Lanai hotel members at the Four Seasons Resort Lana’i at Manele Bay and The Lodge at Koele will see a huge increase in their take home pay beginning January of next year. Thanks to a new collective bargaining agreement between the ILWU and the Four Seasons, the hotels will come under the ILWU Health and Welfare Trust Fund, and workers will no longer need to pay their 15 percent co-share of the monthly medical premium.
The new contract calls for the hotel to pay the full cost of the family or single medical plan for full-time and part-time employees. The employees share of the medical premium, which could range from $50 a month for single coverage and up to $150 a month for family coverage, will no longer be deducted from their paychecks and will show up as a big jump in their take home pay.
There were many other gains in the contract. Wages for all workers got a 3 percent boast on August 1, 2006, and a second jump of 3 percent will take effect on July 1, 2007. Five more increases will push wages up by a total of 17 percent by the end of the five-year contract.
Employees will no longer have 80 cents per work shift for meals automatically taken out of their paychecks. Instead, employees may purchase meal tickets which is currently set at $.80 cents per meal.
The porterage or baggage handling fee paid to bell workers increased to $4.00 for each check-in and $4.00 for each check-out. On July 1, 2007, the porterage will increase to $4.50 and on July 1, 2008, it increases to $5.00 for each check-in and each check-out.
Workers will receive $2.50 for delivering house charge amenities and $4.00 for group charge amenities. These will increase in mid-2008 to $3.00 for house and $4.25 for group charges and in mid-2010 to $3.50 for house charges and $4.50 for group charges.
Housekeepers will get a higher premium of $2.00 for making up rollaway, sofa beds or cribs in their rooms. On July 1, 2007, the premium will go up to $3.00. The premium does not apply to the built-in Murphy beds (beds that fold down from the wall) installed in a handful of rooms at The Lodge at Koele.
Food and Beverage workers will be guaranteed a service charge of 16%, up from the 15% of the old contract. Workers cleaning grease pits and traps will receive a new premium of $5 per hour.
On July 1, 2007, the hotel will increase its contributions into the pension trust fund from 25 cents to 30 cents for each hour you work. On July 1, 2008, the pension contribution will increase to 35 cents per hour.
Other changes
Part-timers working an 8 hour shift for 8 consecutive days without a day off will get overtime pay for all work after the 8 days. This benefit is already given to full-time workers.
Work schedules will be posted a day earlier by Thursday at 5:00 pm instead of Friday noon.
New employees who become eligible for sick leave benefits after August 31, 2006, shall serve a twoday waiting period for the first year of eligibility. Thereafter, the waiting period is one day before sick leave benefits are paid.
The union will be given 15 minutes to do a presentation at the end of the company’s orientation meetings for new employees. ◆
Earthquake damage forces Mauna Kea Beach Hotel
shutdown
Engineers discovered previously undetected earthquake damage to the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel which resulted in the closure of the hotel on December 1, 2006, for 18 months or longer until repairs can be completed. Over 400 ILWU members working for the Big Island hotel are affected by the closure.
The magnitude 6.7 earthquake off the Kohala Coast off the island of Hawaii on October 15 had caused extensive damage to the hotel. Elevator shafts were cracked and inoperable, three lanais collasped on the beachfront wing, and half of the 300 rooms were put out of service. The damage was not considered serious enough to close the hotel, and Hawaii County inspectors approved the buildings for occupany.
On December 1, consulting engineers hired by the hotel discovered damage to the lateral bracing system in sections of the roof of the main building. Because of the serious structural damage and continuing earthquake activity on the island, hotel management decided to stop renting rooms and move guests to another property.
Some of the restaurants, hotel services, and activities such as the luau and clambake will remain open or are being relocated to the Mauna Kea’s sister hotel, the Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel. The golf course, proshop, 19th hole restaurant, and Seaside Tennis Club remain open for business. These continuing operations will keep about half of the workers employed, and many more are expected to transfer to the Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel where they will not need to serve a second probationary period. Most, if not all, of the remaining workers should easily find temporary jobs at other hotels until the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel reopens.
There is a severe shortage of workers, and hotels in the area have many open job positions. The Fairmont Orchid, which had 100 vacancies, scaled back its program to bring workers from the Philippines on temporary 9-month work permits. Instead, the Fairmont plans to hire some of the Mauna Kea Beach workers.
Other ILWU organized hotels in the area, besides the Fairmont Orchid and Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel, include the Hilton Waikoloa Village, the Mauna Lani Bay Resort, King Kamehameha’s Kona Beach Hotel, the Ohana Keauhou Beach Resort, and the Sheraton Keauhou Bay Resort and Spa.
The ILWU moved quickly to take care of the 400 plus members at the hotel. The union met with management to work out the procedures for the layoffs and return to work and to make sure members’ rights and benefits were protected. A new contract was negotiated which runs until August 31, 2009, with an 8.5% hike in wages and an increase in pension contributions from the hotel. The union arranged job fairs to help laidoff workers find jobs. ◆
Pacific Beach rally—continued from page 1
ILWU Local Executive Board members from Kauai Doreen Kua and Jon Garcia support Pacific Beach workers at their rally.
Pacific Beach ILWU members and supporters marched from the hotel to Outrigger headquarters, then gathered outside while the union negotiating committee delivered a petition to Outrigger management.