Nearly 400 Turtle Bay Resort employees voted unanimously yesterday to approve a new contract after years of bitter negotiations, gaining a wage increase, better medical benefits and workload standards for housekeepers.

"We fought very hard for the employees to ensure they would receive appropriate benefits," said Eric Gill, secretary-treasurer of UNITE HERE Local 5 in a news release issued after the ratification vote at Sunset Christian School. "Our concern has always been about the welfare of the employees."

The contract follows years of negotiations, during which union members picketed the North Shore hotel and urged visitors and residents to go elsewhere as part of a consumer boycott. Turtle Bay employees had been working without a contract since November 2003. The consumer boycott, the union said, ended when the new agreement was tentatively reached Thursday.

Bob Boyle, managing director of Turtle Bay Resort, said the process of securing the new contract "has done a great deal to heal the division" between the union and hotel. "With this agreement in place, and the new spirit of cooperation and openness that exists between management and the union, we are very confident about our future," Boyle added, in a statement.

The contract gives non-tipped employees a $2.45 hourly wage increase over four years, starting with a 50-cent increase in January 2007. Workers who get tips will also get a 50-cent increase in 2007, followed by 10 cents more per hour in July 2007, 2008 and 2009.

Under the contract, Turtle Bay agrees to contribute $3.15 an hour to employees' medical benefits and $1 an hour to a pension fund. The agreement also restores medical benefits for all retirees, a longtime sticking point.

The union also said the contract enforces workload standards for housekeepers, and stipulates overtime will be given out on a rotation basis.

The contract was reached with Benchmark Hospitality, the company that manages Turtle Bay Resort. The union said the agreement is binding to both the hotel and management company, which means any new owner — if the hotel is sold — or management company must also assume the contract's terms.

The agreement comes as Turtle Bay is looking for development partners for its planned expansion, which includes five new hotels and four public parks.

The proposal has drawn ire from some North Shore residents, who say it will slow traffic on the two-lane Kamehameha Highway, stress sewer and water lines, and damage the environment. The proposal is based on a 1986 plan for the site.

Reach Mary Vorsino at mvorsino@honoluluadvertiser.com.