GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM
City bus drivers Lana Nedervelt, left, George Souza, Koren Hannemann and Sandra Chung signed papers at union headquarters yesterday making them eligible for benefits in the event of a strike on Tuesday.
Union’s bus plan
lessens pay hikeA management official criticizes
the proposal as workers
prepare to strike on Tuesday
The city bus workers union has reduced its demand for a wage increase, but a management official says the new contract proposal is unrealistic.
The Teamsters Local 996 leadership shared its newest "streamlined" proposal with its members yesterday, hours after they officially notified the city that they planned to strike at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday.
The Teamsters will present its latest version to negotiators from Oahu Transit Services Inc., the private company that runs TheBus for the city, when talks resume on Monday.
The new proposal calls for a 40- to 60-cent wage increase along with a pension contribution increase of 50 cents an hour each year for the next three years.
The union's earlier contract proposal had called for a $2-an-hour wage increase and a $1-an-hour pension increase each year for the next three years.
"I don't regard the union's latest demand as very productive," said OTS chief spokesman Perry Confalone after hearing of the proposal. "I don't believe that's realistic under the economic circumstances that both the union and the company face."
OTS's latest proposal includes a wage freeze for two years along with a reduction in vacation and sick-leave benefits for new employees.
It is the same proposal that was submitted the last time both sides met for negotiations, on Aug. 14.
"We feel our proposals have been offered in good faith," Confalone said. "We're going to do our best to reach a resolution with these issues on Monday, but the ball is really up in the union's court to determine or not whether there will be a strike."
Some of the 1,400 bus drivers, mechanics and maintenance crews who attended last night's meeting at the union headquarters on Hart Street expressed optimism that a deal could be reached.
"I don't think we're gonna walk," said bus driver Marshall Hind after he signed up for a 3-to-9 a.m. strike shift on Tuesday. "I hope we don't ... because otherwise my grandchildren gotta walk to school.
"But we gotta do what we gotta do."
The union and OTS have one last chance to come to an agreement when they meet with a federal mediator Monday at 1:30 p.m. in conference rooms at the Neal Blaisdell Center.
Bus mechanic Richard Takeuchi said he liked the new proposal.
"Sounds good," he said. "I wasn't really anticipating much. I hope they go for it."
In the meantime, Mayor Jeremy Harris and the City Council have been working on bus fare increase proposals to raise revenues and avert a strike.
City Council members are meeting Monday to hold a public hearing on raising bus fares in order to offset a $117 million shortfall in the bus operating budget that is the root of the fiscal problems between OTS and the union. The Council's plan is predicted to raise a little more than $3 million from the new fares.
Harris took some pressure off bus employees earlier this week by delaying scheduled bus service cuts that were supposed to take place this month.
The city had planned to reduce 80,000 hours of bus service starting tomorrow, which would have meant up to 40 bus drivers would have been laid off, a major sticking point in contract talks.
Some bus employees worry it might be too little, too late to avoid a strike. They say they hope any strike will be brief.
"I doubt it will be very long," said bus driver Frank Eastes. "It'll be too crippling for the city."
Driver Raymond Balles said: "I can handle waving signs in the hot sun only for a little while. ... I'm looking at three days. I'm pretty sure they'll come to a conclusion by then."
Honolulu Police Department officials said there will be more officers monitoring busy intersections on Tuesday to clear any potential fender-benders caused by increased traffic.
Other than that, however, they warn that there is not much they can do.
"If it's just gridlock, there's nothing we can do," said HPD Strike Coordinator Lt. Sherman Chan. "We're hoping for the best ... but it's going to be pandemonium, I think."
BACK TO TOP |
Bus strike could
affect Handi-Van’s
operationsThe Teamsters want
Handi-Van employees
to join in any strike
Handi-Van officials are bracing for disruptions in transporting thousands of disabled customers in the event of a bus strike Tuesday, even though their employees are not covered by TheBus' collective bargaining agreement.
Employees of TheBus and Handi-Van work for Oahu Transit Services, the company that runs both systems for the city, and are represented by the same union, Local 996 of the Teamsters Union.
The union is urging the nearly 300 Handi-Van employees to join in solidarity with union members who work for TheBus.
Union President Mel Kahele, standing in the parking lot of the Kalihi Shopping Center where the Handi-Van base yard is located, said he believed 80 percent of the Handi-Van employees will participate in a sympathy strike.
"We are encouraging them," he said. "We want this strike to be as effective as possible so we can get off the picket line and start picking up our passengers."
Both union and company officials say picket lines are planned for the Handi-Van site.
Employees at Handi-Van are covered by a separate contract that is in effect for four more years.
"Our attorneys have advised us that the (Handi-Van) Teamster members have the legal right to participate in the sympathy strike, and we will not discipline them for exercising that right," said Roger Morton, Oahu Transit Services senior vice president.
About 15,000 riders are eligible for Handi-Van services -- they are unable to ride TheBus -- and the familiar blue-and-white wheelchair-accessible vans make about 2,400 trips a day.
"In the event of a disruption to Handi-Van, we will do our utmost to provide as much service as possible, but it is likely that we will not be able to operate a full-service schedule," said Patricia Nielsen, vice president for paratransit services, the division of Oahu Transit Services that operates the Handi-Van.
"While the company will not discipline any Handi-Van employee for honoring a Teamsters picket line, we urge all our Handi-Van employees to follow their conscience and to continue to provide these vital services."
She said Handi-Van drivers are torn between supporting their union and meeting the needs of their clientele. "They have relationships with the people, and they know their needs. They really want to work."
Nielsen is advising Handi-Van users to limit their travel beginning Tuesday. She said if the company is unable to provide full service, it will prioritize service, first meeting critical needs such as kidney dialysis treatments.
About half of Kaiser's 300 kidney dialysis patients use the Handi-Van to get to the treatment centers. "That's the group that's going to be impacted the greatest," said Jan Kagehiro, Kaiser spokeswoman.
Star-Bulletin reporter Craig Gima contributed to this report.
