Hotel union and Union officials and church leaders blasted corporate hotel owners yesterday for making millions of dollars off the backs of workers.
church officials
criticize hotel firms
By Tim Ruel
truel@starbulletin.comThe joint press conference was held primarily to announce a food drive for 4,000 workers of Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Local 5, who voted last week to authorize a strike against Hilton and Sheraton in Waikiki. A strike has not yet been called and Local 5's contract negotiations with the hotels resume today and tomorrow.
"We consider this a matter of justice -- economic justice," said the Rev. Vaughn Beckman, a religious leader and senior pastor of First Christian Church in Makiki. Other church members at the conference were Steve Ito of Manoa Valley Church and June Shimokawa of United Methodist Church.
The churches and the union are asking for food donations to help employees who would be out of work in the event of a strike against the hotels.
If there's a strike, it's the fault of the hotels, said Clyde Hayashi, state director of the AFL-CIO.
Beckman noted that some executives of big companies have recently been forced to clean up their act, a clear attempt by union supporters to connect Hawaii hotel profits with the Enron, WorldCom and other financial scandals.
The accusation does not reflect the union negotiations in Hawaii, said Robert Katz, a Honolulu attorney who bargains for Hilton and Sheraton. His sense is that the union supporters are attempting to milk the recent corporate scandals. "I just don't know what the basis of their conclusions are," Katz said.
Unions have a history of working with faith leaders for causes of justice, Beckman said. He said he has made it clear to Local 5 that he is supporting justice, not the union. Of unions, Beckman said: "They can be wonderful. They can be horrible."