Nonunion shops
fill concrete gapHawaiian Cement negotiators
resume federally mediated
contract talks today
A handful of concrete companies are struggling to meet demand from contractors and homeowners whose construction projects have been stalled by strikes at the state's two largest concrete providers.
"I've been turning a lot of people down," said Guylyn Taniguchi, a batch plan operator at Laie Concrete & Aggregate Inc. "I don't like turning down people. I hope this strike gets over pretty soon."
Hawaiian Cement negotiators said yesterday that they would resume federally mediated contract talks at 2:30 this afternoon with Teamsters Local 996, the union for the company's 67 striking workers.
No new negotiations are scheduled between the union and Ameron Hawaii. Some 144 unionized concrete workers are walking picket lines at the company's three Oahu sites.
"Every day brings a new dawn and a new opportunity to resolve this," Hawaiian Cement Vice President Michael Coad said yesterday as his workers marked their fifth day on strike. "I would hope that we could have productive and constructive discussions."
The strikes are expected to postpone a concrete pour on the H-1 freeway's Makakilo Interchange scheduled for this weekend.
The pour -- to replace less durable asphalt in the area -- was supposed to take place over the next five weekends, said state Department of Transportation spokesman Scott Ishikawa.
And without concrete, city crews were filling cuts in Waikiki sidewalks designed for wheelchair ramps with asphalt yesterday. City spokeswoman Carol Costa said the asphalt will be replaced with concrete once the strikes are over.
Both Coad and Teamsters attorney Michael Chambrella declined to discuss the specifics of their latest contract proposals or any new ideas they would be bringing to the table today.
As both strikes near their week-long marks, the island's four nonunionized ready-mix concrete providers are fielding more requests than they can handle.
"We were very busy, even before the strike," said Shorty Kuhn, vice president and general manager of Island Ready-Mix Concrete Inc.
The number of concrete orders he is filling has increased by about 30 percent since the strikes, Kuhn said. "That's all we can handle."
Kuhn also said Island Ready-Mix, Ameron Hawaii's sister company, has gotten a steady 400 calls a day, and the company's jobs list is filled until early March.
At Laie Concrete, Taniguchi has only seen an increase in business since the strikes began. "It's a terrific boost," she said, adding that she had to turn away 10 jobs yesterday.
Galen Agni, store manager at Ace Hardware in Wahiawa, said that on Sunday he sold out of cement -- which is used to make concrete -- and all three of his cement mixers were rented through the weekend.
"They're (homeowners and contractors are) taking it into their own hands," Agni said, "and finishing the job on their own."
