FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM
City Bank employees George Brown, middle, and Molina Gomez rallied on Alakea Street yesterday afternoon to protest Central Pacific Financial's takeover attempt.
City Bank workers
show supportWorkers hit the street to back the
rejection of a Central Pacific takeover
City Bank employees, waving signs and shouting support, took to the streets throughout the state yesterday to demonstrate their allegiance in light of the recent takeover attempt by rival Central Pacific Bank.
In a lunchtime downtown rally on the corner of King and Bishop streets on Oahu, more than 100 employees held up signs or banners that read "Proud to be ..." on some placards and "Hawaii's bank" on other placards. Other signs simply said "Hawaii's best bank."
Similar rallies played out on Maui, the Big Island and on Kauai, as well as later in the day at all 17 City Bank locations on Oahu.
Ken Saiki, a part-timer in the bank's marketing department, said he backed the bank's defiant stand.
"It's always better to have more competition," he said. "We're not going to lie down and give up. We're going to fight."
Peter Schubert, who works in management information systems and is a small shareholder, said he supported everything about the bank.
"I believe in our management and their philosophies and their strategies," Schubert said.
Jeri Alcantara, who works in retail collections, said job security was one of the main reasons for the rally.
"We don't need to merge," she said. "This is a hostile takeover. I'm happy with City Bank."
Melissa Tomlin, who works in the loan processing department, said City Bank should stay proud and strong.
"Hawaii is ohana and I definitely have that feeling at City Bank," she said. "I feel part of it and this is just the right decision for us all."
The City Bank rally, the bank's second in four days, follows a media blitz consisting of full-page newspaper advertisements and radio spots that parent CB Bancshares has placed to try to win public and shareholder support for its opposition to a hostile merger attempt from Central Pacific Financial Corp. CB Bancshares' board unanimously rejected the $285 million merger offer on Sunday.
This morning CPF altered its offer to increase the amount of cash, as opposed to stock, CB Bancshares stockholders would receive.
