BUSINESS BRIEFS
Hilton Hawaiian union talks open
Advertiser Staff and News Services
The Hilton Hawaiian Village Beach Resort & Spa and the union representing its employees began contract negotiations this week.
Hilton is the second hotel company to begin contract talks with Unite Here Local 5. The union began talks with the four Sheraton properties in Waikiki last month.
Contracts expire on June 30 for the Hilton and eight other O'ahu hotels, including the four Sheraton properties in Waikiki, the Hyatt Regency Waikiki Resort & Spa, and the Waikiki Beach Marriott Resort & Spa. A contract for Ala Moana Hotel employees has been extended to Aug. 31. Contracts for the 10 Honolulu hotels cover about 6,400 employees.
NIKKEI PLUNGES MORE THAN 3%
Japan's benchmark stock index index dropped more than 3 percent today, falling to its lowest level in six months amid jitters about declines on global markets.
The Nikkei 225 index shed 462.98 points, or 3.07 percent, to 14,633.03 points on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, the lowest close since Dec. 18.
Investors were jittery about a third straight decline overnight on Wall Street and on concerns that possible U.S. interest rates hikes would slow U.S. and perhaps global growth. The Tokyo market has fallen all week, bringing the Nikkei down more than 9 percent since the start of the year.
BLACK PRESS UNIT BUYS OHIO DAILY
Sound Publishing Holdings Inc., a subsidiary of Black Press Ltd., is buying the Akron, Ohio, Beacon Journal from McClatchy Co. for $165 million.
Black Press publishes more than 100 Canadian and U.S. dailies and weeklies, including the Honolulu Star-Bulletin.
The Beacon Journal was one of the newspapers McClatchy picked up in its acquisition of the Knight Ridder chain. The Beacon Journal, with a Sunday circulation of about 179,000, is about twice the size of the largest Black Press paper, the Star-Bulletin.
