Hale Koa Visitors, please click here.

MEMBERS VOTE TEMPORARY DUES INCREASE  Updated 5/12/2008

Pursuant to voting at the recent Special Membership Meeting sessions held on Kauai, Maui, Hawaii and Oahu on April 17, 22, 23 & 24, 2008, the following propsal was adoped by the membership:

Commencing in May, 2008, and continuing through December 2009, there shall be a temporary dues increase in the amount of ten dollars ($10.00) per month, over and above other dues and assessments. This dues increase shall be assessed on all members, and the additional revenue generated by this temporary increase is for the purpose of generating additional revenue to be utilized for the acquisition of real property at the direction of the Executive Board, to be used for the permanent offices of the union.

From January 2010 through December 2010, ten dollars ($10.00) per month additional dues, over and above other dues and assessments, will be assessed on members in the hotel and health care industries in Hawaii under the jurisdiction of The National Labor Relations Act, and shall be for the purpose of increasing the monetary balance of the Local 5 Strike and Defense Fund. All proceeds of the temporary dues increase during this period shall be deposited to the Strike and Defense Fund account, and shall be utilized for the exclusive purpose of providing relief to union members who lose work due to a labor dispute.

WAIKIKI RESORT SETTLES  Updated 10/30/2007

Just days after it was announced that a new four-year contract was agreed to for union members at the Ala Moana Hotel, Waikiki Resort has settled on a similar contract with Local 5. Please see the Press Release. Details of the agreement will be withheld pending a ratification vote.

ALA MOANA HOTEL SETTLES  Updated 10/25/2007

Ala Moana negotiations concluded successfully late Wednesday night. Please see the Press Release. Details of the agreement will be withheld pending a ratification vote, which is expected next week..

SHOP STEWARD AND DELEGATE ELECTIONS START TODAY  Updated 10/15/2007

At the last Local 5 Convention, delegates voted to overhaul the Convention language in the Bylaws. One of the changes was that Conventions now will be held annually. The other change was splitting Shop Stewards and Convention Delegates in to separate offices.

Election notices will be posted at all Local 5 properties. Here are the Shop Steward Nomination Form and Delegate Nomination Form. Nominations will be open until Tuesday, October 23.

IU MANDATED DUES INCREASE EFFECTIVE THIS MONTH  Updated 10/5/2007

Pursuant to actions taken at the 2003 UNITE HERE Convention, all Local unions are required to increase their monthly dues by $2.00 effective October 1, 2007.

This flyer will be mailed to members this week, explaining more about the increase.

HALE KOA WORKERS VOTE FOR LOCAL 5  Updated 9/18/2007

The Federal Labor Relations Authority today announced in San Francisco that 350 of 468 valid ballots were voted for Local 5 in an election to continue Local 5's representation of Hale Koa workers.

In August, 2006, a small number of SEIU members working at Hale Koa voted to join Local 5 (as a federal employer, membership in the union is not mandatory). Since then, Hale Koa has opposed the union and engineered this decertification election to try to get rid of Local 5.

Instead, the election campaign solidified support for Local 5 from those employees who were not previously members of the SEIU, with the result that more workers than ever are now involved in the union.

"WHITE BALLOT" ENDS LOCAL 5 ELECTION  Updated 5/7/2007

The Local 5 Election Committee conducted the Nominations Meeting on Tuesday, May 1, at the Local 5 office.

There was only one candidate nominated for each officer and delegate position. Following the meeting, the Election committee examined the Dues records of each candidate and determined all were in good standing. The term "white ballot" is used when only one candidate is nominated for each office in an election.

Therefore, the election committee has found that the election has been decided, and has issued a Notice of The Results of the Nomination Meeting. The Notice lists the successful candidates for each office and delegate position.

ELECTION COMMITTEE ISSUES OFFICER & DELEGATE ELECTION NOTICE  Updated 4/15/2007

The Local 5 Election Committee has convened in order to implement the 2007 UNITE HERE Local 5 Officer and Delegate Election.

This year brings changes to the election process. Nominations no longer require a seconding motion. Candidates will be allowed to run as Slates, providing certain conditions are met. These changes were made to conform with the revised UNITE HERE Constitution and Local 5 Bylaws.

The Notice of Nomination and Election may be obtained here. The Nominations Form may be obtained here.

The Convention will be held at HCC's Kapalama Campus on March 29th and 30th. For more information on the convention, contact your Shop Steward or call the Local 5 office at 941-2141.

