Dick Gushman, managing partner for WCC Associates, owner of the center, said the layoffs stem from cancelation of service contracts for the center as part of WCC's pending deal with Roseland, N.J.-based Chelsea GCA Realty Inc.

Last month, Chelsea agreed to purchase the factory outlet side for an undisclosed price. The deal has not closed.

But as part of the sale, DGM Management, the managing agent for WCC Associates, is ending service contracts for the site, Gushman said. The new owner would be responsible for making arrangements for the work, he said.

The affected workers are from Monroe & Friedlander, which supplies security officers, maintenance workers, landscapers, janitors and others under contract with DGM.

A Monroe & Friedlander official who deals with Waikele referred inquiries to Andrew Friedlander, the company's chief executive, who could not be reached for comment.

Keith Vierra, a Waikele security officer, said workers were told about two weeks ago that they would be losing their jobs at the end of April. He estimated between 50 to 60 employees were being laid off -- an estimate Gushman said sounded accurate.

At the recent meeting, Vierra said, a Monroe & Friedlander executive encouraged the workers to apply with the company that gets the new contract, but there was no guarantee they would be hired.

The executive couldn't answer questions about severance benefits, Vierra said.

Those being laid off range from janitors to the heads of maintenance and security, said Vierra, who has worked at Waikele for about 11/2 years.

A spokesman for Chelsea GCA declined comment this morning.

The company, a real estate investment trust founded in 1981, owns and operates manufacturers' outlet centers in New York, California, Oregon and Ohio, according to Bloomberg News. Its holdings include the 570,000-square-foot Woodbury Common factory outlet center in New York.