A Hilton Hawaiian Village housekeeper said she has become the target of escalating harassment because she crossed the picket line during last month’s five-day strike by the hotel’s 1,500 Unite Here Local 5 members.

Rodanelia Rodrigues, 37, filed a police report in an attempt to end what she says has been a worsening campaign of verbal abuse, vandalism and physical intimidation directed at her.

Rodrigues, who has worked at the hotel for seven years, said she participated in the first day of the strike, on Oct. 14, even though she disagreed with the action. On Oct. 15, she said, she entered the hotel to look around and was greeted by managers who asked her to work. So she did.

"They said they appreciated me being there," Rodrigues said. "I had never been appreciated before. It felt good. I had no idea that the union would do that to me afterward. Nobody ever warned me or tried to stop me."

According to Rodrigues, the harassment began as soon as the rest of the workers returned to work on Oct. 19. She said co-workers with whom she used to be friendly now make derogatory comments to her.

A couple of weeks ago, she returned to her car in the hotel garage and found all four tires flattened.

Rodrigues, a single mother of three whose youngest child suffers from a congenital heart defect, said the final straw came when another employee pushed her while they were passing each other in the hallway.

"I called the police after that because it’s getting worse and it has to stop," Rodrigues said. "I get harassed every day. They say they hope that ‘this lady’ will die or that ‘her’ family will die. They start rumors and try to get me fired. It’s a very hostile environment."

Local 5 spokesperson Cade Watanabe said the union was not aware of allegations that Rodrigues had been pushed or that her car had been damaged. He said the alleged verbal abuse, as it had been reported, appeared to be a legal expression of frustration and anger on the part of workers who had participated in the strike.

"There were those who were out there fighting and sacrificing for a contract against a company that is doing very well yet has not been working with us," Watanabe said. "There are those that are going to be upset at those who chose not to fight with us in solidarity and instead sided with the company. It’s legal to call someone who crosses a picket line a ‘scab.’ If they choose to do that, I think they should expect and understand that people are going to be angry."

Rodrigues said she has sought help elsewhere but to no avail.

"I talked to a union representative and she just said, ‘That’s what you get,’ " she said. "I spoke to (the hotel’s human resources department) and they said they couldn’t help me, either. I don’t know what to do. If it continues, I might use my (tax) return next year to hire a lawyer."

Hilton Hawaiian Village officials did not respond to a request for comment yesterday.