Sickout cripples
interisle shipping

About 100 employees of Young
Brothers barge service call in sick
for a second day

By Gregg K. Kakesako and Harold Morse
Star-Bulletin

For the second day, shipments of products ranging from trees to household furniture from Oahu to the neighbor islands were canceled because of a "sickout" that tied up barge shipments and closed Young Brothers facilities in Honolulu today.

Approximately 100 Young Brothers employees, members of the International Longshore & Warehouse Union, Local 142, called in sick again this morning. About the same amount of stevedores also refused to report to work in Honolulu yesterday.

Young Brothers president Glenn K.Y. Hong this morning said his company hopes to get a barge out of Honolulu later today or this evening to Kawaihae on the Big Island. That barge was supposed to have left Honolulu yesterday.

"Due to limited staff," Hong added, "we will not be able to receive general cargo and will only load cargo that is already on the piers."

Hong said Young Brothers doesn't know why the ILWU and its nearly 100 unionized members on Oahu have staged this "sickout" which only affects Honolulu operations. Statewide, Young Brothers employs nearly 200 ILWU workers.

"We consider the sickout an illegal work stoppage...."

Hong added: "It does create disruptions for our customers and to our neighbor island economies. We are trying to see what the issues are."

Although the company has been in contract negotiations with the ILWU since early this year, no impasse has been declared, Hong said.

"We're trying to negotiate in good faith," he added. The previous contract expired July 1, 1996, but had been extended by mutual agreement.

Union officials were meeting on Kauai today and unavailable for comment.

Barge shipments from Molokai and Lanai were expected to arrive in Honolulu today and could be affected if the dock sickout is prolonged.

The two McDonald's restaurants in Kona escaped the effects of the sickout only because meat and bun shipments were diverted to air cargo, said Kona McDonald's representative Carol Keanaaina today.

The food is distributed to McDonald's by Golden State Foods, she said. The added costs of air shipment are borne by distributors, not McDonald's, she said.

A Golden State spokesman was not immediately available for comment.

Hong said Young Brothers was able to unload barges that docked in Honolulu from Hilo and Nawiliwil yesterday. "The highest priority was given to perishable cargo such as produce, foliage and livestock."

"We've taken steps to get all livestock delivered," Bill Chung, Young Brothers spokesman, said yesterday.

If the ILWU returns to work tomorrow, Young Brothers hope to move barges to the neighbor islands this weekend.

Barge shipments to Kahului on Maui and Nawiliwili on Kauai were canceled today.

Roger Godfrey, division president of Fleming Companies Inc. Hawaii, said the shutdown of Young Brothers service has not affected his operation so far. Fleming is hoping its products will move later this week with a restoration of service, he said.

Fleming is flying some necessities to neighbor-island restaurants, Godfrey said.

"We're flying their products over. We'll watch to see if the supermarkets need anything in particular."

Young Brothers customers requiring more information on the sickout may call 543-9447 in Honolulu or 1-800 572-2743 toll free from the neighbor islands.