Picketers from the Inlandboatmen's Union of the Pacific continued to walk the line yesterday afternoon outside Young Brothers on Nimitz Highway. Negotiations were to resume today.
New talks planned in
tugboat walkoutYoung Brothers works on a new
proposal before today's meeting
Two Hawaii tugboat companies and their striking crews agreed to return to the negotiating table today in hopes of resolving a 3-day-old walkout that has crippled interisland cargo shipments.
"If there's nobody at the table, we don't get anywhere. Both parties want to come back and start negotiating," said Lisa Sakamoto, a vice president with tugboat operator Young Brothers Ltd.
The company was working on a new proposal last night, but Sakamoto declined to divulge any details. The two sides plan to meet at 9 a.m.
She said most cargo sailings remained on hold for the time being, but a vessel that has been idle in Honolulu since Wednesday night was scheduled to depart early today for Lanai, laden with watermelons, a sound system and fireworks for a Fourth of July celebration on the island.
The ship will get under way with a crew composed of tugboat captains who are part of management.
The strike, which began Thursday morning and also has hit sister firm Hawaiian Tug & Barge, has idled barges that ply interisland routes and raised the specter of big financial losses for Hawaii farmers and other merchants that rely on interisland shipping.
Air-freight operators struggled to transport produce shipments but warned that a lengthy strike could cause serious problems -- and higher prices -- in the commodities lifeline linking the islands.
"We've handled it so far, but if this thing goes on for a week or more, we're going to see some real bottlenecks," said Norma Acob, regional manager with Commodity Forwarders, which specializes in transporting perishable items.
Members of the Inlandboatmen's Union of the Pacific walked the picket lines for a second day yesterday in their dispute with management over the amount of paid time off allotted to tug crews.
Tugboat operators and crew members get four hours of paid time off for every eight hours worked, which means they work about eight months of the year and get paid for 12 months. But they are asking for half the year off with pay, saying better-rested crews will improve safety. They oppose a company proposal to reduce tug crews to five members from six.
But management dismissed that claim in a sharp statement early yesterday. The companies, which have offered a compromise of six hours off for every eight worked, said money, not safety, is behind the union demands.
"The union is raising false issues about safety when really it is about getting paid more and doubling the paid time off they earn," Young Brothers President Glenn Hong said.
Meanwhile, farmers and other businesses across the state rushed to book expensive space on air carriers for perishable items.
Aloha Airlines, the largest interisland air cargo carrier, said it flew 243,000 pounds of freight Thursday night and yesterday morning, 50,000 pounds more than usual. Hawaiian Airlines said it received an additional 65,000 pounds of cargo, doubling what it usually handles.
Ultimately, consumers are expected to foot the bill for the air shipments, which are significantly more expensive than sea freight.
"Prices are going to have to rise because flying is really the only alternative for perishables right now," said Kelvin Shigemura, vice president of Armstrong Produce.
The strike is not expected to significantly affect the supply of mainland goods to Hawaii since Matson Navigation Co., the state's leading provider of ocean cargo services, is largely unaffected. Matson does not contract with Young Brothers, but uses tugboat firm Sause Bros., whose tug crews signed a new contract in October and are not on strike.
Matson also was handling some of the perishable items that would normally have been towed by Young Brothers, a spokesman said, but it can only move items originating on, or destined for, the mainland since it is classified as an interstate shipper.
Many farmers are bracing for a financial blow.
Roger Hirako, who operates a 140-acre farm near Kamuela on the Big Island, spent Thursday and yesterday scrambling to get as much of his produce as possible shipped out to buyers on Oahu, but has been able to send only a fraction of the normal amount.
"This is probably going to cost us a bunch," said Hirako, who was reached on his cell phone while driving a truckload of produce to Kailua-Kona's airport. "But right now, we're just trying to survive and keep our customers happy."
Richard Ha, whose Keaau Banana Plantation is the state's biggest producer, said he and his 35 idled employees will be badly hurt if a settlement does not come soon. He has 3,000 40-pound boxes of bananas and no way to ship them, and rows of unharvested crop that will start rotting in the fields within 10 days.
"All of the farmers are in the same boat," he said.
Meanwhile, neighbor island residents continued to hoard basic necessities such as toilet paper and rice out of fear that the strike could drag on.
"They're selling way more than normal," said Derek Kurisu, vice president of KTA Super Stores in Hilo.
Store owners and county officials said there was little concern that Kauai, Maui and the Big Island will run out of the basics since local food production and Matson shipments can meet most needs.
Not so on Molokai and Lanai, which are not served by Matson.
Crystal Agusa, manager of Friendly Market on Molokai, said she ran out of rice and toilet paper despite placing limits on customer purchases. But she said Molokai residents will adapt.
"A lot of subsistence still exists here," she said.
Star-Bulletin reporters Anthony Sommer and Rod Thompson contributed to this report.
BACK TO TOP |
Governor explores shipping options
The state is exploring ways to move needed supplies between the Hawaiian islands, including help from the military, if the tugboat strike drags on.
Gov. Linda Lingle said yesterday the state would "potentially get involved if the health and safety of neighbor islands residents are jeopardized."
Lingle cautioned that she thought the strike was not yet that severe and that interisland barge operator Young Brothers Ltd. and its affiliate, Hawaiian Tug & Barge, and the Inlandboatmen's Union of the Pacific wanted to continue negotiations.
Lingle has her chief of staff, Bob Awana, monitoring the talks.
The chief concern, Lingle said, is that the strike is driving up the price of goods on the neighbor islands. If it ends quickly there will not be a severe impact, but every day it goes on, it drives up the cost of food that has to be flown into the neighbor islands.
"That cost will be passed on," Lingle warned.
Meanwhile, Lingle is exploring ways to have the military assist in moving supplies if the strike drags on.
"It would be a little bit premature to talk about a specific course of action, but there is definitely the potential for us to get involved," she said at a news conference.
The state would assist in moving "essentials from island to island -- in particular, medical supplies," Lingle said.
The tugboat strike highlights a problem in Hawaii with little interisland freight competition, Lingle said. That problem, the governor said, would continue even after the strike is resolved.
"We have definitely been discussing the need for additional competition," Lingle said.
"It simply makes us too vulnerable. We will continue to look into the problems that develop when you have the state dependent on one company," Lingle added, referring to Young Brothers.
The governor said she would prefer to spur competition through private enterprise, but she did not rule out state help.
