Bus talks yield
no solutionThe Teamsters want
a five-year contract
but management counters
with a 32-month deal
Bus strike talks resumed for the first time in nine days yesterday, but ended just before 10 p.m. with no settlement.
CORRECTION
Sunday, Sept. 21, 2003>> Hotel workers leader Eric Gill spoke at Friday's Teamsters union rally. A story on page A1 of yesterday's Star-Bulletin incorrectly identified him as Gary Gill.
The Honolulu Star-Bulletin strives to make its news report fair and accurate. If you have a question or comment about news coverage, call Editor Frank Bridgewater at 529-4791 or email him at fbridgewater@starbulletin.com.
Talks were scheduled to resume at 10 a.m. Monday, which will be the 28th day of the strike.
Union officials for Teamsters Local 996 said negotiators for Oahu Transit Services Inc., the company that runs TheBus for the city, had offered a counterproposal to the union's latest proposal which was offered earlier in the afternoon.
"It's actually a 32-month proposal," Local 996 President Mel Kahele said about OTS's latest offer.
"We did make some headway, the company did agree on some of the issues. The wages and pension (are) still open," he said after talks broke off.
Asked why there would be no talks over the weekend, Kahele responded, "We need to massage some of the stuff they gave us and they need to massage some of the stuff we gave them."
OTS chief negotiator Perry Confalone also was upbeat about last night's talks. "We had what I feel was a very productive discussion," he said. "Very business-like. We're exploring a number of proposals or alternatives in attempt to end this strike and we've agreed to reconvene on Monday."
DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
In support of bus workers seeking a new contract, Teamsters and other unions showed up in force at the state Capitol.
Earlier in the night, union officials said they offered a five-year deal that was not received well by OTS negotiators.
"The good thing to report right now is that we are still meeting with the company, but at best we can say right now it's been a lukewarm response," said Don Owens, a communications specialist from the International Brotherhood of Teamsters' headquarters in Washington.
Details about the five-year offer from the union were not available. The last offer on the table from the union was a three-year deal that included a wage freeze for the first year and 50-cent pay increases in wages and pension for the second and third years.
Before last night, the company's most recent proposal included no wage or pension increases in the first or second year, but OTS had proposed reopening the contract talks for the third year to renegotiate wages and pensions.
Yesterday's talks started in the morning and broke off for a few hours for a union rally at the state Capitol and Honolulu Hale.
Before the talks restarted at 5 p.m. at the Prince Kuhio Federal Building, Kahele would only say that both sides have a "gentlemen's agreement" to keep details about the proposal quiet.
"We're looking at labor peace for five years," Kahele said. "Instead of going back and opening up the contract in a couple of years, we figure we look at labor peace for five years, and we don't have to go through this again."
More than 1,300 bus workers have been on the picket lines since Aug. 26.
DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Teamsters and other unions held a rally yesterday at the state Capitol and later marched to City Hall. They headed up to the mayor's office, but he was not in. Many of them ended up signing the mayor's office visitors log.
The union leadership blames media coverage for much of the criticism it has received from the public.
"I saw this lady flip off my two kids when they were down at the picket lines with me," said bus driver Jeff Rotolo, who was at the rally with his 8-year-old son and 4-year-old daughter. "We just want to take care of our families.
"If you ever get a chance to get a raise, then you have to go for it."
Rotolo was among the more than 300 Teamsters and their supporters who gathered at the Capitol. The rally's goal was to jump-start the spirits of bus workers who have spent 25 days walking the picket lines in the summer heat.
"Have fun!" guest speaker and hotel workers union leader Gary Gill told the energized crowd. "If you look depressed, they're happy! If you're happy, they're depressed!"
A bus worker data clerk who asked to be identified only as Kamaka said: "Nothing but aloha for everybody here. All we want is a fair amount."
Over and over again, union members chanted: "What do we want? A CONTRACT! When do we want it? NOW!"
Onstage, Kahele roared a fiery speech to a receptive audience. "We want to keep our benefits, keep our pay -- with increases, of course -- for at least five years," he said. "And if they don't like it, we'll stay out here.
"We'll fight 'em on the damn street!"
Eventually, union members did take to the street, marching over to City Hall and up to the mayor's office. A city spokeswoman said Mayor Jeremy Harris was busy driving city vans to give rides to people as he has been doing since the strike started.
The visitors log in the mayor's office was signed by 144 union members while the rest of the group cheered in the hallways and stairways. About 20 Honolulu police officers were stationed around City Hall observing the group.
Outside the morning negotiation session, Owens helped with the spokesman duties, which Kahele had mostly handled since the strike began.
"What I hope to do is make sure we have a coordinated message," Owens said, "make sure that all of our members, as they have already known, knows what's going on with the negotiation."
The union is also going to try to win support for its members from local politicians, clergy and the public, he said.
Kahele said: "I will be speaking on advice from IBT representative Mr. Owens, and only because it seemed like the media wasn't in favor of the local union's position.
"We consistently told the media that our proposal is subject to city funding, and they've never mentioned that," Kahele said.
Jim Santangelo, vice president of the Teamsters Western region, arrived earlier this week and also attended the negotiations and rally. Teamsters General President James Hoffa is expected to come to Hawaii.
