Dairy workers willing to strike

Advertiser Staff

Unionized workers at Meadow Gold Dairies yesterday authorized union officials, by a vote of 138-2, to call a strike if contract negotiations remain stalled.

The company, Hawaii Teamsters and Allied Workers Local 996 have been in negotiations for about a month. The contract expires at 12:01 a.m. tomorrow.

Local 996 represents about 150 workers at Meadow Gold and 110 at Foremost Dairies-Hawaii.

A strike at Meadow Gold would come at a precarious time for the state, as Foremost stopped processing milk in late August, leaving Meadow Gold as the only local processor and packager of milk in Hawai'i.

Although the vote was overwhelmingly in favor of a strike, union officials said they would continue working with the company and a federal mediator to reach a settlement.

"Our Meadow Gold O'ahu members are united, and our negotiating committee is putting every effort into continuing negotiations and trying to reach a tentative agreement with the company before Thursday midnight," said Ron Kozuma, Local 996 secretary-treasurer and business representative.

He said the main issues on the table were medical benefits, sub-contracting policy, pension and wages.