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A four-year contract agreement reached during the weekend between Matson Inc. and three unions that represent workers on its cargo ships does not include any cutbacks for workers, a president of one of the unions said Sunday.
The new contract, subject to ratification by members of the Sailors’ Union of the Pacific, the Seafarers International Union and the Marine Firemen’s Union, was agreed upon Saturday, less than a day before Sunday’s midnight strike deadline.
"We thought the company was going to try to force us into kickbacks, but we were successful in collective bargaining, and we look forward to the next four years (and) a good relationship with Matson Navigation Co.," Gunnar Lundeberg, president of the roughly 1,000-member Sailors’ Union of the Pacific, said by telephone. Lundeberg said the three unions have been bargaining together since 1901.
The last contract with the unions and Matson was reached in 2008, also on the day the before the earlier contract’s expiration.
"Matson is pleased to assure our customers that there will be no disruption to our service," company spokesman Jeff Hull said in an email Saturday.
The majority of the goods shipped to Hawaii are carried on Matson vessels.