BUSINESS BRIEFS
Kaiser nurses OK 3-year contract
Advertiser Staff and News Services
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Unionized nurses at Kaiser Permanente have overwhelmingly ratified a new three-year contract.
With the ratification, the nurses join the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions, a group that has a master labor agreement covering all Mainland Kaiser facilities.
"We applaud this historic moment and look forward to sharing in the privileges and obligations of the labor management partnership," said Patt Gibbs, executive director of the Hawaii Nurses Association. The HNA represents about 800 registered nurses at Kaiser Permanente.
The three-year agreement, ratified Friday, is retroactive to December 1, 2008. It will expire November 30, 2011. Terms were not disclosed.
APO TO SPEAK ABOUT 'HAWAI'I,' 'ALOHA'
Hawaiian cultural expert Peter Apo will be the featured speaker at the Native Hawaiian Chamber of Commerce's monthly luncheon meeting Thursday.
Apo, president of Peter Apo Company LLC, will discuss the words "Hawai'i" and "aloha" and how they relate to the visitor industry.
"Hawai'i and aloha are the two most powerful marketing brands in the world, recognized by people living in the most far-flung places on Earth," Apo said.
"Ho'okipa, the act of welcoming and hosting guests, is so fundamental to Hawaiian culture and routinely extended even to strangers. Why then, are Hawaiians so disdainful of and distanced from Hawai'i's largest industry?"
Apo is a former legislator, Office of Hawaiian Affairs trustee and a founder of the Native Hawaiian Hospitality Association.
Registration and networking will begin at 11:30 a.m. with lunch at noon. Cost for members is $20 and $25 for nonmembers. The location is 1451 Queen Emma St. For more information, call Pauline Worsham at 497-4084.
CONVENTION CENTER LANDS SITE AWARD
The Hawai'i Convention Center recently marked its 10th anniversary with its 10th consecutive Prime Site Award from Facilities & Destinations magazine.
The Prime Site Awards are decided by meeting- and convention-industry leaders directly involved with site selection: promoters, booking agents and event planners. Voting is based on convenience of location, facility attractiveness and maintenance, professionalism of staff, cuisine and technological capabilities.
Facilities and Destinations has described the center as a striking facility designed from the input of convention planners with 200,000 square feet of exhibit hall space and 100,000 square feet of meeting room space, consisting of 49 meeting rooms and two presentation theaters with tiered seating and a 36,000-square-foot Grand Ballroom.
ALL NIPPON SLASHING FUEL SURCHARGES
All Nippon Airways Co., Japan's second-largest carrier, said it is cutting fuel surcharges on flights to United States destinations except Hawai'i.
ANA said it was slashing the surcharge to the lowest since 2005 to reflect jet fuel's plunge from record-high prices and to lure budget-conscious customers.
The airline will cut levies on flights between Japan and the U.S., excluding Hawai'i, by 84 percent to 3,500 yen, or $38, for each one-way trip from April, the airline said in an e-mailed statement yesterday.
The Japanese carrier follows Singapore Airlines Ltd. and Malaysian Airline System in cutting surcharges, while it remains locked into high-priced fuel-hedging contracts. The global recession and fuel surcharges have damped demand for international travel, forcing All Nippon and domestic rival Japan Airlines Corp. to predict net losses for this fiscal year.
Jet-fuel averaged $64.74 a barrel in the three months ended January. That's 44 percent lower than $116.42 in the previous three months and down from a peak of $181.85 in July.
