Twenty-five workers from the Philippines arrived at Kona International Airport yesterday in what could foreshadow a new mini-wave of immigrant labor to the Islands.

The Fairmont Orchid Hawaii arranged with the U.S. Labor Department to bring up to 45 Filipinos here on seasonal work visas through August to help staff the hotel in the face of the nation's tightest labor market.

A handful of other hotels have also inquired about the process as they are having trouble filling jobs with the state's unemployment rate at 2.1 percent.

"We've done everything we possibly can (to find workers) here on the Big Island and the state," said Fairmont Orchid general manager Ian Pullan. "And we just have not been able to fill the number of vacancies that we've had."

The arrival of Filipinos to work in hotels comes on the 100th anniversary of Filipino immigration to Hawai'i. In 1906 a group of 15 Filipinos was recruited by the Hawaii Sugar Planters Association to work at the Ola'a Plantation on the Big Island.

The government approved Fairmont's plan when it determined there was a shortage of American workers for the hotel jobs and that the immigrants would have adequate housing.

The Fairmont is bringing over Filipino workers who are relatives of hotel employees with whom they can stay, Pullan said. He said 25 workers arrived in Kona yesterday, and the hotel is interviewing candidates in the Philippines for 20 more positions. The 45 positions include housekeepers, kitchen helpers, cooks and dining room attendants.

The seasonal work visas expire Aug. 15, but Fairmont may reapply to extend their stay.

This is the first case of seasonal work visas for a Hawai'i hotel, said James Hardway, a spokesman for the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations.

"It is precedent setting," Hardway said. "We do know from talking to other hotels and some other industries that they are watching to see what happens in this case, to see how successful it is."

SAME WAGES, BENEFITS

Seasonal work visas are usually given for white-collar jobs such as teachers, doctors or in the technology sector but have also been given for agricultural workers, Hardway said.

The immigrant workers will be given the same wages and benefits as current employees in the same positions. That ranges from about $13 to $18 an hour for the non-tipped workers, said Wallace Ishibashi Jr., a union representative.

The ILWU Local 142, which represents employees at the Fairmont Orchid, has worked with the hotel on the seasonal work visa program and supports it, Ishibashi said. One of the union's concerns is making sure local workers have job opportunities, but the state's low unemployment rate has made it difficult to recruit despite the hotels' best efforts, he said.

"It's not that we're not trying to hire local people," Ishibashi said, adding that drug test failures are another stumbling block.

The seasonal work visa program is a "temporary fix" to relieve current employees who have been overworked because of the vacancies, he said.

"They're working so many hours because we don't have enough workers and we have had openings for a while now," Ishibashi said.

SHORT-TERM SOLUTION

Fairmont general manager Pullan also said bringing in Filipinos, while to an extent a last resort, will help employees who have been working long hours for about a year.

"It was more of an issue of we were not able, with that number of vacancies, to satisfy the worklife balance of our current colleagues," he said. "It was an opportunity for us to say to our current colleagues, 'We hear you and we're at least bringing family members over to help.' "

In some cases family members are being reunited after more than 10 years, he said.

The hotel, which has about 850 positions, has had more than 100 vacancies from line-level to executive positions over the past year, Pullan said. Recent local hires and the 25 workers from the Philippines will reduce the vacancies to 60, he said.

Pullan said the seasonal work visas are a short-term measure, and the hotel's primary focus is on recruiting people from Hawai'i. The hotel's ongoing efforts include incentives and partnerships with high schools and colleges. The hotel even tried recruiting former Hawai'i residents in California and Las Vegas.

In recent years, some Filipinos, including doctors and fishermen, have come to Hawai'i temporarily to work, said Dean Alegado, associate professor and chairman of the Ethnic Studies Department at the University of Hawai'i. But he hasn't heard of Filipinos coming here to work at a hotel.

"It's kind of ironic for the Filipino community," he said. "It's the centennial of the immigration, and it continues, except now it's the hotels."

NO SIMPLE TASK

Alegado was also surprised that the plan won union support. "From what I understand, the position has been that if wages and working conditions are improved, you should be able to attract more workers. But I guess with the tight labor market there's a squeeze," he said.

Obtaining seasonal work visas is difficult, especially for unskilled labor, he said.

"You have to really convince the Department of Labor that a labor shortage exists," he said.

Honolulu immigration lawyer Maile Hirota said obtaining seasonal work visas requires going through "a lot of administrative hoops."

"But I know there's extremely low unemployment in Hawai'i, so I'm not surprised that employers would have to go outside the state to get help, or even outside the country," she said. "That shows how much employers in our state are willing to do to get the people that they need. ... I'm sure that people are going to be watching the Fairmont to see how it works out."