Hawaiian Telcom will impose contract on union workers

Hawaiian Telcom announced tonight it plans to implement its last, best, and final offer without union approval.

The Company says the new contract will go into effect December 1, which is next week Thursday.

Meanwhile, the Union says it’s "gravely disappointed."

It has been a little over a week since Hawaiian Telcom union workers staged a two day strike.

"We want to show the company not only are we serious, but we wanted to get back to the table from the beginning. We feel the company has only surface bargained with us," said Harold Dias, IBEW International Rep.

But Hawaiian Telcom is not going back to the table, saying: "Union leadership’s recent demands, work stoppage, and threats toward employees who elected to work during the work stoppage indicate that the period of good faith bargaining has passed."

IBEW 1357, which represents about 750 Hawaiian Telcom employees, has not said whether it plans to call another strike, but is asking other unions "to hold off on doing business with Hawaiian Telcom until the Company returns to the bargaining table, and bargains in good faith to a settlement with its union members."

Hawaiian Telcom will implement its last, best, and final offer on December 1st because "the rules and processes governing collective bargaining provide a mechanism for parties to move forward when a compromise agreement is clearly not possible and negotiations reach an impasse."

Last month, union members overwhelmingly rejected the Company’s last, best, and final offer.

IBEW 1357 says: "Years of bargaining in good faith, with the intent to protect benefit levels and not seek large increases or wholesale changes are being stripped away by corporate greed."

This is the second time this year a major employer in Hawaii is implementing its last, best and final offer without union approval.

The State did it over the summer for public school teachers, in what was called "an unprecedented move."

The HSTA filed a complaint with the Hawaii Labor Relations Board, but the Board has not made its decision yet on whether the move was legal.

Hawaiian Telcom union employees have been working without a contract for 27 days.