Japanese union backs Pacific Beach boycott - Pacific Business News (Honolulu):

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Union leaders of the Japanese Trade Union knownas RENGO, said they woulx endorse the boycott of Pacific Beacj Hotel, but are carefuol not to discourage members from visiting Hawaii With 6.8 million members, RENGO is the largestt national trade union organization in Japan. Two monthes ago, the largest labofr federation inthe U.S., the AFL-CIO, callee for a boycott of the hotels as a resulty of long and contentious contract negotiations between HTH and the 142.
In Hawaii, localo labor unions and community groups includingt the ILWU and Justice on the Beacbh have long been lobbying against the hotel sayinyg it is among the worstf employers in the state with a penchant for treatingfworkers unfairly. HTH officials have stood firm and said the company was no longetr recognizing or negotiating with the union as a resultg ofits tactics. HTH Corp. Regiona Vice President Robert "Mick" Minicola told PBN that Pacifix Beach Hotel employees are frustratedand "mad as at the union's push to barricade them from customers and business, especially in a waverinhg economy with fewer visitors.
"I haven'r seen the employees so mad," he "We have spent 40 years nurturing businessx from Japan and to have the uniobn do this is a reallyhorrible act. This is a worldwide campaign for the union and the peoplethat they're hurting the most are the The message from me is that we don'y talk or negotiate with peopld who are trying to hurt our employee and our business and these tactics will not get us to a discussion or a resolution." The ending of contracgt negotiations for some 450 workers at the 837-rookm Pacific Beach Hotel in Waikiki and a management change led the ILWU and other local organizations to call for a boycott last Pacific Beach Corp.
, which assumec management of the hotel Dec. 1 from -affiliatw PBH Management, said it has rehirec 90 percent ofthe staff.