Honolulu Record, August 19, 1948, vol. 1 no. 3, p. 3

Hawaiian Labor Roundup

Coca-Cola Workers Out

By the middle of this week, the local labor situation looked this way:

One hundred workers of the production department of the Coca-Cola Bottling Co., Ltd., all members of the AFL Brewery Workers Union, Local 502, were holding tight on their picket line, set up on Monday at 6:30 a.m.

Joseph Wong, president of the local, reported that negotiations for a 15 cent hourly wage increase and a union shop had failed.

He said that a union proposal for paid holidays was turned down by the company and that a five cent wage cut for eight holidays was not acceptable to the workers.

He mentioned that the union won a 96 to 4 vote in favor of the union shop in an NLRB conducted election in June.

J. Q. Adams, vice president and manager of the company, said that the strike was unprovoked and unnecessary.

Sugar Negotiations Still Continue

With the expiration date of August 31 fast approaching, the ILWU and the sugar industry continue to negotiate in Hilo with no sign of what the outcome will be.

An official bulletin issued by the negotiating committee of Local 142 on August 17 revealed that discussions on minor issues have been terminated with major concentration on job security, union security, rents and housing, job classification and wages.

The bulletin maintains that the employer insists on taking rents out of the collective bargaining process and that the industry has not given any answer on the job security proposal.

The union committee also indicated that the employers have no case on which to base their proposed wage cuts.

Love's Bakery Issues Unsettled

Meanwhile, another ILWU outfit, Local 150, is continuing negotiations with Love's Biscuit and Bread Company on the matter of wage increases and a job classification system, despite a strike notice filed with the department of labor.

Officials of the union and the company are still unable to get together on the two issues under discussion.