EXECUTIVE BOARD CALLS FOR 9th DELEGATE CONVENTION  Updated 3/15/2007

The Local 5 Executive Board has issued a Convention Call for the 9th UNITE HERE Local 5 Delegate Convention.

Delegate conventions are held twice during the Board's 3 year term of office. The duties of the Convention delegates are to adopt the union's budget and to amend the Local's Bylaws when needed. Delegates are also Shop Stewards, so they also attend training and classes to improve their knowledge and skills.

The Convention will be held at HCC's Kapalama Campus on March 29th and 30th. For more information on the convention, contact your Shop Steward or call the Local 5 office at 941-2141.

QUEEN KAPIOLANI VOTES TO JOIN RATIFIED HOTELS  Updated 12/15/2006

Today, Queen Kapiolani Hotel workers are voting to ratify their tentative agreement. They are expected to approve the agreement by a wide margin. Ilikai, Marriott and Hyatt have already ratified new agreements this month.

For more on the recent ratification victories, please see the City Wide Negotiations flyers page.

LOCAL 5 RELEASES 2006 POLTICAL ENDORSEMENTS  Updated 10/19/2006

Local 5 has released its endorsements for the 2006 General Election. The list can be downloaded here.

HILTON AND SHERATON REACH AGREEMENTS  Updated 10/16/2006

Details will be released after the contracts are ratified. Ratification votes will take place on Wednesday, October 18 at the Sheraton Waikiki Honolulu Room, and Friday October 20 at the Hilton in the Hibiscus Room. Please see your committee or Union organizer for more information.

UPDATE - 10/19/2006. On Wednesday, in ratification voting at Sheraton, 99.1% of those voting approved the deal.

NEGOTIATIONS CONTINUE THIS WEEK  Updated 9/27/2006

Following picketing last week Wednesday at the Sheraton Waikiki/Royal and Friday at the Hilton, negotiations continue this week.

At Hilton, some positive movement was made, as the Employer began to clear off some of their initial proposals. This movement allows the parties to begin to focus on cost and other significant items.

However, at the Sheraton, the Employer's proposals were insulting, as they proposed different and lesser wage increases for several classes of food and beverage workers. Most disturbing were their impact proposals concerning the proposed renovation and development projects.

For more information, contact your Local 5 committee member of call the Local 5 office at 941-2141.

3000 HILTON AND SHERATON MEMBERS REGISTER FOR STRIKE BENEFIT CARDS  Updated 9/11/2006

Local 5 started issuing Hilton and Sheraton members strike benefit debit cards on Wednesday, September 6th in preparation for a possible strike. The cards will replace paper checks for payment of strike benefits to members.

The registration program took place every day from 5:30 AM until 7:30 PM, and continued until Saturday, September 9th, at Local 5's offices at 1050 Queen street. During that time, 2978 members, or 75% of Hilton and Sheraton members registered for their cards.

If you are one of the few Hilton or Sheraton members who did not obtain your strike benefit card, there will be another opportunity to do so in the near future. Please talk to your Local 5 committee or organizer for more information.

LOCAL 5 LABOR DAY EVENT  8/30/2006

On Monday, September 4, Local 5 will be holding its Labor Day event at the Laborer's Union Hall, 1617 Palama Street, Kalihi, from 8:00 AM to 2:00 PM.

Our elders, our members and our children are all invited to participate. There will be picket sign making, games for the keiki, a cookout, and a talk story session with our retirees.

For more information, call Local 5 at 941-2141 or contact your committee member.

HILTON AND SHERATON AUTHORIZE STRIKE  8/24/2006

In voting Wednesday, August 23, 96% of Hilton and 97% of Sheraton workers voted to authorize a strike.

Additionally, 563 members from Hyatt, Marriott, Ilikai, Ala Moana and Kahala hotels pledged to support any strike with $5 a week and 4 hours a week of picketing.

The voting compares to Chicago, where 92% of Hilton and 96% of Hyatt voted August 21 to strike, and to Toronto, where 89% and 91% voted to strike at Hilton and Starwood respectively on August 1.

Local 5 will be holding City-Wide committee meetings throughout the day on August 30, at the Blaisdell Center, to prepare for a strike. Contact your committee leader or organizer for more information.

ORGANIZING COMMITTEES AUTHORIZE STRIKE VOTE  8/9/2006

Local 5's committee leaders, meeting at the Blaisdell Center yesterday, overwhelmingly endorsed the union's call for a strike vote for the Hilton and Sheraton hotels.

