Workers agree historic Hawaii hotel labour contract
18 January 2013
Workers have overwhelmingly approved the first labour contract at the Pacific Beach Hotel in Waikiki, Hawaii, ending 10 years of dispute that wound up in the courts.
Local 142 of the International Longshore & Warehouse Union (ILWU) announced that the four-year contract will produce immediate five per cent rises for non-tipped employees and 13 per cent rises in total over the full term of the agreement, with smaller rises for tipped employees. All employees will get fully-paid medical care and eight days’ paid holidays instead of the current three.
Since signing a unionisation petition in 2002, the ILWU claims that workers have endured mass firings and intimidation. It says that the owner of the Pacific Beach had tried to use the appointment of new management contractors as an excuse to take any contract talks back to the beginning and to make employees reapply for their jobs. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruled, however, that there was effectively no difference between the new management company and the hotel itself.
Ongoing violations of federal labour law by the hotel led to the NLRB successfully applying for the second time to the US District Court for Hawaii for an injunction in 2011. The hotel’s appeal against this failed when in 2012 the US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the judgement and the US Supreme Court refused to hear the case.
ILWU International Vice President Wesley Furtado said: "We thank the many people and organizations from Hawaii and around the world who came forward to support this struggle."
ITF head of civil aviation and tourism Gabriel Mocho commented: “We congratulate the workers on this victory and hope that it sends a loud message to other hotels in the region.”
The hotel relies heavily on visitors from Japan, so the solidarity visits and networking support from Japanese unions and the endorsement of a boycott in 2008 by the Japanese Trade Union Confederation were invaluable. The Tokyo offices of the ITF and the International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers' Association (IUF) were involved from the start of the struggle, with their dockers and tourism unions playing an important role. And in November 2012, the ITF’s tourism section conference approved a motion of support.
ITF unions show support for ILWU in grain dispute
21 January 2013
ITF-affiliated unions around the world are showing support for their colleagues in the ILWU (International Longshore and Warehouse Union) in what could be a major labour showdown in the Pacific Northwest of the USA.
Multinational grain companies, who are currently making record profits, have reportedly hired replacement non-union workers to take over work currently being done by ILWU members in case of a lockout in the Ports of Seattle, Tacoma, and Vancouver, Washington, and Portland, Oregon.
Solidarity was shown this week when ITF US West Coast coordinator Jeff Engels boarded the vessel Ramada Queen at United Grain in Vancouver, and found that the captain and crew were aware of the ILWU’s labour dispute, and that they expressed solidarity with the ILWU on behalf of their own union, the Japanese Seamen’s Union (JSU).
Jeff Engels explained: “The captain and seafarers had learned of the ILWU’s struggle weeks ago, while they were still docked in Asian ports. As union members themselves, who are among 4.5 million workers united as affiliates of the ITF, they knew the players involved as well as the high stakes for workers.”
JSU contracts include an ITF solidarity clause that its members will honour other unions’ picket lines and the JSU had informed the ship’s owner of this clause.
“The crew reiterated that they stand one hundred per cent in solidarity with their brothers and sisters in the ILWU,” Jeff Engels said.
The ILWU reports that global grain giants are attacking their long-standing collective bargaining agreement, with months of negotiations in 2012 proving fruitless. The members are now working under an imposed contract.
“Seafarers from around the world are grateful for the ILWU’s solidarity over the decades,” said Engels. “They’re eager to have the opportunity to support the ILWU in their campaign to secure a good contract with the global grain merchants. They understand that workers need to stick together, or we’ll all be exploited by corporations that put profit above the wellbeing of workers.”
ITF president and chair of the ITF dockers' section, Paddy Crumlin, said: “When you sign up to the ITF you sign up to watching out for your mates. That's what solidarity is, and that's what's built into everything we do. I am heartened and not surprised to see this crew spreading that message.
“We don't like employers who pretend to be interested in negotiation but reach for union busting strategies instead. That behaviour has been noticed, and here comes the warning: our friends in the ILWU can be sure of worldwide support against that type of behaviour.”
Acting ITF general secretary Steve Cotton added: “ITF unions are on standby to help their colleagues in the US. Whether it's on ships or in ports, workers are watching what happens next and planning accordingly.”
