Teamsters president Mel Kahele said union leaders voted unanimously to reject Ameron’s final offer and not take it to the rank and file for a vote. Ameron’s last offer include a plan to raise employees’ share of medical costs from 20 percent to 30, which the union has objected to since the start of the 42-day strike.

Ameron, the Islands’ largest concrete producer, had hoped the union leaders would agree to take this final offer to members. "The company believes that its call for a general vote will help move negotiations along more quickly," the company said in a statement.

The tentative agreement with Hawaiian Cement requires employees to pay 20 percent of their medical costs, which had been the key sticking point in the negotiations. West said he believes the tentative agreement supports Ameron’s own proposal to raise employees’ share of medical costs from 20 percent to 30.

"I think their achieving their co-pay underscores the importance of that issue and lends credence to our request," West said. "We’ve always said that Ameron has a great sense of urgency to get these issues resolved. I hope the Hawaiian Cement agreement increases the unions’ sensitivity to reach resolution with us."

Striking Teamsters from Hawaiian Cement will vote on the new contract proposal tomorrow afternoon. If they ratify the agreement, the 68 members of Hawai'i Teamsters and Allied Workers, Local 996, could be back on the job pouring concrete on Monday, ending at least half of the concrete strike that has crippled O'ahu’s construction industry for 42 days.

Yesterday’s tentative agreement was welcome news to construction companies that have been laying off hundreds of workers since the Teamsters struck Ameron Hawaii on Feb. 6. The Teamsters went on strike against Hawaiian Cement the next day.

The decision to take the proposal directly to the Hawaii Cement workers came after company vice president Michael Coad presented Teamsters leaders yesterday with what he called the "last, best and final offer."

"It’s a very good offer," Coad said yesterday morning after the latest negotiation session. "We have asked the union to take the offer to the rank and file to be voted on as soon as possible. We did it in part because the negotiation process just seems to be going on and on and on. This has been an agonizing experience for all of us. … We need to get the construction industry back to work and put this behind us."

The five-year agreement runs retroactively from Jan. 1 through Dec. 31, 2008.

In addition to the new provision requiring employees to pay 20 percent of their medical coverage costs, the company also received changes in both its temporary transfer language and shift scheduling, allowing for more flexibility in making assignments.

But many other key items appealed to members of the negotiating committee, such as:

• Five years of paid medical benefits to any retiring Teamster.

• The company’s agreement to preserve the sick-leave program and eliminate its proposal to reduce employee sick days from 18 to nine.

• An overall pay and benefits package that went from a $1.20-an-hour increase in the originally proposed three-year agreement to a $3.80-an-hour increase over the life of the five-year contract.

The tentative agreement means that employees would receive a

$1-an-hour raise in the first year, of which 30 cents would be earmarked for the medical coverage. Pay and benefits would increase 70 cents an hour each subsequent year.

"They gave us a proposal that’s real good for the guys that’s going to retire," said Patrick Quijano, a member of the Teamsters negotiating committee. "They’re going to extend it until they reach Medicare. … We fought real hard for it, and now we’re going to take it to the rank and file."

Hawaiian Cement’s Coad said after the Teamsters announcement of a ratification vote: "A good settlement usually is one in which both sides feel that they gave a little bit more than they should have. That’s kind of the sentiment from parts of both the management group and the union group. …

"I am certainly very happy. We still need a positive ratification vote, and the union has said that their negotiating committee is going to recommend ratification.."

If striking Teamsters approve the new contract, Hawaiian Cement’s production would begin to meet a huge pent-up demand for concrete.

The company had asked union officials to waive overtime provisions in order to meet production demands, Kahele said. The union declined. Kahele said the increased production schedule and expected overtime pay will make up for any wages lost over the six-week strike.

Companies affected by the strike reacted with relief that it may be nearing an end.

"It’s about time," said Kenneth Choate, executive vice president of Haseko Construction Inc., which is building houses at Ocean Pointe in 'Ewa Beach. "It’s about the most frustrating thing I’ve ever gone through in my entire life. They’ve been arguing about nickels for a month and a half, and the whole industry is in chaos. It just seems so ludicrous. I’ve got innocent people laid off, and why? It’s not their fault."

Choate said he figures it could take the rest of year to make up for the work lost during the strike, although he said he isn’t quite sure that’s possible. "How do you make up seven weeks in a year?" he said. "It’s lost.

"We’re going to … work the guys long hours and pay OT and push. And for what reason?"

The concrete strike forced Kevin Peña to lay off 50 workers from the Foundations Hawaii Inc. company he owns. Peña said he hopes he can rehire half of them when the strike ends and work in the rest gradually.

"It’s going to be hard to make up what’s lost," Peña said. "There’s a certain degree what you can make up but, on a whole, for the work projected for the year, it’s going to be next to near to impossible.

Fred Perlin, director of concrete operations for Z Contractor, laid off 50 workers. He estimates the strike cost the company $15,000 to replace and rework framing and other jobs that suffered from weather and termites while waiting for concrete to be poured.

"Our cash flow is getting down there," Perlin said. "We need to pour concrete in order to make money. We can do all the prep work in the world, but we don’t get paid till there’s concrete on the ground."

When told about yesterday’s tentative agreement, Perlin said: "Thank you, God."