The vote will be held Wednesday, August 23 at the Blaisdell Center, Pikake Room. Voting sessions will be held throughout the day.

Workers at other hotels currently in negotiations will also be attending these meetings to pledge their solidarity with their Hilton and Sheraton brothers and sisters. The Solidarity Pledge is to picket 4 hours a week and contribute $5 per week in the event of a strike at either the Sheraton or Hilton.

LOCAL 5 MEMBERS AND RETIREES HIT THE STREETS  7/27/2006

As contract negotiations heat up, Local 5 members and retirees are picketing as a way to get their message across to management.

On July 19th and 20th, over 100 Local 5 retirees and supporters picketed Hilton Hawaiian Village and Sheraton Waikiki. The issue for them is management's proposals to take money from the pension, as well as proposals that could bankrupt the medical plan and conceivably eliminate retiree medical coverage. Additional picketing is slated for this week.

Yesterday, July 26th, an estimated 1600 Local 5 members, community supporters and representatives of several other Oahu unions, picketed at the Hilton to protest the slow pace of negotiations. Please read this Honolulu Advertiser story for more.

Since bargaining started in mid May, the union and Hilton have not been able reach agreement on a single issue. In contrast, the union and Sheraton have reached agreement on many non-economic issues, and the talks appear to have momentum. The union has also exchanged preliminary proposals with the Hyatt and Marriott hotels.

The next round of bargaining for Hilton and Sheraton is slated for the 6th and 7th of August.

TURTLE BAY SETTLES!  7/19/2006

Just announced 5:30 PM Wednesday, July 19th. UPDATE - Full details of the agreement, which was unanimously ratified Saturday, July 22nd, can be found in the July 24th Campaign News Update.

BARAINING CONTINUES AT 4 LOCAL 5 HOTELS  7/13/2006

Bargaining is continuing at 4 Local 5 hotel bargaining units - the Hilton Hawaiian Village, the Sheratons (Sheraton Waikiki, Princess Kaiulani, Moana Surfrider and Hotel Support Services), Hyatt Regency Waikiki and Waikiki Beach Marriott Resort.

For weekly updates on the bargaining, please go to our Negotiations Page.

NLRB BLASTS TURTLE BAY  6/5/2006

The National Labor Relations Board has found Turtle Bay guilty of significant labor law violations, including maintaining illegal work rules, videotaping and eavesdropping on members, calling the police to remove union representatives, threatening retaliation and more.

The NLRB also ordered that two Turtle Bay members who were illegally disciplined, be reinstated and made whole.

The University of Hawaii's CLEAR has covered the decision in their latest newsletter. Please check it out. (Mahalo to Dr. William Puette of CLEAR).

JOHN EDWARDS TO VISIT LOCAL 5  6/2/2006

Senator John Edwards will be visiting Local 5 on June 14th. He will be accompanied by UNITE HERE President, Hospitality Division, John Wilhelm. Local 5 will be holding a press conference and rally as part of his visit.

Please see your committee person or Local 5 organizer for more information.

LOCAL 5 IN CONTRACT TALKS WITH SHERATON  5/17/2006

The first two day negotiating session with Sheraton concluded today with the company presenting their first set of proposals. The document is available for download here (750K pdf file).

The next round of negotiations will be Tuesday May 23rd and Wednesday May 24th.

LOCAL 5 JOINS LABORERS ON PICKET LINE  5/16/2006

Local 5 staff and members have been walking the picket line with the Laborer's union in its protesting the use of non-union labor at a downtown construction site.

The Laborers have been very supportive of our Turtle Bay workers in their fight to win a contract. Both UNITE HERE and the Laborers are members of the Change To Win Coalition.

All Local 5 members are invited to participate. Please call Morris Luka at the union office at 941-2141 for more information.

PUBLIC INVITED TO UNITE HERE ROAD SHOW  4/19/2006

Members of the general public are cordially invited to the UNITE HERE Hotel Workers Rising Road show on April 28th at the Blaisdell. The road show features UNITE HERE's President Bruce Raynor and actor and labor activist Danny Glover.

Those attending will receive a free Hotel Workers Rising t-shirt. If you are interested in attending the event, please register by sending an email to peter AT herelocal5.org, or by calling the Local 5 office at 941-2141. Please include your name, age and union affiliation, if any. You must be 18 or over to attend, unless accompanied by an adult.

