Weinberg back, bus negotiations begin

The protagonists in Honolulu’s 25-day-old bus strike were closeted with Mayor Neal S. Blaisdell this afternoon in what may turn out to be marathon contract talks over the Easter weekend.

The Mayor, trying hard for a settlement, is prepared for round-the-clock talks. He has set a 10 a.m. Monday deadline for signs of progress before he begins using the prestige of his office and the weight of public opinion to force a settlement. However, the meeting was clouded by two developments yesterday:

» The Public Utilities Commission’s rejection of Honolulu Rapid Transit Company’s request for a five-cent across-the-board fare increase.

» New, costlier demands for wages and fringe benefits by the striking Teamsters Union.

The afternoon meeting in City Hall was the second today.

Harry Weinberg, H.R.T. board chairman, flew back to Honolulu early this morning. He had been on the Mainland since a day before the strike started March 1.

Arriving on the same flight … was Lawrence Steinberg, assistant to the general president of the Teamsters Union.

Weinberg already had heard about the P.U.C.’s rejection of his bid for a fare increase. He was tight-lipped when questioned at the airport.

Arthur A. Rutledge, Hawaii Teamsters president, met the two men at the airport, and they headed directly for the meeting with the Mayor at City Hall. Blaisdell, who had flown back from a Big Island vacation, had arrived at his office earlier in the evening.

The session lasted from 1 a.m. to 3:30 a.m.

Blaisdell described the meeting as exploratory. He wouldn’t predict what will happen, but said he is "hopeful."

"After two and a half hours of exploratory talks, I felt it would be better to give everybody a rest before we resume," the Mayor said. "After all, they had traveled a long way and were tired."

The Mayor has a difficult road ahead because Rutledge warned at a press conference yesterday that the union and H.R.T. are "miles apart" as far as a settlement is concerned.

If the three-year contract negotiated last September is reinstated, the union wants 30 cents an hour more in wages and pension contributions spread over the remaining two and a half years.