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CRAIG T. KOJIMA / ckojima@staradvertiser.com
Pacific Beach Hotel head doorman Douglas Kometani, left, and bellman Kapena Kanaiaupuni are among the property's 300 union employees looking forward to new management and a new contract.
Workers represented by the International Longshore & Warehouse Union Local 142 announced today that they have reached agreement on a first contract with management at Pacific Beach Hotel ending more than a decade of acrimonious legal battles.
Workers ratified the contract with near unanimous approval over a 24-hour period from Jan. 9 to Jan. 10. Contract details will be released later today at a 2 p.m. press conference held at the LWU Local 142 office located at 451 Atkinson Drive.
“This is a historic day. We congratulate the Pacific Beach Hotel workers for having the strength and determination to carry on their fight for the last 10 years and we thank the many people and organizations from Hawaii and around the world who came forward to support this struggle,” said ILWU International Vice President Wesley Furtado.
The contract comes on the heels of the latest management change at the hotel, which is owned by HTH Corp. HighgateHotels L.P., which has corporate offices in New York City, Dallas and London, assumed management of the hotel late last year. At the time of the change, Highgate said it had “collaborative co-existence” at most of the locations in its hotel portfolio.