HALE KOA WORKERS JOIN UNITE HERE   4/6/2006

This week several hundred workers at the Hale Koa Hotel in Waikiki successfully joined UNITE HERE Local 5. "Without a union, the Hale Koa Hotel housekeepers were being paid about $2.00 less than the Waikiki average," said Laura Moye, Local 5 organizer to the Honolulu Star Bulletin. "But these hotel workers will now be able to negotiate for the same wages and benefits of other union hotel workers in Waikiki and other parts of Hawaii."

For more, go to the Star Bulletin story.

UNITE HERE ROAD SHOW TO VISIT HAWAII  4/5/2006

The UNITE HERE Hotel Workers Rising Road show will be in Honolulu April 28th at the Blaisdell to kick off this year's campaign. The road show features UNITE HERE's President Bruce Raynor and actor and labor activist Danny Glover.

The event is expected to draw over 1,000 Local 5 members. We will be providing bus transportation for those who need it. Please see your committee member or Local 5 organizer for more information, and make plans to attend this historic event.

DELEGATES MEET FOR 8th CONVENTION  4/5/2006

Over 200 Local 5 delegates and members met at KCC Diamond Head Campus on March 29 and 30 for Local 5's 8th Delegate Convention. Special guests included UNITE HERE Hospitality President John Wilhelm and Local 2 President Mike Casey.

The delegates met to approve the past year's union budget and Executive Board actions and to approve one Bylaw amendment, which concerns the assessment of union dues when an employer stops collecting dues via payroll deduction (which can happen if the contract is cancelled). In this case, all full time workers will be assessed dues at the rate of the lowest paid classification in that contract. For the Waikiki hotels, that works out to abut $40 per month. Under no circumstances would a member pay more dues than they usually do.

The highlight of the convention was a visit from two non-union hotel workers from LA, Angela Davis and Patty Delgato, who are fighting to get union representation at their hotels. They spoke about the working conditions in their hotels. Please download the Local 5 Campaign Update (224K pdf file) to read more about their struggle.

LOCAL 5 CELEBRATES MARTIN LUTHER KING DAY  1/16/2006

About 60 Local 5 staff, members and retirees marched in Monday's Martin Luther King day parade. Local 5 took the opportunity to unveil UNITE HERE's new design to represent the goals of our union.

The theme of the campaign is "Hotel Workers Rising - lifting one another above the poverty line." This theme reflects the fact that in many parts of the US, hotel workers earn close to minimum wage and have few benefits, and that it is in the best interest of all hotel workers that the standard of living of these poorly paid workers is improved.

EMBASSY SUITES MAUI RATIFIES FIRST CONTRACT  1/3/2006

On December 29, 2005, Local 5 workers at Embassy Vacation Resort on the island of Maui ratifed their first contract by a 94% margin. The ratification vote was the end of a six year journey by many Embassy workers, who intially voted to join the union in 1999.

The contract featured a 10% wage increase over two years and gives the members access to the grievance procedure and other workplace rights that many Local 5 hotel workers have had for decades.

NEIGHBOR ISLAND STEWARDS ATTEND TRAINING  10/11/2005

Neighbor island Shop Stewards are currently attending training at Local 5's new conference facilities. Around 40 neighbor island and Turtle Bay stewards are attending 2 days of basic and advanced grievance handling and boycott training.

On Wednesday, October 12th, they will be joined by Oahu stewards at the Blaisdell's Pikake Room for a full day of 2006 campaign preparation training. Be sure to ask your shop steward what they learned at the training.

CHANGE TO WIN HOLDS FOUNDING CONVENTION  9/27/2005

The Change To Win Coalition held its founding convention on Tuesday, September 27th, 2005 in St. Louis. Local 5 Secretary Treasurer Eric Gill joined the leaders of six other unions attending the convention.

For more, please see the Change To Win website.

UNITE HERE LEAVES AFL-CIO  9/13/2005

The UNITE HERE General Executive Board voted September 13th to disaffiliate with the AFL-CIO.

"Workers in America are in a crisis of low wages, plant closings, lost pensions, lost health care and a loss of rights on the job," said Bruce Raynor, UNITE HERE General President. "Our vote today was a step toward a dedicated vision to organize within the Change To Win coalition."

For more, please go to the UNTE HERE website.

HELP UNITE HERE KATRINA VICTIMS  9/2/2005

Nearly 1500 UNITE HERE members have been affected by Hurricane Katrina. Choose to send help directly to your fellow UNITE HERE members by going to the UNTE HERE Hurricane Relief page and making a donation. Mahalo.

