Unite Here Local 5, which represents 2,700 striking hotel workers in Hawaii, and Kyo-ya Hotels & Resorts will return to the bargaining table next week.

Local 5 announced Friday that it is slated to resume bargaining with Kyo-ya on Friday and Oct. 27. That means that the strike likely will drag on for another week. The strike began Oct. 8 when negotiations between Local 5 and Kyo-ya, which owns the Marriott-managed Sheraton Waikiki, Royal Hawaiian Hotel, Westin Moana Surfrider, Sheraton Princess Kaiulani and Sheraton Maui, reached an impasse.

The union said its leaders met with Marriott this week but have not addressed core issues with Kyo-ya since summer when contracts expired. Local 5 Financial-Secretary Eric Gill said the resumption of bargaining is “a testament to our steadfastness and determination on the picket line, and the broad support we’ve received from our community.”

Kyo-ya said Friday that it had received its “first request from Local 5 to continue the negotiations process.”

The company said it is “committed to bargaining in good faith. Our door has always been open, and we look forward to productive meetings.”

As of Friday strikers will have been picketing for 19 days, bringing the duration of this strike close to Local 5’s last big strike in 1990 when workers walked the picket lines for 22 days. That strike involved 7,500 workers for Hilton Hawaiian Village, Hyatt Regency Waikiki, the Ilikai, Kahala Hilton, Sheraton Waikiki, Sheraton Moana Surfrider, Princess Kaiulani, Royal Hawaiian Hotel, Sheraton Kauai, Sheraton Maui and Kona Hilton.

The 1990 strike was so contentious that the Council of Hawaii Hotels unsuccessfully sought to get a restraining order against the union for civil disobedience. Tensions were particularly high at the Kahala Hilton, where management accused strikers of turning Kahala Beach Park into a campsite, trying to forcibly gain entrance to its Hala Terrace Restaurant and impeding access to the hotel.

Flyers were circulated accusing the hotels involved in the 1990 strike of hiring homeless workers as scabs. It took intervention from then-Gov. John Waihee and federal mediator Frank Schoeppel, who joined the negotiating teams, to bring that strike to an end.

Community divided

The current strike already has divided the community and caused pain for both sides. The union has received support from politicians including U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono and U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, Honolulu City Councilmen Ron Menor and Joey Manahan, Maui County Councilwoman Elle Cochran and Gov. David Ige’s chief of staff, Mike McCartney, who visited the picket line.

Other unions or their members also have offered support, including the Office and Professional Employees International Union, United Public Workers, University of Hawaii Professional Assembly, Association of Flight Attendants, Hawaii Sheet Metal Workers Union, UHPA, UFCW, IBEW, Machinists, UPW, Iron Workers, HSTA, Teamsters IU, Academic Labor United and American Federation of Teachers.

But there has also been a wave of backlash accusing strikers of being unskilled workers who are overpaid, greedy and lazy. And some strikers have gotten caught in the fray.

Five union workers, three at the Sheraton Maui and two at the Sheraton Waikiki, have been banned from the properties where they work for one year. The hotels banned the employees for leafleting guests in the porte-cochere. The union has filed unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board in connection with these incidents, which mean that when the strike ends these employees could not return to their employment without risking getting arrested for trespassing.

Complaints about the strike, some anti-hotel and some anti-union, are lighting up social media. Regardless of fault, there’s no denying that guest experiences at the affected properties and their surrounding destinations have been affected.

The strike zones are loud and extend beyond the affected properties. Some of the affected hotels have been unable to provide housekeeping service or have reduced the frequency of room cleanings. Some hotels also have closed restaurants and stopped offering room service. Guests at some properties have reported having to stock their own towels and in-room amenities, take out their own trash, park their own cars and carry their own luggage.

That could put a damper on the state’s largest convention of the year, the American Dental Association, which is taking place this week in Waikiki. It also could affect Saturday’s Honolulu Pride Parade in Waikiki, which coincides with a planned union rally in Waikiki, and the Hawai‘i Food & Wine Festival’s Spiked! event at the Sheraton Maui.

Linda Walsh, a repeat visitor from Sydney who visited Waikiki during the strike, said Hawaii won’t be able to handle these high-profile events.

“This was my 10th visit, and I can only say it was my worst visit ever. The tone of our visit was brought down by the lack of service experience at the Royal Hawaiian along with disruptions surrounding the hotel of the protesters,” Walsh said.

Walsh said she was disappointed that Marriott waived resort fees but would not discount rooms for visitors affected by the strike.

“This protesting didn’t affect Marriott at all; it only affected the tourists within these hotels and those staying in Waikiki. I’m not sure it has helped these protesters, either. This visit really turned me off Hawaii,” she said. “It’s an embarrassment and letdown by the Marriott Group as well as Hawaii local government to let this get so out of control and for such a long time and affect the tourist dollar they so heavily rely on.”