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Local 5, Marriott reach new deal

Hotel workers union Local 5 has reached a tentative contract settlement covering 550 workers at the Waikiki Beach Marriott Hotel on Kalakaua Avenue, bringing the hotel in line with others in the area.

The three-year contract, which must be ratified, includes a $1.60 an hour wage increase for nontipped workers over three years. Housekeepers will see their pay increase to $14.37 an hour from $12.77.

By the end of the contract, workers will received a $1 an hour pension contribution, as well as a $3.20 per hour contribution for health care. The contract also includes strong workload language, and specifies that food and beverage outlets cannot be eliminated.

The prior contract expired in March and was extended during contract negotiations.

The 1,300-room hotel, formerly known as the Hawaiian Regent, is managed by Marriott International Inc., the largest U.S. hotel company. Marriott briefly owned the hotel after buying it in late 2000 from Japan-based Otaka Inc., then Marriott sold the property for $130 million to CNL Hospitality Corp. of Florida.

Marriott, based in Bethesda, Md., owns, manages or franchises about 2,600 hotels worldwide.

Local 5 of the Hotel Employees & Restaurant Employees International Union has reached contract settlements covering nearly 7,000 of its 11,000 members in the past year. Hotels with new contracts include the Sheraton, Hilton, Hyatt and Ilikai hotels in Waikiki. Local 5 is negotiating with the Holiday Inn Waikiki and the Imperial Hawaii Resort timeshare, as well as the Turtle Bay Resort on the North Shore and the Sheraton Kauai.

Northwest will add 2 flights, drop 1

Northwest Airlines said it will add daily direct flights in December between Minneapolis/St. Paul and Honolulu and between Seattle and Maui.

The Minneapolis-based airline will also drop a daily flight between Los Angeles and Honolulu.

The new flights, to start Dec. 17, will use 273-seat DC-10 aircraft. Flights go on sale starting Saturday.

New newsroom leader for News 8

Sue Levine will take over the reins as news director for KHNL-TV effective Aug. 18.

Levine, who visited the news operation and met with staff July 9 and 10, will be moving to Hawaii from Cleveland, where she served as assistant news director at WOIO and WUAB-TV. The Ohio stations are owned by Alabama-based Raycom Media, as are KHNL and sister-station KFVE.

She has also worked in a variety of newsroom management and production positions in Detroit, Miami, New York and Los Angeles.

"We are very excited to have someone of Sue's caliber coming to lead our news department, said John Fink, vice president and general manager, said in a statement.

Levine replaces Seth Feldman, who left the station in June. The hire leaves KGMB-TV as the only Honolulu TV station without a news director.

Jobless claims at five-month low

WASHINGTON >> The number of workers filing new applications for jobless benefits dropped to a five-month low last week, a hopeful sign for an economy trying to shift into a higher gear.

The Labor Department reported yesterday that claims for unemployment insurance declined by a seasonally adjusted 29,000 to 386,000 for the work week ending July 19. It marked the second week in a row that claims decreased and the first time since the week ending Feb. 8 that claims dipped below the 400,000 level associated with a weak job market.

Four former Charter executives charged

ST. LOUIS >> Four former top executives of Charter Communications, the nation's third-largest cable television company, were charged yesterday with scheming to defraud investors by inflating the company's revenue and cash flow, authorities said.

Former chief operating officer David Barford, 44, of Chesterfield, Mo., and former chief financial officer Kent Kalkwarf, 45, of St. Louis, were charged with 14 federal counts of mail fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud for alleged schemes in both 2000 and 2001.

Former senior vice president David McCall, 48, of Laurens, S.C., was indicted on one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Another former senior vice president, James Smith, 55, of California, was indicted on eight counts of wire fraud and conspiracy.

Charges against McCall and Smith related to an alleged 2001 scheme to inflate Charter's subscriber numbers.

In other news ...

>> Microsoft Corp. will spend $6.9 billion in the coming year on research and development and add up to 5,000 positions as part of its plan to spread its software to wireless phones, video-game consoles and other devices, chairman Bill Gates said.

>> AT&T Corp. plans to boost its dividend for the first time since slashing the quarterly payout in early 2001, signaling surprising confidence in the company's prospects even as its core telephone business continued to deteriorate.

>> Stung by a defeat in the House, parent companies of CBS and Fox television networks said yesterday they would ramp up pressure on lawmakers to defeat an effort to tighten a limit on national TV station ownership.

>> Sony Corp., Japan's second largest consumer electronics maker, said yesterday its profits plunged 98 percent in the April-June quarter because of sliding revenue from movies, games and television sets.

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[Hawaii Inc.]

New jobs

>> American Benefit Plan Administrators has named Don Wakeman vice president for Hawaii operations. He was most recently principal senior consultant at National Benefits Alliance. Wakeman has more than 25 years of management background in the health and welfare industry. American Benefit Plan Administrators has served Taft-Hartley Fund clients in Hawaii for more than 30 years.

>> Hawaii Employers' Mutual Insurance Company Inc. has appointed Ron Toguchi as agency relations manager. He will be responsible for the strategic development and management of the company's agency force and for advising management on matters relating to agency issues. He was previously director of marketing for five years at Atlas Insurance Agency Inc. Prior to that, he spent 23 years at various marketing and underwriting positions with Island Insurance Companies.

Promotions

>> Carlsmith Ball LLP has named J. Thomas Maloney a partner in its Honolulu office. He will concentrate in ERISA benefits. In the law firm's Maui office, Blaine J. Kobayashi has joined the firm as an associate concentrating in business litigation, real estate law and administrative law. He was most recently deputy corporation counsel for the county of Maui

>> Cadinha & Co. has promoted Harlan B.K. Cadinha to chief investment officer. He oversees the day-to-day activities of the investment team. Cadinha joined the firm in 1995 as a portfolio manager; he is the son of company founder Harlan Cadinha. Cadinha & Co. provides investment management to wealthy individuals, as well as business and nonprofit organizations.