IBEW pact
set to expireContract negotiations are
ongoing with 1,100 electrical
utility workers on three islands
Contract talks covering more than 1,100 employees who work for the electric utilities companies on Oahu, Maui and the Big Island continued yesterday. The current contract is due to expire at midnight tonight.
The union representing the utility workers, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local Union 1260, said the company is proposing substantial increases to employee contributions toward health benefits, reductions in retirement benefits and eligibility, changes to hours worked and other items such as meal allowances. The union wants improvements to wages, retirement and health benefits as well as other contract items covering things such overtime, holidays and vacation and per diem rates it said in a statement released Wednesday.
It also said the union negotiating committee has been given the authority by membership to call for a strike or to extend the contract on a day-to-day basis if it believes a settlement can be reached.
The last time a utility workers' strike occurred was in 1973, according to Hawaiian Electric spokesman Chuck Freedman.
Freedman said its possible negotiations could be extended.
"It has happened in the past that they could choose to extend negotiations if they haven't settled, but right now we're still talking. We are going to try and settle this thing and we are working hard to do that," he said.
Should there be a strike, non-union employees are prepared to maintain operations, Freedman said.
"We will have more info if there is a strike, but at this point, we are focused on negotiations," he said.
Workers covered under the contract are employed in a wide range of jobs.
"These folks do all sorts of things, everything from clerical to field and trades and crafts. That includes everything from linemen to power plant personnel and office personnel," Freedman said.
Of the more than 1,100 workers covered under the contract, 716 work on Oahu, he said.