UNITE HERE JOINS CHANGE TO WIN  8/1/2005

Local 5's parent union, UNITE HERE, is a founding member of the Change To Win coalition. Unlike some of the other members of the coalition, UNITE HERE is currently still a member of the AFL-CIO.

Read all about the Change To Win coalition at changetowin.org.

TURTLE BAY LOSES INJUNCTION BID  6/13/2005

Turtle Bay sought a restraining order against Local 5 in state court last week, claiming Local 5's picketing was harming business. Local 5's attorneys moved the case to federal court, and on Friday, that court denied Turtle Bay's claims.

"What's even better for us," said Local 5 researcher Jason Ward, "is that Turtle Bay has been telling the public that the picketing has had minimal effect on business. Now, in federal court, they testified that the picketing is doing them significant harm. The question is, who are they telling the truth to, the public or the federal court?"

Also at Turtle Bay, a walkout this weekend was narrowly averted when 4 Local 5 members were suspended for talking about union issues on the property, a clear violation of free speech. "The members were ready to walk," said Local 5 organizer Kim Harman, "but we reached an agreement with the HR director to hear the cases this week. Even so, one suspended member did picket the hotel entrance this weekend all by himself."

BIG WIN IN LOS ANGELES  6/13/2005

Just minutes before a scheduled lockout of seven LA hotels at 5:00 AM Saturday morning, Los Angeles Mayor Elect Antonio Villaaigosa announced that a 2 year agreement had been reached, with a contract expiration date of 2006.

Read all the details at hotelworkersunited.org.

TURTLE BAY GOES ON ONE DAY STRIKE  5/23/2005

An estimated 190 Turtle Bay members, Local 5 staff and community supporters picketed in front of Turtle Bay on Saturday, May 21 to protest working conditions at the hotel. The picket line went up at 3:00 AM and stayed up until 8:00 PM.

Members stuck over the issues because there is no contract in force, and so no way to arbitrate grievances. The union presented a letter to Turtle Bay management outlining 11 worload and safety issues. The union estimates that 80% of Local 5 members did not cross the picket line. It was reported that the hotel had to shut down all of its restaurants Saturday, and cancel its long-standing Sunday Brunch because of the labor action.

"A lot of the workers that did cross the picket line were new employees who didn't understand what was going on," said Local 5 organizer Kim Harman. "Now that they've been through it, they understand. I'm sure they will join us on the line the next time."

For more on the Turtle Bay fight, go to the Turtle Bay Boycott page.

LOCAL 5 RETIREES RETURN TO TURTLE BAY  5/17/2005

About 60 of Local 5's retirees returned to Turtle Bay Saturday morning, May 14th, to protest Turtle Bay's continuing refusal to pay the correct medical rates.

While union officials were hoping that the inclusion of a federal mediator in negotiations held earlier that week would at least fix the medical contributions problem, the talks apparently did nohing to change the company's attitudes.

Earlier in the week, Local 5 hosted a meeting on the beach in front of the hotel with Senator Clayton Hee, State Rep Maile Shimabukuro and F.A.C.E. representatives Reverend Stan Bain and Drew Astolfi, who listened to the concerns of Local 5 members.

SHOP STEWARD ELECTION RESULTS  4/11/2005

The Local 5 Shop Steward Election Committee has endorsed the results of the Shop Steward election. The results are posted here.

PRO GOLFERS WITNESS TURTLE BAY RALLIES  3/1/2005

On January 17th, Local 5 members rallied and protested as the PGA tour was at Turtle Bay. On Saturday, February 26th, while the LPGA tour was happening, Turtle Bay workers -assisted by a tour bus full of Waikiki hotel workers and members of other community groups and unions- rallied again.

Turtle Bay security staff attempted to block a city bus with Local 5 retirees on board from entering the property. The bus driver, a Teamster, refused to back down, and the bus finally went through. However, it was clear that the increasing number of Turtle Bay members supporting the union and the boycott had put Turtle Bay management on edge. Management also ordered security to remove the chairs on the beach when they saw that some of our retirees, tired from their long walk, needed to sit down (see photo above).

More actions are planned. Please contact your Local 5 organizer for more information.

MEMBERS APPROVE STRIKE AND DEFENSE FUND BYLAW AMENDMENT  12/17/2004

Last night, following the Oahu Special Membership Meeting sessions, the ballots were counted. About 1,100 members from across the state voted 72% to approve the amendment.

