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Local 5 rejects
contract proposal

Isle hotel workers vote
1,435-330 as the union
power struggle persists

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By Tim Ruel
Star-Bulletin

Hawaii's Local 5 hotel and restaurant workers have voted down a key contract proposed by managers of Waikiki's biggest hotels, but not all members got a chance to vote because of an ongoing power struggle within the union's leadership.

Of the about 4,600 union members eligible to vote, 1,435 rejected the five-year contract vs. 330 who supported it, said union leader Eric Gill, who reported the vote yesterday at a press conference at Local 5 Waikiki headquarters.

The contract with the Hawaii Council of Hotels covers workers at six major Waikiki hotels including Hilton Hawaiian Village, Sheraton Waikiki and the Hyatt Regency Waikiki. The contract expired nearly a year ago and has been extended during negotiations. It covers roughly 46 percent of the local's 10,000-strong membership.

The tally started earlier this month but was cut short by a Feb. 9 letter from Local 5's parent -- the Hotel Employees & Restaurant Employees International Union -- instructing Gill to halt attempts to execute the contract.

The letter, from union General President John Wilhelm, accused Gill of trying to railroad members into approving the contract without allowing members to study it.

"It was based on partial and incorrect information," Gill said yesterday of the letter.

"If I told them to vote yes, it would have passed."

Gill said the members voted down the contract because they want higher wage increases and a ban on the practice of subcontracting, which allows hotels under the existing contract to hire companies with nonunion workers.

"This settlement was a terrible package," he said.

The members' rejection will not lead to a strike but further bargaining, Gill added.

He said the matter with the international arose after he added members to a committee that reviewed a previous version of the contract offered by the hotels in December.

Gill said he added the members to dispel concerns of hotel managers that the committee would oppose the contract simply to spite Gill, who inherited the committee from his rival, Tony Rutledge.

Last year, Gill unseated Rutledge from his 14-year reign as the union's leader in the position of financial secretary-treasurer. Since winning, however, Gill has engaged in a continuing battle with the Local 5's executive board, which is also stocked with Rutledge supporters.

The fight, and the resulting slowdown in contract negotiations, has prompted the local's international parent to consider appointing a trustee to take over the union.

At a private one-hour meeting earlier this week, Gill told the international that a trustee was needed to get the contracts settled.

Gill had previously opposed trusteeship, but said yesterday he only felt that way because the local's board had recommended Rutledge for the position.

Rutledge, who is still a district vice president of the union's Washington, D.C.-based international, could not be reached for comment yesterday.

He has said a trustee is necessary because Gill lacks experience in bargaining with hotels.

General President Wilhelm is expected early next week to appoint Sherri Chiesa, the international's Western regional director, to serve as trustee.

"We could have done a lot worse than Sherri Chiesa," Gill said yesterday, adding that he looks forward to learning from Chiesa, who should have no trouble negotiating a contract.

As trustee, Chiesa would replace Gill and the executive board for up to 18 months, after which new elections would be held, according to Ron Richardson, the international's executive vice president.

Not everyone is pleased with the appointment, Gill said. "I've been out there. There's a lot of members not happy with the elected leadership being displaced," he said.

Still, other members are glad that someone may soon take charge of the union and secure a new contract, Gill said. "People are simple. They want the medical. They want the wages. They want the job security."

Gill described yesterday's press conference as a show of solidarity for the members.

Supporters that were present included Teamsters Local 996 President Mel Kahele, Terry Lau of the Hawaii State AFL-CIO, and Orlando Soriano, president of Local 5.

"Eric's a good man. He's out there for the members," said Kahele. "Let the man do his job."