Pacific Beach Hotel rehires hundreds of employees
Pacific Beach Hotel owner HTH Corp. said yesterday it has offered reemployment to "several hundred" workers who had been given notice of an impending layoff in connection with a management change at the hotel.
But a spokesman for International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 142, which represents workers at the Waikiki hotel, said it has been able to confirm offers to less than half of the hotel's 535 employees.
HTH Corp. told employees earlier in the year that their jobs at the hotel would end with a management change effective Nov. 30, and that they would need to reapply for work. Workers at the property's Shogun restaurant also were informed that the eatery would close Nov. 30, leaving them jobless.
Pacific Beach Hotel is currently managed by PBH Management, an affiliate of Outrigger Enterprise Group, but HTH Corp. is slated to end its contract with the company Dec. 1 and take over management itself.
Meanwhile, ILWU Local 142 has been critical of the way HTH Corp. has handled employees during its upcoming management transition. The union has informed about a thousand travel wholesalers and members of the community that it is considering a consumer boycott against the hotel.
Dave Mori, the union's Oahu division director, said yesterday that so far the company has not offered jobs to any members of the housekeeping staff and has only offered jobs to a couple of Shogun workers.
In addition, many employees who were offered work have complained that the new jobs are for less money and require a 90-day probationary period, Mori said.
"We definitely feel that their actions are not right or legal and we are in the process of filing charges with the National Labor Relations Board," Mori said.
HTH Corp. has not indicated how many of the workers it will rehire, but said in a statement yesterday that the number of offers is consistent with the projected business forecast for each hotel department.
"Our goal is to properly staff the hotel to continue providing the level of service and hospitality that is the signature of our company," said Robert Minicola, regional vice president of operations for HTH Corp.