The Special Membership Meeting sessions were the first time in Local 5 history that a membership meeting had been split into sessions and held on Kauai, Maui, Hawaii and Oahu.

"We wanted to give all the members an opportunity to vote," said Eric Gill. "The Executive Board felt that holding a single meeting on Oahu, as had been done in the past, would not unite the members behind this important issue."

The Bylaw amendment now goes to the International Union for approval, and, if so approved, will be incorporated into Local 5's bylaws.

SOME FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT THE STRIKE FUND VOTE  12/12/2004

The answers to some of the questions you may have regarding the Strike Fund vote can be found in this flyer.

LOCAL 5 EXECUTIVE BOARD CALLS SPECIAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING  11/22/2004

The Local 5 Executive Board has called a Special Membership Meeting for the purpose of voting on an amendment to the Local 5 Bylaws. The Special Membership Meeting will be held in a series of sessions on Maui, Kauai, the Island of Hawaii and Oahu. All members eligible to attend the meeting will be mailed notices with the dates, locations and times of the sessions for your island.

The proposed Bylaw amendment will assess Local 5 members in the hotel and health care industries $10 per month for the next 2 years, and $2 per month thereafter for the purpose of building the Local 5 strike fund. The full text of the meeting notice, including the wording of the Bylaw amendment and all meeting dates and times can be found here (20 KB pdf file).

LOCKED OUT LOCAL 2 WORKERS REURN TO WORK  11/20/2004

Please go to the Hotel Workers United website at hotelworkersunited.org for more information on this exciting development.

PROTESTERS HIT TURTLE BAY AGAIN  11/15/2004

As promised, Local 5 members and staff picketed Turtle Bay during the Sam Choy Poke Festival on Sunday, November 14th.

More picketing is planned in the near future. If you are a Local 5 member, your help is needed. Turtle Bay members may be in danger of losing their jobs to subcontracted workers if a favorable settlement is not reached.

Please contact your Local 5 organizer for more information.

LOCAL 5 PROTESTS SAM CHOY POKE FESTIVAL  11/10/2004

On Tuesday, November 9th, about 20 members and staff protested Sam Choy's Poke Festival, which is being held at Turtle Bay on Sunday November 14th. The protesters lined up on Nimitz highway near Sam Choy's restaurant.

Sam Choy was asked not to hold the event at Turtle Bay but refused to honor the national AFL boycott. This is especially shameful, as Sam Choy was once a Local 5 member working at Turtle Bay, and took advantage of the Local 5 training fund to further his career.

Local 5 is planning another protest on Sunday at Turtle Bay. Please contact Local 5 if you can help. Our Turtle Bay members need your support.

MAHALO TO ALL OUR POLITICAL VOLUNTEERS  11/3/2004

On behalf of all of the members of Local 5, the Local 5 PAC would like to express their thanks for all of the hard work done by our members and retirees during this campaign cycle.

These volunteers deserve the gratitude of all of us for giving of themselves to support working people here in Hawaii and all across the country. Mahalo!

90% SUPPORT LOCAL 2 PICKET AT SHERATON  11/1/2004

San Francisco's Local 2 erected a picket line at employee entrances to Sheraton Waikiki and Royal Hawaiian hotels at 3:00 AM Friday morning in response to Sheraton sending non-union Hawaii staff to work in San Francisco as scabs.

An estimated 90% of those called in to work chose to honor Local 2's picket line and take an unpaid day off. Please read this flyer (64 KB pdf file) for more information and quotes from Sheraton Local 5 members.

LOCAL 5 2004 ELECTION ENDORSEMENT LIST  10/11/2004

The Local 5 Political Action Committee has recommended a list of endorsements for the 2004 General Election to the Local 5 Executive Board. That list has been approved and is available here (14 KB pdf file). The list will also be published in the Local 5 newsletter, due this month.

LEGAL ADVICE FOR LOCAL 5 HOTEL WORKERS  10/7/2004

At the recent Local 5 04/06 Conference, members were shown a video from UNITE HERE legal advisor Richard McCracken, advising Waikiki hotel workers of their rights under their contracts.

The specific question addressed was "What if there is a picket line in front of my hotel?" You can listen to the answer by clicking here (2.1 MB mp3 file). Please feel free to download and share this file with others.

A transcript will be available shortly.

10 SAN FRANCISCO HOTELS LOCK OUT WORKERS  9/30/2004

Please check out hotelworkersunited.org for more information.

