Posted on: Friday, March 19, 2004
CONCRETE WORKERS STRIKE
Striking Teamsters reject Ameron offer
| • | Sites await concrete delivery |
By Debbie Sokei
Advertiser Staff Writers
Striking Teamsters rejected the "last, best and final" offer from Ameron Hawai'i, O'ahu's largest concrete company, one day after the union reached a tentative agreement with Ameron's main competitor, Hawaiian Cement.
The decision means that 60 percent of O'ahu's concrete production will remain stalled until Ameron and the Teamsters can find common ground. Meanwhile Hawaiian Cement hopes to begin pouring concrete on Monday if union members ratify the tentative agreement in a vote today.
The decision is a blow to Hawai'i's $5.4 billion construction industry. Only the day before, it was rejoicing when the Hawaiian Cement agreement signaled a possible end to the painful six-week strike. With Ameron and the Teamsters saying they are far apart on a new contract, O'ahu concrete deliveries will continue to lag behind demand.
Ameron offered union workers a $3.80-per-hour wage increase over five years, up from the company's previous offer of $1.60 an hour, said Kahele. But the union representatives were unhappy with Ameron's insistence that employees pay 30 percent of their medical costs, up from 20 percent, and that the company would not pay medical costs for retired workers as Hawaiian Cement agreed to do.
"We are hoping that Ameron realizes that our people will not take the 30 percent co-payment that they have on the table unless they put monies on the table (to) pay for it," Kahele said.
George West, Ameron's vice president of operations for O'ahu, said he was disappointed with the committee's decision and had hoped that the rank and file would be allowed to vote on this offer.
"I'm not sure the committee represents a cross section of members," West said. "We'd like to see them find a way to take it to the general membership."
West said the company was sticking to the 30 percent co-payment for "cost containment." He added that his offer included an option of front-loading the pay increase to help cover the higher co-payment.
If the strike continues, Ameron may see some of its dominant market share in O'ahu taken away by Hawaiian Cement.
"They will get all the business," West said. "This will certainly increase their market share."
Hawaiian Cement will be limited by its capacity. The company can produce just slightly more than 1,000 cubic yards a day and by law can operate its 40 cement trucks only 60 hours in a week. Demand for cement exceeds several thousand cubic yards per day.
Ameron and the Teamsters did not set a date for further negotiations and no one was willing to predict how long it might be before the strike is settled.
When asked how long the union can hold out, Sam Keliihoomalu, a strike captain in the Ameron walkout, said: "However long it takes."
Reach Debbie Sokei at 525-8064 or dsokei@honoluluadvertiser.com.
"We will continue to strike," Teamsters president Mel Kahele said of Ameron after a committee of union members from that company voted 15 to 1 against the company's latest proposal.
