Over 50 ILWU members, retirees, and family members marched in the January 21, 2013, Martin Luther King Day parade from Ala Moana’s Magic Island to Kapiolani Park. Dozens of unions, religious groups and community organizations march in the Honolulu event to celebrate Dr. King and his contributions to civil rights.
Pacific Beach Hotel workers win 10-year struggle for union rights and ILWU contract
The ILWU has called an end to the boycott of the Pacific Beach Hotel with the signing of the union contract with Highgate Hotels.
It took over ten years, but the workers of the Pacific Beach Hotel have finally won union representation and a fair contract. It took tremendous courage, dedication and solidarity from the workers of the hotel, and it took the support and determination of the ILWU to stand with the workers.
On the afternoon of December 29, 2012 at the Pacific Beach Hotel, instead of chants and slogans of countless rallies and demonstrations led by the ILWU, there were cheers, hugs, and high-fives. After more than ten years of struggle, an agreement was reached on a first union contract for Pacific Beach workers
For more than a decade, showing up for work at the Pacific Beach Hotel meant facing eight hours of intimidation and disrespect from management. The intimidation peaked in 2007 when 31 union supporters were fired—including seven of the ten negotiating committee members.
The fight intensified
A local boycott of the hotel was called by Hawaii unions, community groups, and elected officials. At the request of the ILWU International, the AFL-CIO placed the Pacific Beach Hotel on its national boycott list. The boycott went international when union federations in the Philippines, Canada, and Japan also came forward to support the Pacific Beach workers. The solidarity of unions in Japan—led by Zenkowan, the All-Japan Dockworkers Union—was especially critical because most of the hotel’s guests came from Japan.
“This fight could not have been won without the strength and determination of the Pac Beach workers. These workers faced firings, harassment, and intimidation for over ten years—but they still stuck with the ILWU and the ILWU stuck with them,” stated International Vice PresidentHawaii Wesley Furtado. “But the workers weren’t alone. Global solidarity was also key to this victory.”
y to this victory.” Pacific Beach Hotel workers voted to approve their ILWU contract by nearly a unanimous vote. The new contract gives workers in non-tipped jobs a five percent raise in the first year and a total increase of 13 percent over four years. Tipping category workers improved and secured their tips, and all workers will see major improvements in their benefits and job security.
But Pacific Beach workers did more than just improve their standard of living. They also built the foundation of a strong unit organization in the hotel to take on the struggles that lie ahead and negotiate more improvements in future contract negotiations.
Virginia Recaido, a 20-year housekeeper and union negotiating committee member, was fired in 2007. She found another better paying job, but went back to the hotel after a judge ordered her reinstated. Why did she return? “I had to show the company they didn’t win. I don’t want people who come after me to suffer like I did.”
Kapena Kanaiaupuni, a bellman with nearly 30 years seniority, is also a member of the union negotiating committee who was fired and reinstated. After the contract was approved, he was approached by immigrant Korean and Chinese workers excited about their first union contract. Differences in languages and cultures had kept them apart, but the workers’ victory changed that. Kanaiaupuni told them: “Never mind about nationality—we’re all one now!”
