Social Services Coordinator Joanne Kealoha (right) going over the packet and information
to be passed out at the open house meeting on January 15, 2016. This was the first of two meetings to meet the members and pass out information on the services
and programs that are available to help the workers in the transition and how to best
survive the layoff (l-r): Local Executive Board Member Ester Manibog, Gordon Martins,
Unit Chair Daniel Martinez, and Business Agent Joe Aquino.
PUUNENE, Maui – At its peak, sugar was the number one industry in Hawaii with hundreds of thousands of acres under cultivation on Kauai, Oahu, Maui and Hawaii island.
By 2015, only Maui’s Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Company (HC&S) remained of the industry once called “king,” and by the end of 2016 that last plantation will grind to a halt, ending commercialized sugar in the state.
Shut-down announced affecting 650 ILWU members
“The day began like any other day,” recalled Charles Andrion, a third-generation sugar worker at HC&S. “It was the first week of the year and the beginning of the off season, when repairs and refitting of equipment are done. It was business as usual, and hopes were high that the harvest season would start soon.” Just after noon, a company town hall meeting at 1:00 p.m. was announced. Under overcast skies,
HC&S workers were given a packet with a letter stating that the company would be phasing out of sugar after the current crop is harvested at the end of the year. The shutdown will affect more than 650 ILWU members.
Citing operating losses of $30 million in 2015 and a forecast of continued losses in the future, the company said that it will stop planting in early March, and as many as 90 field workers will lose their jobs. The rest of the workers will lose their jobs throughout the year as their specific responsibilities are completed.
Workers and their families face uncertainty
Andrion has worked as an Instrument Technician since he was accepted into HC&S’s apprenticeship program after graduating from college nine years ago. His grandfather was one of the sakadas who were recruited from the Philippines to work on the plantation in 1946. His grandparents and parents were able to provide for their families with the wages and benefits they received, which were negotiated by the ILWU. Andrion was stunned by the unforeseen announcement by Alexander & Baldwin (A&B), the parent company of HC&S.
During a family discussion at the dinner table the day before the announcement, Andrion’s four-year-old pre-schooler asked if they could sign her up for gymnastic class. “I told her yes, but after the announcement was made, we are not sure if we can afford the tuition,” said Andrion.
Disappointment in the decision to close
Esther Manibog’s father was also a sakada. He met the woman of his dreams who was working in the power plant and married her and put down roots in Maui. In 1986, Esther began working in the field like her father. After several years, she was accepted into the apprenticeship program and earned certifications to be an electrician. Manibog considered applying for jobs outside of HC&S but didn’t because the ILWU negotiated wages and benefits provided her enough to pay the mortgage and Manibog expressed her disappointment regarding A&B’s decision to shut down the operation. She described how the union—Local, Maui Division, and HC&S unit officers—mobilized her fellow HC&S workers and their families and worked hard to educate the community on the economic benefits and the jobs that HC&S provided.
“We provided testimony in opposition to the proposed reductions of water from East Maui because of the concerns over the economic impacts that the reduced water would have on the plantation and jobs, Esther said.
A lawsuit seeking to end all agricultural burning was filed by the “Stop Cane Burning group” against HC&S last July. “Through a coordinated effort, by the union, we gathered more than 6,000 signatures on a petition supporting the current Agricultural Burning Permit and delivered it to the Department of Health.” Manibog said, “Despite all these efforts, A&B made the decision to close.”
An Injury to One is an Injury to All
With the first layoff period fast approaching, the union again mobilized— this time to help the affected workers in transitioning into new jobs and to deal with the hardships that they will face. A survey was sent out to the workers immediately after the announcement was made. The survey allows the union to gather information on the affected worker’s needs so that the appropriate resources are provided by the company as well as federal, state and county governments. The workers also updated their contact information to ensure that the union can provide additional information or assistance when needed.
Two open house meetings were held at the ILWU Hall in Wailuku on January 15-16, 2016, to meet the workers face-to-face and to answer any questions that they may have. Assistance in completing the survey was available. English and Ilocano speaking members were on hand to make certain that everyone understood what services and programs are available to help them with the transition and layoff. Help will also be provided to laid-off workers applying for unemployment benefits.
Effects bargaining to begin
Because HC&S workers are covered by an ILWU contract, the company has a duty to bargain with the ILWU over the effects of the closure on workers. This is called effects bargaining.
Some of the issues that will be discussed are severance pay, payout of unused vacation and sick leave, seniority, retirement benefits, and medical and dental insurance. The union has asked to begin effects bargaining with HC&S as quickly as possible. “We will be working hard to assure that the workers receive the full benefit of their contract and what they are entitled to by federal and state law,” said ILWU President and negotiating committee spokesperson Donna Domingo.
Severance pay and medical coverage
Severance pay is usually based on the length of employment with a company and is not required by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). However, the ILWU negotiated contract with HC&S includes severance as a benefit and specifies that it will be paid out on the basis of nine days’ pay for each year of service for all eligible workers. No union dues are deducted from severance pay.
The union negotiating committee’s goal is to increase the severance benefit to help laid-off workers pay for housing and other expenses—a concern for many HC&S ILWU members. Mariano Oliveros, who emigrated from the Philippines seven years ago, got his first full-time job as a drip irrigation hookup and repair worker. “My family is living comfortably because the plantation provided me with a stable income. I’m in my fifties, too old to find another job easily. How am I going to pay for my medical coverage and mortgage without a job?” said Oliveros. Another area that the union negotiating committee will be working on is the severance payout timeframe.
Workers at other companies have waited up to 14 months after the closure to receive their severance pay. The union negotiating committee will do its best to insure that the severance is paid out in a timely manner.
The union negotiating committee will also be fighting to extend the period during which laid-off workers receive medical coverage. “I’m having a hard time sleeping because I’m worried about how I’m going to pay for my daughter’s and my medical,” said Manibog, with tears in her eyes.
An era ends, but the impact of sugar workers remain
Sugar plantations once stretched the length of the island chain—from Kekaha to Kau. Hundreds of thousands of workers and even family were brought to Hawaii from as far away as the Azores and Puerto Rico and China, Korea, Japan and the Philippines to work the fields. Plantation communities were the foundation of Hawaii’s multi-ethic culture and values.
In 1946, 30,000 sugar workers plus their families went on strike to begin a long battle for a better life. Their struggle—along with their fellow workers in other industries in the ILWU—reshaped Hawaii, building power for workers and their families and achieving a large measure of economic, social and political justice.
The era in which ILWU sugar workers shaped the history of Hawaii has passed, but the impact of sugar, its workers, and the workers’ union remains. “The workers should take pride in the fact that they did everything they could to keep HC&S going, and that they were able to rally their community in support of Hawaii’s last sugar plantation,” said ILWU Secretary-Treasurer Guy Fujimura.
“I see them as heroes of the ILWU.” Charles Andrion summed up his feelings on the bittersweet ending of HC&S. “It feels like my grandparents put the first cane stalk into the ground and I will be taking the last cane stalk out of the ground,” he said. “But we’ll find a way to move forward.”