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ILWU rejects
two-year newspaper
labor agreement

The union objects to auto
issues in the Hawaii Newspaper
Agency-Honolulu Advertiser contract

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Star-Bulletin staff

The second largest union at Hawaii Newspaper Agency and the Honolulu Advertiser has rejected a two-year labor agreement.

The International Longshore and Warehouse Union on Sunday voted down the new contract which offers a 4.5 percent pay raise and guarantees no layoffs during the period covered by the contract.

The ILWU -- which represents about 250 of the HNA's district circulation managers, truck drivers, mailers and inserters -- said the deal would require circulation managers to use their own cars when conducting company business. Previously, managers used company-owned automobiles.

The ILWU was the only union within the Hawaii Newspaper and Printing Trades Council that rejected the deal. The council's four remaining members -- including the 300-member Hawaii Newspaper Guild -- ratified the pact last week while one union has yet to vote on the deal. The vote of each individual union is contingent upon all unions approving the settlement.

The printing council is asking Gannett Co., which owns the HNA and the Advertiser, to return to the bargaining table to resolve the dispute.