Hyatt Centric workers vote to unionize

Workers at the Hyatt Centric Waikiki Beach Hotel cast their votes Tuesday to make the property the first Hawaii hotel to join the Unite Here Local 5 union through a National Labor Relations Board election in two decades.

Local 5 said the election results cover 65 workers employed at the 230-room Seaside Avenue property in housekeeping, maintenance, front desk, and the food and beverage departments. Local 5 spokeswoman Paola Rodelas said more than 70 percent of the workers voted to unionize.

“Over the last five years or so, union membership in Waikiki has held steady at just under 50 percent. But back in the 1970s and ’80s, unions were much stronger and union density in Waikiki was much higher,” Rodelas said. “Membership declined with the growth of condominium conversions, vacation rentals and the entry of more nonunion hotels. We are excited to achieve this victory at the Hyatt Centric hotel because it helps shift that balance.”

Rodelas said in 2017, Local 5 organized 360 nonunion workers in the hospitality, health care, and food service industries. Local 5 represents approximately 11,000 Hawaii workers in the hospitality, health care and food serv­ice industries and is an affiliate of Unite Here, an international union that represents over 250,000 workers throughout the U.S. and Canada, she said. Nationwide, Unite Here organized over 13,000 nonunion workers last year, Rodelas said.

Still, Rodelas said it’s rare for workers to unionize through an NLRB election since the process offers few employment protections.

“Management can do captive audience meetings about how terrible unions are. It’s not unusual for them to be pulled aside by management,” she said.

That’s why Local 5 hasn’t organized another Hawaii hotel through an NLRB election since 1998 when the Kaanapali Beach Club on Maui was unionized, Rodelas said. A Waikiki hotel hasn’t joined Local 5 through an NLRB election since workers at the Queen Kapiolani Hotel voted to unionize in 1991, she said.

Rodelas said Waikiki’s nonunion hospitality workforce on average earns $4 to $6 an hour less than union workers and lacks job security. Job security was a key concern for Hyatt Centric Waikiki workers, who have heard that the hotel owner, WTC Oahu Property LLC, plans to sell it, she said.

Rodelas said Local 5 contacted Hyatt Thursday about scheduling contract negotiations. Hyatt Centric Waikiki Beach management could not be reached for an immediate comment.

Lady Anne Tapac, a Hyatt Centric Waikiki Beach housekeeper, said she hopes management will promptly schedule contract talks. Tapac said she and other workers want a union contract in place before the hotel sells.

“If we don’t have a union and the property sold, maybe they would kick us out. If we have a union contract and someone buys the property, they’ll be buying the employees, too,” she said.

Tapac said contract talks also will provide an opportunity for workers to address work conditions without fear of firing. She said union workers at the Hyatt Regency Waikiki Beach, where she previously had an on-call position, were limited to cleaning 15 rooms, but workers at the Hyatt Centric Waikiki Beach are cleaning up to 17 or 18 rooms daily.

“I’m only 26 years old and I’m already feeling a lot of body aches. We don’t even have time to take 30 minute lunch breaks because we need to do our rooms,” she said.