Tug strike over but businesses still suffer

By Dan Nakaso
Advertiser Staff Writer

Young Brother employees loaded containers onto barges yesterday as operations at Young Brothers, Ltd. and Hawaiian Tug & Barge resumed after a three-day strike by the Inlandboatmen's Union of the Pacific. Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser

Returning union workers set sail yesterday with a barge headed for Kawaiahae on the Big Island, which also will get an extra barge shipment tomorrow to help fill the backlog of overdue goods.

The trips are part of four additional sailings Young Brothers, Ltd. and Hawaiian Tug & Barge have scheduled since union members on Sunday ratified a new 4-year contract. The contract with the Inlandboatmen's Union of the Pacific covers 60 cooks, seamen, deckhands, first and second mates, engineers, dispatchers and operators.

"The harbor's back in business and our tug crews are back at work," said Lisa Sakamoto, vice president of finance and government affairs for the two sister companies. "But every major port got hit with a canceled sailing and we're trying to catch up."

Larry Jefts, whose family business owns several farms on O'ahu and Moloka'i, hopes to see deliveries return to normal by the middle or end of this week.

Jefts hasn't had the time or heart to calculate how much the strike has cost him.

Shuttered Young Brothers and Hawaiian Tug & Barge operations left Jefts' watermelons, bell peppers and tomatoes — which had been destined for use in July Fourth celebrations on the Neighbor Islands — stranded on Honolulu's docks.

The loss of barge service also meant that Jefts had to fly in cucumbers from Moloka'i, but he couldn't move them on to Kaua'i and the Big Island.

The worst loss came from wholesale distributors who quickly flew in produce from the Mainland and placed future Mainland orders to be delivered on Matson Navigation Co. ships, Jefts said.

"They hedged their bets and ordered products they would have normally bought locally," Jefts said. "Those are future sales that we lost. Most people don't realize that. Those are items we have in ample supply that we'll just have to plow back into the ground."

Mark Teruya, president of Hawai'i's largest produce distributor, Armstrong Produce Ltd., is still considering flying in bananas from the Big Island, just as he's had to fly in papayas on Friday — at a cost that's five-and-a-half to six times more than barge shipments.

"Even though everything is back to normal, we've just got to wait and see how they're going to clean up the backlog in freight on the Neighbor Islands," Teruya said.

"It's very frustrating for us," he said. "A lot of the products are still stuck in the box waiting on the docks."

Sakamoto said Young Brothers and Hawaiian Tug & Barge employees — both union and management — hear the worries of Hawai'i farmers and distributors.

"We're trying to catch up," she said. "Our job right now is to get them the cargo they need."

Reach Dan Nakaso at dnakaso@honoluluadvertiser.com or at 525-8085.

SAILING UPDATE

Today

Barges depart Honolulu

• Arriving tomorrow in Kahului, Maui (all cargo).
• Arriving tomorrow at Kawaihae, Hawai'i (straight load containers only).
• Arriving tomorrow at Nawililwili, Kaua'i (all cargo).

Tomorrow

Normal sailing schedule resumes.

Barges depart Honolulu

• Arriving Thursday at Kamalapau, Lana'i.
• Arriving Thursday at Kaunakakai, Moloka'i.
• Arriving Friday at Hilo, Hawai'i.

Thursday

Barges depart Honolulu

• To Kawaihae, Hawai'i, with arrival Friday.
• To Kahului, Maui, with arrival Friday.
• To Nawiliwili, Kaua'i, with arrival Friday.

Customer Hours

Ports of Honolulu

• Today-Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
• Saturday, 8 a.m. to noon. Pick up only (no deliveries).

Kahului, Hilo, Kawaihae and Nawiliwili

• Today-Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Port of Kaunakakai

• Today, 1 p.m.-4:30 p.m.
• Tomorrow, closed
• Thursday, 7:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. (closed 10:45 a.m.-noon)
• Friday, 7:30-11:30 a.m.

Port of Kamalapau

• Today, closed
• Wednesday and Friday, 7:30-11:30 a.m.
• Thursday, 7:30 a.m.-4 p.m.