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WAILUKU—The Grand Wailea ILWU negotiating committee met on January 3, 2014, at the ILWU Hall on 896 Lower Main Street in Wailuku to review and check the new contract for any errors before sending it for signature by the union and the company. The union committee makes sure the new contract correctly contains all the agreements made during negotiations and no other section of the contract has been omitted or altered.

There have been cases where management or their attorneys have changed the language or left out sections of the contract without talking about these changes with the union. It has long been standard practice for the union’s negotiating committees to compare every word of the new contract with the old contract to make sure every section of the contract is correct.

The Grand Wailea Resort is located adjacent to Wailea Beach on the southwest coast of the Island of Maui. There are 780 guest rooms and suites with private balconies and sitting areas. The hotel features a water complex with nine interconnected saltwater pools. The hotel was built in 1991 and employs almost 1,200 ILWU members.

The ratification was held December 6, 2013, at the Hotel and the memorandum of agreement (MOA) was approved overwhelmingly. The duration of the new contract is five years with a 6.5% wage increase over the duration. The union made substantial improvements in work conditions. Other improvements include a substantial increase in the contributions to the pension plan and increases in premiums for tour services and valet service charges. This is significant as there is no self-parking on the property. All guest vehicles must use the valet service. The company agreed to participate in the ILWU Local 142 (Hotel) Health & Welfare Trust. This will add an estimated 1800 participants to the Trust.

Negotiating committee members are: Committee and Unit Chair Robert Apo, 1st Vice Chair Helene “Lei” Sato, 2nd Vice Chair Merlina Valdez, Unit Treasurer Perlita “Perly” Manlansing, Unit Secretary Kenneth Hunt, Grievance Chair Nicole Scida, Venessa Bautista, Alex Garcia, Kimberly Javier, Dickson Manzano, Henry Oandasan, Valerie Salmon, Haren Soril, and Adrienne Tsukiyama.

Members of Grand Wailea, including Tanya Leong, Steward Heidi Namauu, and Jonathan Baker (left) now have a new 5-year contract that runs from April 1, 2013 to March 31, 2018.

The Unit 2520 - Grand Wailea union negotiating committee: (sitting, l-r) Kenneth Hunt, Adrienne Tsukiyama, and Valerie Salmon; (standing, l-r) Local President and spokesperson Donna Domingo, Business Agent Stephen West, Haren Soril, Nicole Scida, Perly Manlansing, Alex Garcia, Lei Sato, Robert Apo, Henry Oandasan, Merlina Valdez, and Dickson Manzano. Not pictured: Venessa Bautista and Kimberly Javier.

New Sack N Save contract ratified by membership

HONOLULU—Sack N Save Foods ILWU negotiating committee met on January 10, 2014, at the ILWU Hall on 451 Atkinson Drive in Honolulu to review and check the new contract for any errors before sending it for signature by the union and the company. The union committee makes sure the new contract correctly contains all the agreements made during negotiations and no other section of the contract has been omitted or altered.

There have been cases where management or their attorneys have changed the language or left out sections of the contract without talking about these changes with the union. It has long been standard practice for the union’s negotiating committees to compare every word of the new contract with the old contract to make sure every section of the contract is correct.

(L-r): Maui Division Business Agent Bobby Andrion, Hawaii Division Business Agent Corinna Salmo, Starr Pascua, Helen Ann Benarao, Wanda Cravalho Logan, Anna Ater, Bob Barrett, Local President Donna Domingo, Oahu Division Business Agent and spokesperson Jose Miramontes. Not pictured: Noah Bennett-Drayer, Loretta Char, and committee Chairperson Gordon Ogawa.

Spokesperson Jose Miramontes, committee Chair Gordon Ogawa, Loretta Char and Bob Barrett at the bargaining table. Negotiations took a little over five months to complete.

Foodland Super Market, Ltd. operates 32 grocery stores throughout Hawaii under the Foodland and Foodland Farms names. Sack N Save is a subsidiary and sister chain of Foodland and Foodland Farms. The company employs over 200 ILWU members in eight locations statewide.

The ratification was held September 6, 2013, at the eight locations statewide and the memorandum of agreement (MOA) was approved overwhelmingly. The duration of the new contract is four years with a 9% wage increase over the duration. The Union made substantial improvements in benefits. They include the company bearing the full cost of the TDI premiums and Group Life Insurance premiums. Previously, the premiums were shared between the company and the employee.

Among other improvements were a substantial increase in contributions to the pension plan, and the addition of grandparents and grandchildren as family members for the purpose of funeral leave.