LOCAL 5 SCHEDULES 04/06 CONFERENCE MEETINGS  9/24/2004

Local 5 has scheduled 04/06 Conference Meetings for Wednesday, October 6, at 10:00 AM and 4:30 PM, in the Pikake Room at the Blaisdell Center. Parking will be validated.

The purpose of the meetings is to rev up support for the UNITE HERE Locals in Los Angeles, Washington, DC and San Francisco, as they fight for good contracts. Participants will also learn how to respond to any picket lines that may be put up by members of those Locals in front of Local 5 hotels.

If you are a Waikiki hotel worker, you should make every effort to attend one of these meetings. We need to show the hotels that Local 5 hotel members are willing to support their brothers and sisters in these cities.

LOCAL 5 ENDORSES BAINUM FOR MAYOR  8/9/2004

On Saturday, August, 7, 2004, at the employee entrance to the Sheraton Waikiki hotel, Local 5 leaders formally endorsed Duke Bainum for Mayor of Honolulu.

"Duke Bainum walks the talk," said President Hernando Tan. "He has joined our picket lines at the Imperial, and has supported our protests at Turtle Bay."

"Both candidates made presentations to the Local 5 Executive Board, and were asked to support card check neutrality and the Turtle Bay Boycott. Only Duke agreed to do so."

Voting for the Mayoral race is on September 18th. Visit DukeBainum.com for information about the candidate, and for absentee voting tips.

LOCAL 5 CONFERENCE KICKS OFF 04/06 CAMPAIGN  8/3/2004

On July 29, 2004, over 200 Local 5 committee members, retirees and guests met at the Queen Kapiolani Hotel for Local 5's 04/06 campaign conference. The featured guests (pictured above) were 9 members from three of the cities fighting for 2 year contracts this year - Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles.

The visiting members spoke about how hard they are fighting to get their 2 year contracts so that they can line up their contract expirations with the other "10 Cities".

Please ask your committee member what you can do to help. Remember, 04/06 means that your contract fight really starts now, in 04.

CONVENTION APPROVES UNITE HERE MERGER

On July 8, 2004, delegates of UNITE and HERE took a historic step, voting to merge and form UNITE HERE, a new union with 440,000 members and 400,000 retirees.

Turtle Bay's George Cox, a Delegate to the Convention, held the Local 5 banner as the members of our delegation joined 5000 other new UNITE HERE members in a march through Chicago July 8th.

Please check out the UNITE HERE website for more information.

PUBLIC REVIEW BOARD LETTER REGARDING UNITY HOUSE BENEFITS

The Public Review Board has responded to Local 5 members' concerns about Unity House benefits in this letter flyer (120K PDF file).

KAISER MEMBERS WIN GREAT CONTRACT

Kaiser members voted to ratify a new agreement on June 30, just hours before their current contract was due to expire. The agreement includes an average of 22% wage increases over 5 years, medical retirement benfits and many other improvements.

A video of the highlights of the Kaiser contract campaign was editied for the HERE International Union Convention, and is available from Local 5. If you are interested, please talk to your Local 5 organizer.

KAISER RALLY DRAWS OVER 500

Over 500 Local 5 members waving signs and wearing yellow t-shirts rallied at the State Capital on June 18th. More than half were Local 5 hotel workers from Waikiki who turned out to support their Kaiser brothers and sisters in their fight for decent wages and medical and retirement benefits.

The rally also served as a kickoff for a National Day of Action when tens of thousands of people all across the US are expected to call attention to the need for access to affordable health care.

(UP) SLATE DOMINATES LOCAL 5 ELECTION

Candidates from the (UP) slate swept all but one of the officers and delegates positions in Friday's election count. Here is the list of officers and candidates elected:

