Tugboat picketers walked the line in front of the entrance to Piers 39 and 40 on Nimitz Highway on Friday.
Neighbor isles
feel strike’s impactTalks continue as the tugboat
crew walkout idles barge
cargo traffic for a fourth day
Negotiations continued last night to try to resolve a tugboat strike that has crippled interisland cargo shipments.
Union and company representatives talked yesterday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and resumed talks at 7 p.m.
The strike at Young Brothers Ltd. is entering its fourth day.
A barge towed by a tugboat with a nonunion crew was able to supply Lanai yesterday.
Now, Molokai appears to be the hardest-hit island.
Thanks to the special barge delivery, Lanai's 12th Annual Pineapple Festival -- complete with early Fourth of July fireworks and live music -- was held yesterday as planned.
Normally, Lanai gets delivery from a Young Brothers barge every Thursday. But the strike by the Inlandboatmen's Union of the Pacific has halted interisland barge traffic since Thursday.
Nonstriking boat captains manned the tugboat yesterday that delivered $17,000 worth of fireworks, sound equipment for a Cecilio and Kapono concert, and holiday watermelons to Lanai -- plus staples like milk, meat, rice and produce.
Cindy Honda, co-owner of the Pine Isle Market, said Lanai residents were celebrating the barge's arrival, "but I don't think they realize that the strike isn't over yet."
When the Young Brothers barge arrived on Lanai yesterday, the fireworks were one of the first things offloaded and fireworks crews "feverishly" began setting them up at noon, said festival producer Waynette Ho-Kwon.
By 4 p.m., about 1,000 people were at the park, the keiki pineapple-eating contest was in full swing and the sound system was ready, Ho-Kwon said.
"Everything is going. People are having a great time so far," she said.
About 3,000 were expected for the fireworks show.
Meanwhile, on Molokai yesterday, shoppers scooped up the essentials -- rice, sugar and toilet paper were gone or going fast -- and grocers worried whether they'd have enough stock until Thursday, the earliest a barge shipment would stop at the island if workers were to resume work this week.
The strike canceled Molokai's Monday barge, which usually leaves Oahu on Saturdays and stops in Maui on Sundays.
Molokai and Lanai aren't served by Matson Navigation Co., which ships containers brought in from the mainland interisland.
By yesterday afternoon, rice and sugar were sold out at Misaki's store in Kaunakakai. Friendly Market also ran out of rice yesterday, and was getting low on chicken, produce and dairy products.
"They're just hoarding, I guess," said Jeff Egusa, Friendly Market's president and general manager. He said that by mid-week, "we'll be out of perishable-type items."
Kamula's Cookhouse owner Steve Price said he'll run out of french fries, sliced beef and pork, and other prepped food by mid-week.
To keep his central Molokai eatery open, Price plans to take a ferry to Maui and bring back food in ice chests. He's also agreed to pick up items for other restaurateurs.
"Overcome and adapt, you know," Price said. "If I have to rent an aircraft to bring products in, I guess I will."
Blossom Poepoe, manager of Kanemitsu Bakery and Coffee Shop, said her establishment has a little over a week of supplies for its famous Molokai sweet bread.
"If we knew there was a strike, we would have ordered more," Poepoe said. "I don't know if it would be worth it to bring it (flour and other supplies) in on an airplane, because then it would raise the price of the bread."
Striking workers on the picket line held out hope that talks might lead to a resolution last night with their employers, Young Brothers and Hawaiian Tug & Barge.
Both companies are owned by SaltChuk Resources Inc.
At issue is how much time off tug workers accrue for every eight hours they work.
The union has asked for eight hours paid time off for each eight hours worked, citing safety issues for crews that often work overtime every day for weeks at a time.
The companies currently offer four hours paid accrued time off for each eight hours worked. The workers don't receive standard vacation pay, but must earn time off by this formula.
For example, one worker said, he might work seven days a week for three months, then take a month off.
Tug crew members said an interisland crew consists of six people: a captain, a first mate, a second mate, an able-bodied seaman, an engineer and a cook. They are opposing company requests that the crew be reduced to five.
Farmers on the neighbor islands said yesterday that a prolonged strike could mean a hit to their businesses. Some have already had to cancel orders.
"The only other option is to go on air freight, but it's really expensive," said Rick Schuster, a banana farmer on the Big Island.
Schuster ships about 4,000 pounds of bananas to Oahu weekly and has already missed one shipment. He said that if the fruits ripen, they can't be shipped.
"The bananas at this point are green, and every week we harvest so much," he said. "When we don't harvest, sooner or later they're going to start turning ripe on the tree."
Oahu growers are also having trouble getting their produce to other islands.
"With the strike, we're not able to service all of our customers," said Mel Matsuda, owner of Kahuku Farmers, Inc.
Matsuda said he's had to cancel a shipment of papayas to Maui, and expects more cancellations if the strike continues through the week.
Wally Tamashiro, owner of Richard's Shopping Center on Lanai, said after yesterday's delivery his store is fully stocked.
"But I don't know for how long, if they don't settle this week," he said.
