Strike rattles
buildersHawaii home construction stalls
as a walkout dries up supplies
of concrete for foundations
As strikes at the state's largest concrete providers persist, some home builders -- who have had to postpone a number of projects because they cannot even lay a structure's foundation -- fear prolonged picketing could put their businesses in jeopardy.
"I'm ready to pour a concrete slab next week, and I'm hoping these guys solve their problems pretty soon," said Jeff Brandt, owner of Brandt Homes in Kahaluu. "If they go any more than two weeks, then I'm in trouble."
Some 144 Ameron Hawaii workers are on strike for a fourth day today, while 67 Hawaiian Cement workers have been walking picket lines since Saturday.
No new contract talks are scheduled between Teamsters Local 996 -- the union for all of the workers -- and either company, though union officials and the companies' negotiators say they are willing to return to the table if talks are productive.
But at the Building Industry Association's Home Building and Remodeling Show yesterday, contractors and home builders were worried about the stall in negotiations and the prospect of lengthy contract disputes.
"If the strike is prolonged, we could get to a point where we'd have to lay people off," said Akamai Homes Inc. owner George Thorp. "I have two to three weeks of work in front of me. After that, it'll start to affect me."
CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARBULLETIN.COM
Ameron Hawaii employees picketed yesterday outside the gates of the cement plant.
Analysts have said a long concrete workers strike threatens to slow Hawaii's multibillion-dollar construction industry. Those hit hardest would likely be small- to medium-size home-building companies, which are less able to bounce back from a period of reduced income.
"We're starting to look for remodeling (jobs) -- things that we don't need cement for," said Uriah Bagley, of BW Builders LLC, who was pushing his company's home renovation services, rather than its home construction options, yesterday at the Blaisdell Center's product show.
Nathan DeLuze, a construction manager with Graham Builders LLC, said his company cannot proceed with construction of six homes without concrete deliveries.
"In the interim we're trying to get the prep work done," he said. However, "we can only do so much."
DeLuze said even though the construction projects are relatively idle, the company is still having to pay equipment rental fees and for employees to manage the sites. He also said that for each phase of a home that is completed, the company receives $50,000.
Without concrete to build a foundation, DeLuze cannot begin to build a new home. And without a foundation, he cannot work on any other phase of a building to guarantee a steady income stream.
Joe Kindrich, president of Hicks Homes in Hawaii, said he has had to postpone construction on three homes, one each in Liliha, Kahaluu and Heiea.
"We're kind of at a standstill," he said.
Contract negotiations between the union and Hawaiian Cement broke off Friday night, just hours before workers from the company went on strike at 12:01 a.m. Saturday.
Hawaiian Cement Vice President Michael Coad has said his employees make $67,000 to $116,000 on average annually, depending on their seniority. The company's striking workers are mixer truck drivers and quarry workers, he said.
Ameron Hawaii management and union negotiators went back to the table with a federal mediator at 5 p.m. Saturday but ended their negotiations at about 8:30 p.m.
Teamsters attorney Michael Chambrella said Jim Santangelo, vice president of the union's Western region, attended Saturday's negotiations to provide "moral support." Santangelo also came to the islands last year, just days before the month-long city bus workers strike was resolved.
On the Ameron and Hawaiian Cement picket lines yesterday, strikers remained upbeat.
"We just hanging on together as a team," said Jonah Cordeiro, strike captain at Ameron's Pahounui Drive facility. "We are David, they are Goliath."
The strike became a family affair for Manu and Clinton Chong, who were both involved in last year's bus strike of Oahu Transit Services Inc. employees.
Chong's father, Clinton Sr., is now walking picket lines at Hawaiian Cement's Halawa Valley quarry.
"We know exactly how they feel," said Manu Chong, who brought water, juice and food for the strikers. "It's good to give back. Everybody (has) to come and support."
Officials have said that contract sticking points for both companies center on medical and sick-leave benefits, but they have declined to discuss specifics.
Wayne Kawano, president of the Cement and Concrete Product Industry of Hawaii, said at yesterday's home building show that he is "certainly looking forward" to a resolution of the strikes. The organization -- to which both Hawaiian Cement and Ameron are members -- is a nonprofit aimed at promoting the state's cement, concrete and masonry industry.
"Like any strike, the longer it takes, the bigger the impact," Kawano said.
Star-Bulletin reporter Rosemarie Bernardo contributed to this report.
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Construction industry pressure
helped end 1992 strikeWorkers at Hawaiian Cement, one of the state's largest concrete providers, last went on strike 12 years ago.
At that time the contract dispute centered on medical benefits, also a main focus of the company's current strike.
Some 211 concrete workers from Hawaiian Cement and Ameron Hawaii remain on strike today, and no new negotiations between the companies and the workers' union, Teamsters Local 996, were scheduled yesterday.
Hawaiian Cement workers struck for 12 days in 1992, and both the company and Teamsters officials said pressure from the construction industry played a role in the strike's resolution.
Hawaiian Cement Vice President Michael Coad told the Star-Bulletin after a new contract was approved that if the strike had gone on for another week, "it would have had a much greater impact" on the economy.
Four years earlier, 82 Hawaiian Cement workers walked the picket lines for 21 days over wage and benefit disputes. The company's unionized workers also struck in 1984 and 1982.
In 1994 more than 200 Ameron workers staged a three-day work stoppage that shut down concrete deliveries out of the company's three Oahu plants. A year earlier, workers from both Ameron and Hawaiian Cement skipped work for a day to get briefed on the status of contract negotiations.
Star-Bulletin staff
