In the midst of ongoing contract negotiations, Oahu Transit Services (OTS) and the Hawaii Teamsters and Allied Workers, Local 996 have been engaging in talks that have recently renewed after a temporary stall. According to Hawaii News Now, the discussions continued yesterday following a halt on Monday due to a dispute that raised concerns of a possible strike among bus drivers, mechanics, and staff.
In response to the said strike scare, Hawaii News Now reports that OTS President Robert Yu shared optimism about the recent meetings, saying, "Today, each side presented their proposals and there was robust, respectful discussion that led to a few tentative agreements on specific sections of the contract," meanwhile the union described the threat of a strike as a "scare tactic," accusing OTS of not fully responding to their proposals on wages, pensions, and hazard pay, the two parties have signaled some progress in bridging their gaps.
Contrasting OTS's earlier message to riders about the potential of an impending strike, the Local 996 union has made it clear that they did not plan such action; Kevin Holu, the President of Hawaii Teamsters, stated in a release obtained by Aloha State Daily, "OTS is telling half-truths and using scare tactics to undermine the union." Holu highlighted the union’s demands including fair wages and pension contributions, comprehensive medical coverage, as well as yet-to-be-paid COVID-related hazard pay.
There also seems to be a dispute over the recent schedule of meetings; Holu accused OTS of canceling three scheduled bargaining sessions this week, according to a statement he gave to Aloha State Daily, which OTS firmly denied, with Yu stating, “It is important to note that at no time did we cancel any of our scheduled meetings with the union,” and that OTS is proposing an independent third-party mediator to assist in the bargaining sessions moving forward as negotiations continue into next week, both sides are carefully calibrating their next moves.
The union currently represents approximately 1,400 OTS workers, with a contract that expired in July, the necessity of resolving this standoff becomes increasingly evident not just for the authorities and the union, but for the larger public, significantly reliant on the daily transit of over 214,000 passengers via TheBus system, as reported by OTS’s website.
