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POIPU, Kauai >> About 230 Sheraton Kauai workers picketed the hotel Wednesday in a labor dispute over benefits and other issues.
Local 5 spokesman Cade Watanabe told The Garden Island newspaper the hotel’s management company Starwood should provide medical benefits to food and beverage workers who will lose their jobs for about seven months while the hotel undergoes renovations.
Watanabe says Starwood provided workers at the Princess Kailuani in Waikiki with benefits when that hotel was redeveloped.
Sheraton Kaua’i General Manager Chip Bahouth said in a statement the hotel’s ability to provide a world class experience for its guests is made possible by “the hard work and spirit of aloha of our associates.”
The workers’ contract expired last June. Local 5 is negotiating for a new contract.
