HECO reaches
settlement with union
Hawaiian Electric Co. reached a tentative agreement with the union representing 1,100 workers on Oahu and its neighbor island subsidiaries after a marathon negotiating session Friday night into yesterday morning.
The contract between the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 1260 and HECO and its subsidiaries on Maui and the Big Island expired at midnight Friday night.
But HECO spokesman Chuck Freedman said the settlement was reached after "intensive negotiations."
Harry Kameenui, business manager-financial secretary for the local, said, "The agreement was reached collaboratively and is fair."
It is subject to ratification by the IBEW's 1,100 workers in the three companies on Oahu, Maui, Molokai, Lanai and the Big Island and will be presented to them next week, he said.
Terms of the proposed new contract won't be released publicly until union members ratify it, the officials said.
Negotiations on the new contract began in mid-August.
On Wednesday the IBEW said they were looking for 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 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.
Workers covered under the contract are employed in a wide range of jobs from clerical to lineman and power plant and office personnel.
