"That kind of thing usually doesn't happen with labor-management confrontations in a state like Hawai'i," Laney said. "It certainly sounds pretty unusual to me."

Union members sent a petition to the leaders of H.E.R.E. Local 5, which represents the majority of Turtle Bay Resort workers. The petition states, in part:

"We, the employees of Turtle Bay Resort, are bearing the brunt of the boycott ordered by Local 5 officials. We receive our livelihood from Turtle Bay. By attempting to drive Turtle Bay out of business, you are only hurting us, our families, and the community in which we live. We want the boycott to stop."

The resort's management yesterday said the petition was signed by 150 of Local 5's 260 union members at Turtle Bay. Local 5 spokesman Jason Ward said union leaders have no plans to rescind the boycott because they dispute the legitimacy of most of the signatures.

What is clear is that Local 5's boycott — over the hotel's efforts to hire non-union employees — has hurt business at the resort.

Turtle Bay recently underwent a $60 million renovation only to face pickets, leaflets and rallies. Local 5 has set up a Web site, www.turtlebayboycott.info, that urges visitors to stay away from Turtle Bay and encourages travel agents and meeting planners to join the boycott. The AFL-CIO has since added Turtle Bay Resort to its national boycott list.

Business hurt

Abid Butt, the resort's vice president and general manager, said the boycott caused the hotel's occupancy to fall to around 40 percent in September, October and November — at a time when Waikiki hotels were running at more than 70 percent occupancy.

"How much business are we losing? I'm petrified to think about it," Butt said.

"The damage to the resort in terms of harm to its reputation and loss of future business may run into millions of dollars," according to Robert L. Murphy, a lawyer for Turtle Bay Resort and its operator, Benchmark Hospitality.

The drop in business has hurt employees, who have seen smaller tips and had their hours cut, according to both the union and management.

"There is some pain inflicted on our members as a result of the boycott," said Ward, the Local 5 spokesman. "You can't hide that fact. I'd love to end the boycott, believe me. It's not a constructive thing. But it's certainly less painful than a 2-year strike."

Next week, Turtle Bay Resort will host the Champions Tour Turtle Bay Championship for senior golfers. Bookings for the hotel's 443 rooms are running at 98 percent, Butt said.

"I'm sure all of the attendees have heard about the union's boycotts and the pickets they might have to put up with," Butt said.

In February, the resort also is scheduled to host a Ladies Professional Golf Association tournament.

Turtle Bay workers' contract expired on Feb. 28, 1999. The last contract talks were held in June.

Typical wages for Turtle Bay workers average about $3 less per hour than Waikiki hotel workers, Ward said. And Turtle Bay workers have received only one raise in the past decade — of 20 cents per hour.

But, Ward said, the biggest barrier to an agreement on a new contract has been management's efforts to bring in non-union workers.

In July 2003, about 70 percent of the unionized Turtle Bay workers voted on whether to impose a boycott. Of those who voted, 92 percent approved the boycott, Ward said.

"This boycott was instituted by an overwhelming majority of our members," Ward said. "It's not going to be undone by a shady petition where we don't know who signed it or if they're even still working there."

Never saw petition

Stephen Dela Cruz, a Turtle Bay maintenance worker who has worked for the hotel for 27 years, said he never saw the petition and only heard about it yesterday.

"It claims to have something like 150 names," Dela Cruz said. "I would definitely verify those first because I didn't even know there was a petition going around."

Dela Cruz insisted that he has never heard union workers discuss ending the boycott.

"As far as talk of dissension, I don't hear it," he said. "It's only coming from management. They're always passing out propaganda sheets that say we're only hurting ourselves."

Butt said that "my hopes are the same as their membership: That the boycott would stop and we can negotiate ... rather than relying on these absolutely counterproductive activities."