Executive Board - Financial Secretary-Treasurer (UP) Eric Gill
Executive Board - President (UP) Hernando Ramos Tan
Executive Board - Senior Vice-President (UP) Godfrey T. Maeshiro
Executive Board - Food and Beverage Division (UP) Carolyn E. Woo
Executive Board - Hotel Division (UP) Veronica Basconcillo
Executive Board - Hospital Division (UP) Loretta Kahana
Executive Board - County of Hawaii (UP) Chris Ramos
Executive Board - Counties of Maui & Molokai (UP) Joyce Tihada
Executive Board - County of Kauai (REAL) Bernard "Pinake" Balmores
Executive Board - At-Large (UP) Juliet Spencer
Executive Board - At-Large (UP) Lito B. Rigor
Executive Board - At-Large (UP) Loreta T. Tactay
Trustee (UP) Gloria Bringas Bautista
Trustee (UP) Joyce Griffin
Trustee (UP) Adoracion Udani
Delegate to the 2004 Special Convention (UP) Hernando Ramos Tan
Delegate to the 2004 Special Convention (UP) Laverne Bednorz
Delegate to the 2004 Special Convention (UP) James Giffard, Jr.
Delegate to the 2004 Special Convention (UP) Maggie Larson
Delegate to the 2004 Special Convention (UP) Gilbert Farias
Delegate to the 2004 Special Convention (UP) George Cox
Delegate to the 2004 Special Convention (UP) Pete Ramos
Delegate to the 2004 Special Convention (UP) Tammy Omoso
Delegate to the 2004 Special Convention (UP) Karen "Kalena" Miyashiro
Delegate to the 2004 Special Convention (UP) Maria Taclas Salantes
Delegate to the 2004 Special Convention (UP) Dominador C. Molina II
Delegate to the 2004 Special Convention (UP) Pauline Chang

A complete tally of the results in pdf form is here.

HERE INTERNATION UNION TO MERGE WITH UNITE

At an HERE International Union Executive Board meeting during the last week of February, HERE Executive Board members voted unanimously to merge with UNITE, the garment workers union.

The merged union will be called UNITE HERE, and will have about 450,000 members. There will be no immediate changes to Local unions like Local 5, though some smaller Locals in the same areas may be merged at a later date. There is no UNITE Local in Hawaii.

"This is perhaps the most significant event in the history of our union," said Eric Gill. "At a time when corporations are merging to gain greater leverage, unions must respond. UNITE is a great compliment to our union. They bring to the table a large, well trained organizing staff, a presence in the southern states, which are notoriously anti-union, and deep pockets."

"The garment workers unions that merged to form UNITE have a great history in the labor movement, but in the last 20 years have suffered from the outsourcing of garment workers jobs. One area where they are growing, however, is organizing laundry workers. Just think how much power we would gain in our hotels if we had UNTIE organizers to help Local 5 organize Hawaii's non-union laundries."

"UNITE has been successful in the southern states as well. Currently HERE has no presence in Atlanta, the largest southern hotel market, or in Mississippi, which has a rapidly expanding gaming industry. These are significant opportunities to grow our union."

The HERE International Union Executive Board has called a Special Convention for the purposes of taking action on the merger recommendation. Local 5 Delegates to that Convention will be elected at a Special General Membership meeting. Please see the Delegate Election Notice here..

KAISER KICKS OFF CONTRACT CAMPAIGN

On Saturday, February 21 at the Hilton Hawaiian Village, Local 5 kicked of the Kaiser Contract Campaign with a Contract Conference.

Kaiser committee members from all over Hawaii spent 5 hours learning about the results of the surveys and what to expect from management as the campaign begins.

Local 5 invited representatives of SIEU Local 250 and the Coalition of Kaiser Unions, both mainland labor organizations. They told the conference that they represented Kaiser workers in the western US and that they would fully support our Kaiser workers in their struggle for a better contract.

For more information on the conference, you can download the first Kaiser Contract Campaign Update (1 MB PDF file).

NATIONAL SKY CHEF AGREEMENT

Because Sky Chef falls under the Railway Labor Act, their negotiations are done in two phases. After the International Union successfully negotiated a national agreement covering benefits and other contract language, now Local unions must bargain with local Sky Chef units for wages and other benefits.

Carol Carlson, the IU's 7th District President is in Hawaii to assist with these negotiations. Pictured above (standing) are Local 5's Clarence Baijo, Carol Carlson, Sky Chef Committee members Lindsay Ching and Fred Rondon, Local 5's Lito Rigor. Sitting are Committee members Tonie White, Paulette Kim and Lorraine Booner.

5 LOCAL 5 MEMBERS ON FREEDOM RIDE

Five Local 5 members left Honolulu on September 19th to join the Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride busses leaving from Los Angeles, one of the 9 originating cities.

The Hyatt's Pete Ramos, Sheraton Waikiki's Domie Molina and Merlina Santella and Royal Kona's Maggie Larson, along with Local 5's Hernando Tan and three ILWU members are representing Hawaii in the RIde, which comcludes with huge rallies in Washington and New York on the first weekend in October.

Press links...

NY Times feature with Maggie Larsen photo and quote.
Las Cruces Sun-News.

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