By Ken Ige, Star-Bulletin
Members of Hawaii Teamsters Local 996 picket the Times
Beretania store after the union went on strike
at 6 a.m. today on Oahu.

Meat cutters strike at
Oahu Times markets

By Russ Lynch
Star-Bulletin

Times Super Market meat cutters went out on strike at 6 a.m. today, setting up picket lines at all 13 Oahu stores on the busy day before Thanksgiving.

Hawaii Teamsters Local 996, the union representing the 105 meatcutters, said the labor contract has lapsed.

"Our position is that the company is not bargaining in good faith," said Mel Kahele, Local 996 president.

Kahele said the union has filed an unfair labor practice complaint with the National Labor Relations Board.

Times said the company had been in negotiations until the union called off the talks shortly before midnight last night, when the contract ended.

"We were very interested in continuing the negotiations but the union refused to do so," said Clifford Hayashi, Times personnel manager.

Hayashi said the company is contacting its vendors and trying to minimize disruption to customers and employees.

The meat cutters struck the supermarket chain for a day in December 1995 before reaching agreement on a contract that had just expired.