Unite Here Local 5 said it has not yet heard from Kyo-ya Hotels and Resorts regarding contract negotiations, despite the hotel company saying it is “ready to welcome” back employees that have been striking its five properties since last Monday.þþUnion spokesperson and Westin Moana Surfrider employee Michael Kirby said Kyo-ya, which owns the Sheraton Waikiki, The Royal Hawaiian, Westin Moana Surfrider, Sheraton Princess Kaiulani and Sheraton Maui, has not “set a date to do any kind of contract negotiations.”þþ“I understand that Kyo-ya wants to welcome the workers back. However, we haven’t heard anything from Kyo-ya about contract negotiations,” Kirby said. “We have specific demands that we are asking for, and we’d like them to come to the table to discuss with us. Yet they have simply put us off.”þþPacific Business News has reached out to Kyo-ya for comment. The hotel company is bringing in outside help to staff these five properties, like tapping HIEmployment to bring in temporary employees. Kyo-ya is offering $23 per hour for positions like housekeepers, pool attendants, dining support, bell and valet services and telephone operators at the five affected hotels. It is also offering a $300 bonus to those who work three days in a row.þþOf the 3,500 total Marriott workers in Hawaii, about 2,700 workers are currently on strike. Local 5, an affiliate of Unite Here, represents about 11,000 Hawaii hospitality workers. The strike is likely to last at least another week, as the union is organizing marches around Oahu until Oct. 22.þþThe union is striking for improved job security and higher wages, referring to the strike as the “One Job Should Be Enough” campaign.þþþþþþIn a recent statement, the union pointed to a study by the National Low Income Housing Coalition, which said Honolulu residents need to earn $39 per hour to afford a 2-bedroom rental without spending more than 30 percent of their income on rent. This translates to $81,244 per year.þþ“That’s why Hawaii’s people have to work several jobs just to get by. Several jobs mean working nights and weekends. No days off. Several jobs mean not seeing our children. Several jobs mean not having a life,” Eric Gill, the financial secretary-treasurer of Unite Here Local 5, said in the statement.þþMarriott, Kyo-ya and Unite Here Local 5 have been negotiating since union contracts covering thousands of employees expired in June. Last week, Kyo-ya said it “respected the right of our employees at Kyo-ya’s five properties in Hawaii to participate in a work stoppage which began on Monday, Oct. 8, and we are committed to continuing our good faith bargaining.”þþ“Although Local 5 called for our employees to walk off their jobs, we value them and are ready to welcome them back,” the hotel said in the statement. þþ
Source: bizjournals.com
