Concrete strike alters couple's wedding plans
By Dan Nakaso
Advertiser Staff Writer
The 30-day-old concrete strike has taken the shine off the wedding plans of Lawrence Sanchez and Jessica Luning and altered the course of their immediate financial future.
After he was laid off three weeks ago as a construction foreman, Sanchez bought a much smaller engagement ring for Luning and canceled their plans for an April 3 Las Vegas wedding. They'll also have to put a smaller down payment on their new home in 'Ewa Beach, which will result in a higher monthly interest rate.
The changes in Sanchez's life began when he joined the ranks of construction workers who have been laid off as the monthlong concrete strike shut down job sites across O'ahu.
Sanchez and Luning got refunds on their tickets to Las Vegas, moved their wedding date back to May 1 and made new plans for a less expensive, home-cooked reception on O'ahu.
These days, instead of working on a construction site, Sanchez is hunting wild pigs and fishing so he and Luning can prepare enough food for their wedding in 'Ewa Beach, which will feature smoked meat and fish.
"Now that I'm off work, everything changed," Sanchez said.
Luning laughed as she said that the rest of their families — sisters, grandparents, aunts and uncles — still plan to fly to Las Vegas in April without them, to celebrate her younger sister's 21st birthday.
But her voice grew quiet as she described how the concrete strike has changed the budget and plans for their wedding.
Sanchez, for instance, ordered a .75 carat ring that cost $3,700 less than the 1.5 carat ring he originally wanted to buy before the Hawaii Teamsters and Allied Workers Local 996 went on strike against Hawai'i's two biggest concrete companies, Ameron Hawaii and Hawaiian Cement.
The sales clerk said Sanchez can upgrade to a more expensive ring set later. But having to settle for the smaller one gnaws at him.
"I was hoping to get her something a little extravagant," he said. "She's worth the rock."
Luning said softly, "That's OK. That stuff doesn't really matter."
It's especially unimportant, Luning said, compared to the hardships experienced by other workers who were laid off much sooner than Sanchez.
"Lawrence was fortunate to have a couple more weeks (of employment) than the other guys," she said.
Sanchez was just one of the entire crew of 27 masons, laborers and carpenters laid off by Z Contractor, one of the subcontractors working on a 230-unit, Castle & Cooke Hawai'i housing project in Waipahu.
Fred Perlin, Z Contractor's director of concrete operations, gets angry when he thinks about the hardships he and his employees must endure at a time when Hawai'i's construction industry was supposed to be booming.
And he gets equally mad when he adds up all of the unexpected costs from the strike.
Frames and footings that were supposed to be filled with concrete instead were ruined by recent rainstorms, Perlin said, and had to be repaired or replaced at a cost of at least $10,000.
"Everything got filled up with mud and had to be cleaned out," Perlin said. "The stakes that hold the forms in place come loose because the earth around them becomes wet. I had to pull all of the nails out and pound them in deeper so the foundation doesn't move whenever I finally do pour the concrete."
Other wood frames also will have to be resprayed with termite treatment because they were soaked in water.
"Every day we have bills coming in, but we don't have any income coming in," Perlin said.
Both sides in the stalled contract negotiations "need to be talking but they're not," Perlin said. "My big point is that if they're not talking, we're not getting any closer to getting back to work. So everybody's feeling the brunt of their stubbornness."
Talks are to resume next week, possibly Thursday, between the Teamsters and Ameron Hawaii officials. The Teamsters and Hawaiian Cement are scheduled to meet at 2 p.m. Tuesday.
Preliminary data indicates the strike has curtailed projects worth $341 million and idled nearly 100 construction workers and an unknown number of other employees.
James Orlando, a 32-year-old mason for Z Contractor, turned to construction four years ago because he likes working outdoors and making a living with his hands. He was laid off last month on Friday the 13th. The lack of work is almost as frustrating as worrying about how he's going to pay his bills. His $1,100 monthly rent is due, "and I don't even have it," Orlando said. "I really can't afford to be out of work right now."
But Orlando lives alone and feels lucky that he doesn't have too many financial demands.
Sanchez figures he can hold on without his construction salary for one more month.
Sanchez's paycheck covered the bulk of the expenses for himself, Luning and the eight children they have between them — four of whom still live in their three-bedroom rental home in 'Ewa Beach.
Their Las Vegas wedding was supposed to be the start of good things. Instead they find themselves cutting back.
No more pizza nights for the kids. Trips to the movies have been replaced with evenings watching rented videos.
But like Sanchez and Luning, their children are trying to adapt.
Reach Dan Nakaso at dnakaso@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8085.
