BUSINESS BRIEFS
Cement talks set for tonight
Advertiser Staff and News Services
Representatives of Hawaiian Cement and the Hawai'i Teamsters and Allied Workers, Local 996, are scheduled to meet tonight with a federal mediator to try and prevent a strike that could cripple Hawai'i's construction industry.
Teamsters officials said they plan to go on strike as of 12:01 a.m. Thursday if no progress is made over current contract negotiations that they say would cost employees about $224 per month for new medical co-payments.
Hawaiian Cement has proposed pay increases for each of the five years of the proposed contract as well as a proposal that employees pay 20 percent of their medical premium co-payments.
Hawaiian Cement officials say that only 20 electricians, terminal operators, pack-house utility workers, heavy equipment operators, terminal laborers and pack-house laborers are directly affected on O'ahu, Kaua'i, Maui and the Big Island. But a strike could shut down operations for Hawaiian Cement, the sole importer of cement used to make the concrete necessary for Hawai'i's thriving construction industry.
FREE CD WITH PHONE PLANS
Hawaiian Telcom, which offers ring tones by local Hawai'i recording artists with the Mountain Apple Company, will celebrate the launch of its ring tones by giving away musician Sean Na'auao's latest CD, which he will sign.
Customers who activate a new Hawaiian Telcom Wireless plan or purchase a data plan for an existing Hawaiian Telcom Wireless phone can receive free copies of Na'auao's CD, "Ka 'Eha Ke Aloha," at the Hawaiian Telcom store at Ward Warehouse on Saturday, the Pearlridge Center-Downtown store on Jan. 28 and the Windward Mall store on Feb. 11. Na'auao will appear at the stores from 1 to 2 p.m.
