Feds probe election
in IBEW local

An ex-official says HawTel
supported his opponent

By Rick Daysog
Star-Bulletin

A federal agency is investigating allegations of irregularities in a recent election held by the union representing 2,000 GTE Hawaiian Tel employees.

The U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Labor-Management Standards is looking into a complaint by George Waialeale, the former business manager of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1357, who alleges that Hawaiian Tel supported the candidacy of his competitor Harold Dias Jr.

Waialeale lost the IBEW election for business manager and financial secretary in February to Dias by a narrow margin, with Dias getting 654 votes to Waialeale's 620.

According to Waialeale's complaint, Hawaiian Tel allowed Dias to use company facilities on Maui in January to campaign for union members' votes, in apparent violation of federal labor laws.

Hawaiian Tel also gave Dias "companywide exposure" by appointing him to committees and programs that allowed Dias to address company-sponsored gatherings of union members, Waialeale said.

Waialeale -- who has served as the IBEW's business manager since 1989 but now works as a GTE equipment installer -- said the company wanted him out because of his tough negotiating stance during prolonged contract disputes. "The reason the company looked the other way for him was because I was a pain in their side and they wanted to deal with somebody else who could see their point of view," he said.

Both the company and Dias denied the allegations.

Gerald Okamoto, who heads Hawaiian Tel's human resources department, said the company plays no role in union elections and did not lend any of its resources to candidates.

Dias attributed Waialeale's charges to sour grapes, noting that the national organization of the IBEW recently reviewed Waialeale's complaint and found no merit.

"We welcome the investigation and we're confident that the election results will be upheld," he said.

Under federal law, the Labor Department has up to a month to investigate Waialeale's allegations. If the department finds that irregularities affected the outcome of the election, it could sue the union in federal court to overturn the election results.

An investigator with the department's local office declined comment.