RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, since 1967, the Hawaii Tribune-Herald newspaper has operated successfully on the Big Island of Hawaii under collective bargaining agreements with its employee members of the Hawaii Newspaper Guild #117, TNG/CWA Local 39117, Honolulu Typographical Union #37, CWA 14921, and Hawaii Printing & Graphic Communications Union 413-N; and

WHEREAS, the Hawaii Tribune-Herald was acquired by the Stephens Group of Arkansas in 1993 and is currently operated by the Stephens Media Group of Las Vegas, Nevada; and

WHEREAS, the proud, hard-working union employees of the Hawaii Tribune-Herald, who have not received a pay raise since January 2002, deserve a new contract that respects their important contributions to the success and profitability of the newspaper; and

WHEREAS, the newspaper's current proposals for a new contract, in negotiations that began in November 2004, would freeze workers' wages, cut health care benefits, and jeopardize jobs; and

WHEREAS, the publisher of the Hawaii Tribune-Herald refuses to meet with union representatives to discuss matters of importance to the community, the newspaper, and union workers; and

WHEREAS, the company has taken measures against union-organized employees in the past, and appears to be preparing to take similar actions in negotiations with Hawaii Tribune-Herald employees; and

WHEREAS, actions to break the employees union in spirit or organization would be a dishonor to the fine tradition of labor rights and protections earned by the hard-working people of Hawaii throughout the years; and

WHEREAS, negotiations in any manner other than in good faith would be to the detriment of the local economy of the Big Island by taking potential increased wages out of local circulation and sending them to the mainland as increased company profits; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2006, the House of Representatives concurring, that the Hawaii Tribune-Herald and its parent company, Stephens Media Group of Las Vegas, Nevada, are hereby urged to quickly resolve contract differences with union workers and offer a fair contract that will preserve the labor-management relationship that has served the newspaper successfully for several decades; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to Hawaii's Congressional delegation, Stephens Media Group, Hawaii Newspaper Guild #117, TNG/CWA Local 39117, Honolulu Typographical Union #37, CWA 14921, and Hawaii Printing & Graphic Communications Union 413-N.

Report Title:

Hawaii Tribune-Herald employees contract.