Grand Wailea
labor tiff
goes public
The Maui resort's owner
By Russ Lynch
and the workers' union trade
barbs over contract talks
Star-BulletinNegotiations for a new labor contract at the Grand Wailea Resort, Hotel & Spa have moved into the public arena.
The hotel's owner, KSL Recreation, and the union representing the Maui hotel's workers, the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, are exchanging charges and counter-charges in press statements.
KSL, which bought the hotel in December, issued a statement earlier this week saying it had filed unfair labor practice charges against the ILWU. KSL accused the union of refusing to bargain in good faith by withholding details of the pension plan the union shares with a number of employers.
The union responded yesterday with its own statement, accusing KSL of stalling the negotiations. KSL knows that the correct place to go for information about the pension plan is not the union but a separate organization, the Hotel Industry-ILWU Pension Trust Fund, the ILWU said.
"KSL's attorney knows the union does not have this information. They are doing this to delay and stall the negotiations," said Eusebio Lapenia Jr., president of ILWU Local 142.
Scott Dalecio, president KSL Recreation's western division, said in his Monday statement that it is the union that is stalling.
He said the hotel had 3,200 applications for 1,200 jobs and is paying generous wages and benefits to those it hired.
The union, which had represented employees under the previous ownership, is seeking a new contract.
The ILWU is demanding pay and benefits that appear to exceed those of nearly all ILWU-organized hotels in the state, KSL said.
The company said it has been asking since April for pension information it needs so it can evaluate the effects of new pension demands from the union.
The ILWU said KSL required all 1,200 employees to reapply for their jobs and hired only 900 of them.
