Union rejects Hawaiian Telcom offer

Union workers at Hawaiian Telcom made preparations for a possible strike after they voted overwhelmingly Monday to reject the company’s final offer on a new three-year contract.

Officials from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers 1357 said members could strike at any time but have been told to report for work today.

Union members voted 513-85 to authorize the strike and turn down the latest contract offer from the company, which called for a modest increase in wages and reductions in some benefits. The union has 708 members at Hawaiian Telcom.

The vote comes just a week before Hawaii hosts the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting of world leaders. The APEC summit begins Nov. 7. The weeklong conference is expected to bring about 20,000 people to Honolulu and will culminate Nov. 12-13 when President Barack Obama hosts the leaders of the other 20 APEC nations, including China, Russia and Japan.

Hawaiian Telcom reiterated Monday that it has plans in place to ensure that service is not interrupted during the APEC summit.

A strike would be the first against the local telephone company since 3,300 IBEW workers walked off the job for 40 days in 1974, according to the center for Labor Education and Research at the University of Hawaii-West Oahu.

The union began strike training Saturday in anticipation of a no vote on the contract, said Scot Long, business manager for IBEW local 1357. The union also has prepared picket signs in the event of a strike.

"We can go out at any time," Long said Monday. "We’re currently notifying our membership to return to work tomorrow until we have time to review the vote and talk to our international president."

The union contract expired on Aug. 12, and the two sides agreed to a series of one-week extensions that lasted until Oct. 24. The company said it offered to extend the contract through Nov. 15 to avoid a potential timing conflict with APEC, but the union did not accept.

Long said the offer was turned down because there was no indication from the company that it was willing to budge from its "last, best and final offer" made during the first week of October.

That offer included:

» Having the union members contribute 10 percent to their health care premiums. The company currently pays 100 percent of the premiums.

» Reducing fully paid sick leave to eight weeks a year from the current 26 weeks. The proposal included company-paid long-term disability and long-term health care insurance.

» Freezing the current defined-benefit pension and expanding the company’s 401(k) plan.

» Wage increases of 1 percent a year over three years, plus a ratification bonus of $500 per employee for each year.

"Hawaiian Telcom’s offer demonstrates a commitment to ensuring that our employees continue to receive competitive pay and very favorable benefits," the company said in a prepared statement.

Long said he was disappointed the company did not consider the union’s proposal to save Hawaiian Telcom $5 million through a variety of measures, including a reduction in the proposed ratification bonus and a pledge by management to give back some of their 2010 compensation.

"To me the way they have bargained has been just on the surface," Long said. "When it came down to the cost items we offered them, they refused."

Hawaii News Now video: Union authorizes strike at Hawaiian Telcom