"Perhaps with Mr. Santangelo's arrival, he has some additional thinking and some fresh ideas as to how we might solve this," said Confalone early in the day.
The two sides met in the federal mediator's office yesterday. All previous negotiations had been in conference rooms of the Neal Blaisdell Center.
Star-Bulletin reporter Nelson Daranciang contributed to this report.
City to continue Saturday shuttles
The city will continue to offer its Saturday bus shuttle service this weekend.The free shuttles will begin at 7 a.m. Fourteen shuttles will run circular routes through Chinatown Gateway Plaza, while two shuttles will run on a North Shore-Sunset-Windward route.
The shuttles through the plaza will go to Kalihi; Waianae, Kapolei Waikele and Waipahu; Ala Moana Center, Waikiki and the University of Hawaii at Manoa; Ewa Beach and Pearlridge; Wahiawa, Mililani and Salt Lake; and Waimanalo, Kailua and Kaneohe.
For a list of the Saturday shuttle schedule, including routes, go to the city's bus strike information Web site at www.co.honolulu.hi.us/dts/strike.
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Bus strike leaves many elderly
without companions or caregivers
Narciso Ballesteros misses the weekly visits from senior companion Ed Yapyapan, his friend and caregiver.
But Yapyapan can't get to the Salt Lake home of Ballesteros, 81, because of the bus strike. The Waipahu caregiver has no other way of getting there.
"We really miss him coming," said Ballesteros' wife, Pauline. "My husband really enjoys his company and looks forward to his coming. They sit down and talk together about old times. He helps my husband remember things."
Yapyapan, 76, works for the Senior Companion Program, a statewide volunteer program that uses healthy, low-income seniors to serve frail, homebound elders. The volunteers and those they serve are 60 years and older.
Gerald Sumida, director of the senior program under the state Department of Human Services, said 80 volunteer companions on Oahu, or 93 percent, rely on the bus for transportation. The program serves 541 clients on Oahu, who suffer from an assortment of chronic disabilities.
Sumida said his volunteers are the eyes and ears of the agencies that monitor the elderly clients. Those who have been unable to work since the strike began Aug. 26 have felt "like caged animals" and call their clients every day to check on them, he said.
Sumida said the clients who are hurt the most are those living alone. In most cases, relatives, or perhaps a neighbor or close friend, are pitching in, but backup help is "practically zilch," Sumida said.
"Everybody is a first-string player. We don't even have anybody (sitting) on the bench," Sumida added.
A city-sponsored program to provide van service to seniors that started Monday has not been helpful to his volunteers because most of them have to travel to their clients' homes, which are so spread out that it usually involves one or two transfers and some walking, Sumida said. He said the city vans will not take his volunteers so far out of the way.
Yapyapan has four regular clients, ranging in age from 79 to 96, whom he usually serves in their homes. He assists them with walking, bathing, changing diapers and preparing food Monday through Friday, which at the same time provides a few hours of respite for the primary caregivers.
"With no bus there's no way of going to my clients," he said, "but I keep on calling them every day. They say they miss me. I am hoping the strike stops so I can go on doing my work. ... I find it very rewarding."
Pauline Ballesteros said her husband is difficult to get along with because of his dementia and anxiety attacks.
"Ed is very patient, very loving and very understanding," she said. "He is the first person my husband really likes (of all the past caregivers he's had)."
Yapyapan also gives her four hours of freedom to "do what I need to do," she said. The bus strike has made it impossible for her to keep two doctors' appointments and go to the dentist because she depends on the bus for transportation, she said.
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Little-known bike
program still available
Bicycle commuters apparently are on their own.
In anticipation of the bus strike, three city employees volunteered to lead bike caravans to Honolulu Hale from different parts of Oahu in the morning, then lead the group back in the afternoon.
Eve DeCoursey volunteered to lead the ride from Kaimuki Park, but so far, no one has followed her lead.
"After so many days of nobody showing up, I stopped going," she said Thursday.
The leader of the ride from Ala Wai Community Park had one rider on one day and another rider on a different day, who then went on vacation, DeCoursey said.
James Burke, who leads the ride from Central Oahu District Park in Waipio, said there were two riders at the start of the strike, and one of them had never ridden five miles before.
After they got their confidence, they commuted on their own, Burke said. Commuters who are already cyclists know what they are doing and do not need a group leader, he said.
The volunteers are still available to lead group rides. Interested riders should call DeCoursey at 527-6326 or the Honolulu Bicycle Coordinator at 527-5044. They are also available by e-mail at edecoursey@co.honolulu.hi.us or on the Web at www.co.honolulu.hi.us/dts/bicyclingprogram.htm.
Bicycle shops are reporting 20 percent to 30 percent increases in sales of bicycles and accessories since the start of the strike.
With more cars and bicycles sharing the road, Sgt. Glenn Maekawa, former Honolulu Police Bicycle Detail supervisor, has simple advice for cyclists: Be seen, be predictable and wear your helmet.
"Make sure drivers can see you, and make sure they know what you are going to do," Maekawa said.
More information about bicycle laws and safety tips are available at www.honolulupd.org/ community/bicycle.htm.
