Hotel union to vote on strike step

Unionized workers for the Royal Kona Resort will vote today on whether to give their leadership the right to authorize a strike at the Big Island hotel over not having a union contract.

United Here Local 5's contract with the hotel, covering 145 workers, expired in June 2007. The hotel's owner, Hawaiian Hotels & Resorts, moved to cancel the union contract in January 2009. The union accuses the hotel of failing to pay increases for medical benefits through the workers' health and welfare trust fund.

Gary Hogan, president of Hawaiian Hotels & Resorts, said that there would be a meeting with the union tomorrow. He said the company is still interested in having a contract with the employees.

Local 5 has 145 workers at the Royal Kona Resort. The members will meet at the King Kamehameha Hotel today for the vote.

Economy rebounding, reports show

WASHINGTON » A flurry of reports out yesterday suggested that many Americans are feeling better about the economic rebound.

Retail spending rose sharply and more than expected. Consumer inflation remains all but invisible. Businesses are boosting their stockpiles in anticipation of higher shopper demand.

Retail sales surged 1.6 percent, the Commerce Department said, up from February's revised 0.5 percent gain.

Chase earned $3.3 billion in quarter

NEW YORK » JPMorgan Chase & Co. reported a $3.3 billion first-quarter profit on big gains in the financial markets even as the Obama administration pressed for limits on banks' trading of risky but lucrative investments.

The company's earnings report yesterday also had some good news on the economy: The bank is seeing the clearest signs yet of recovery. The dollar amount of its loans in or near default fell during the quarter from the final three months of 2009. JPMorgan Chase, the first of the big banks to report earnings for the January-March period, beat forecasts as its earnings rose 57 percent from $2.1 billion a year earlier.

Loan modification disqualifications up

WASHINGTON » The number of homeowners in the Obama administration's flagship foreclosure prevention program is growing, data released yesterday show. Yet it's not all good news.

About 231,000 homeowners had completed loan modifications through March. That's about 21 percent of the 1.2 million borrowers who began the program during the past year. But another 158,000 homeowners who signed up have dropped out—either because they didn't make payments or failed to return the necessary documents. That's up from about 90,000 just a month earlier. Many more applicants are still in limbo, awaiting final answers from their banks. The program is designed to lower borrowers' monthly payments by reducing mortgage rates to as low as 2 percent for five years and extending loan terms to as long as 40 years.

On the Move

» The Mountain Apple Co. Hawaii has appointed Lisa Soong as vice president of operations. She has been with the company for 10 years.

» Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis has announced the appointment of Alicia Villarreal as her regional representative in California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah and Hawaii. She was previously a partner at Morgan Lewis in Los Angeles as well as an assistant U.S. attorney in the U.S. Attorney's office for the Central District of California.