Union employees in a contract dispute with The Honolulu Advertiser have received support from Rep. Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawai'i.

Abercrombie spoke at a union rally yesterday on the sidewalk outside The Advertiser building on Kapi'olani Boulevard. He told those gathered that the paper's owner, Gannett Co. Inc., has said the basis of its success is the journalists in its newspaper division.

"That's why they're still in business and they're still making money," Abercrombie said in a written statement announcing the rally. "It doesn't have anything to do with management. It has everything to do with the talent in the room."

The company has proposed a two-year contract that calls for a 1 percent pay raise, a 1.5 percent bonus, and increases in employees' contributions to their health plans. The proposed deal would expire on March 1, 2009.

The unions have asked for 3 percent raises in each year of the contract and that there be no changes to the employees' HMSA medical plans.

Lee P. Webber, president and publisher of The Advertiser, said in a statement yesterday that the company's offer would continue to provide employees with the highest salaries and best benefits in Hawai'i's publishing industry.

"The Honolulu Advertiser takes seriously our responsibilities to all our employees, and to the community we serve," Webber said in a written statement. "The Advertiser is confident that the process will produce a mutually agreeable contract that fairly compensates our employees while ensuring the long-term viability of the newspaper."

Members of the six unions at The Advertiser that represent about 600 workers authorized a strike in a vote on Sunday. Before a strike can occur, either management or the unions will have to give a 30-day notice to cancel the existing contract.