know that for three days there's no barge traffic and they had to go to Hawaiian and Aloha airlines to bring their products in. We're sorry this has caused them inconvenience, but we had to do what we had to do."

Young Brothers provides interisland freight operations to the ports of Nawiliwili on Kaua'i, Kahului on Maui, Kaunakakai on Moloka'i, Kaumalapau on Lana'i, Hilo and Kawaihae on the Big Island and Honolulu on O'ahu. Its sister company, Hawaiian Tug & Barge, conducts harbor operations and charter activities.

With their old contract, union tugboat workers got four hours of accumulated time off for each day they went to sea, taking the place of paid vacation. The union wanted to increase that to eight hours. Kane said the agreement is for six hours of time off for every day out at sea.

"This is because they don't have any vacation, no weekends, and they don't get to go home at night and be with their families," Kane said. He said the approximately 43 union members who work at sea did not get a pay raise in the contract.

Dispatchers and harbor workers will get a 50-cent hourly wage increase each year for four years, he said.

"It turned out not bad," said Phyllis Griep, head tugboat dispatcher for Hawaiian Tug & Barge. "I'm happy."

The agreement also maintains the count of six crew members to a vessel, Kane said.

He also said the agreement includes a 32 percent increase in the monthly premium the company pays for the health plan over the life of the contract. If medical costs increase more than that, workers will make up the difference, he said.

Workers will also get increased pension benefits, Kane said.

"There was only one major issue — that was the time-off provision," Kane said. "The bulk of the people said they wouldn't take a pay raise for four years. They don't want a pay increase, but they want more time off."