BUSINESS BRIEFS
Pickets target Pacific Beach Hotel
Advertiser Staff
Supporters of workers at the Pacific Beach Hotel will picket the Waikiki property this week as part of a continuing labor dispute with the hotel.
The picket lines will be up beginning tomorrow to coincide with Japan's Golden Week holiday, which runs through May 6. Members of Justice at the Beach, a coalition of labor and community groups, will take part in the protests.
The coalition and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 142 have called for a boycott of Pacific Beach Hotel and its sister property, the Pagoda Hotel. The ILWU said hotel workers are not expected to take part in the pickets because they fear retaliation.
Management at the Pacific Beach argue that not all hotel employees are going along with the union's boycott of the hotels.
Pacific Beach owner HTH Corp. and its unionized workers have been embroiled in a labor dispute since employees began an effort to organize five years ago.
ISLE GAS PRICES SLIP TO FOURTH PLACE
Hawai'i has slipped when it comes to the dubious distinction of having high gasoline prices, now ranking fourth-highest in the nation.
Where once the state had the priciest gasoline nationwide, Hawai'i now falls behind California, Alaska and Connecticut, according to figures supplied by the American Automobile Association's Daily Fuel Gauge Report Web site.
It shows the statewide average for a gallon of regular gasoline at $3.781, or slightly below the record high reached yesterday of $3.807.
California's average was $3.905, while Alaska was at $3.819.
Connecticut was just ahead of Hawai'i at $3.783.
JCB CO. ESTABLISHES SUBSIDIARY HERE
JCB Co. Ltd., Japan's leading credit card issuer, has selected Hawai'i to set up its new captive insurance subsidiary, PermCore Insurance Co. Ltd.
The company will provide self-insurance for JCB to cover their risks. State Insurance Commissioner J.P. Schmidt issued a license to PermCore earlier this month to provide reinsurance for several kinds of insurance coverage provided to JCB's customers.
Captive insurance is a type of self-insurance in which a company sets up a separate, licensed legal entity to provide insurance to the company and its affiliates.
Hawai'i regulates the captive insurance industry. A law helping create the captive insurance industry here was enacted in 1986. Since that time the state has issued more than 200 licenses.
Professional service providers in Hawai'i for PermCore include Marsh Management Services, Bank of Hawaii and First Hawaiian Bank, the law firm of Goodsill Anderson Quinn & Stifel, KMH LLP and actuarial firm Perr & Knight.
COMPANY USED UNLAWFUL WORKERS
A company serving prepared food at an Ala Moana Center department store has pleaded guilty to employing aliens not authorized to work in the United States.
Prosecutors say Tenryoan Inc. received the maximum fine of $9,000 from Magistrate Judge Barry Kurren.
They say the company, which serves food at Shirokiya, paid the aliens from a separate account instead of its payroll account used for lawful employees.
Tenryoan was also accused of failing to pay the aliens such benefits as sick leave, medical insurance and vacation leave.
