An endorsement of Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann's gubernatorial campaign by the Hawaii union representing longshoremen has caused its former president to quit two union-affiliated boards in protest.

Local 142 of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union announced its support of Hannemann on Tuesday, saying the mayor will create jobs and work cooperatively with the Legislature and county mayors.

The endorsement irked Eusebio “;Bobo”; Lapenia Jr., who was active in the local for 30 years and was its president in 1992-2003.

Lapenia said he prefers Hannemann's rival for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination, former U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie, because Abercrombie has always been supportive of the union.

“;I cannot forget the things he did for this organization during all my years in my employment with ILWU,”; Lapenia said Thursday in an interview. “;Neil has always been a friend of labor.”;

The Big Island resident said he quit a board, of which he was vice president, that oversees the union's real estate holdings. He also resigned from another board with responsibility over a union health care program, he said.

“;I felt that I could not be part of those boards because I would be, like, going against the local's endorsement,”; said Lapenia, 67. “;In order for me to campaign freely for Neil, I didn't want any kind of attachment to 142.”;

Another former Local 142 official, Yoshito Takamine, has taken similar steps since the Hannemann endorsement.

Takamine, the local's Big Island division chief in 1970-86, said he also quit the union's real estate board and another panel that deals with retiree issues in protest.

“;I have nothing against Hannemann,”; Takamine, 84, said yesterday. “;Neil Abercrombie has a record all the way going back”; to his days in the state Legislature.

On Tuesday, Local 142 President Isaac Fiesta Jr. said Hannemann “;has the vision, the ability to put Hawaii back on the right track.”;

A union spokesman did not respond to a request for comment. Brooke Wilson, a spokeswoman for Hannemann's campaign, said the union's endorsement speaks for itself.

The union boasts a membership of about 20,000, nearly 80 percent of whom live on the neighbor islands, where Hannemann is not as well known as in Honolulu.