Strikers denied state jobless benefits

By Dan Nakaso
Advertiser Staff Writer

Letters denying the applications for state unemployment benefits began arriving yesterday at the homes of striking workers.

Many of the 212 Teamsters who struck Hawaiian Cement and Ameron Hawaii filed claims as soon as they were eligible. But it took seven weeks to get a decision on their claims because of the rounds of paperwork required from both companies and the union, said James Hardway of the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations.

The state Supreme Court has ruled that striking employees are ineligible for unemployment benefits if their companies' operations are halted by 20 percent or more.

Labor officials needed to wait for original documentation from both companies, followed by a response from the Teamsters, followed by rebuttals from the companies, Hardway said.

"We have to give everybody time," Hardway said.

Meanwhile, the number of new claims for unemployment benefits on O'ahu fell from 1,087 for the week ending March 13 to 859 last week.

The number of new claims had risen steadily as more construction workers lost their jobs.

Even though striking Teamsters approved a new contract with Hawaiian Cement on Friday, many construction workers remain out of work because of the continuing strike against Ameron Hawaii, in its 49th day today.

Hardway could not immediately explain the sudden decline in claims. "That would be one of the more interesting questions," he said.

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