TheBus workers
to vote this week
on strike
City bus drivers and workers will vote tomorrow and Tuesday on whether to authorize their leaders to call a strike over stalled negotiations for a new three-year contract.
If the strike vote is approved, the Hawaii Teamsters Union Local 996 says a strike could occur anytime in the next two to three weeks. Union leaders say they will give 72 hours notice before any action.
The next negotiation is scheduled for Thursday.
Cutbacks in health, pension and holiday benefits and pay are key issues.
Oahu Transit Services Inc., the company that runs TheBus, has proposed 34 cutbacks in benefits during contract negotiations, including eliminating two holidays, zero wage or pension increases for the next three years, and a reduction in what the company pays for medical premiums, said Mel Kahele, the union president.
"We are just trying to get the takebacks off the table," Kahele said.
Local 996 held a rally Friday night to focus on the proposed cutbacks and to demand that Oahu Transit Services get more money from the city.
"OTS has made no attempt to request money or restore the budget from last fiscal year's budget," Kahele said.
The bus budget this year is $4.2 million short of last year, according to Perry Confalone, chief negotiator for Oahu Transit Services.
"And that's the reality we face," Confalone said. "Our bargaining position is grounded in reality."
Negotiations on a new three-year contract began May 6, but the union broke off negotiations a few weeks later because of a deadlock in progress.
The union has 1,300 members, including drivers, mechanics and clerical staff. The buses serve about 240,000 passengers daily.
"Nobody wins in striking," said Robert Mokuau, a bus driver for 30 years. "It's an ultimatum -- the last thing we wanna do. But we'll do it if we have to."