HONOLULU (KHON2) -- It's a dispute between Hawaiian Electric and the Carpenters Union. HECO told KHON2 that the Hawaii Regional Council of Carpenters is going after them after the utility company refused to sign an exclusive project labor agreement with the Carpenters.
We're told that currently a
bout 1,200 HECO employees are represented by another union, the IBEW Local 1260.
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"It was presented to us as a take it or leave it and that's why we look at this as a shakedown - somebody tells you you got to do something today and you got to sign this today or something bad is going to happen. And the bad thing that is happening that they're trying to have happen is to block the legislation that we're seeking, which is going to be related to overtime lowering cost for customers by helping us improve our credit standing," said HECO's Government and Community Relations Corporate Communications Vice President Jim Kelly.
"Carpenters Union didn't even come up and talk to us. And while we represent the members of Hawaiian Electric, we also represent a lot of the signatories that do work for Hawaiian Electric. But again, we did not even get a call. We did not get a heads up that hey we want to maybe take some of your guys work," said IBEW Local 1260 Business Manager and Financial Secretary Leroy Chincio.
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Spokesperson for the Carpenters Union, Andrew Pereira, said any allegation that they're trying to leverage a project labor agreement is absolutely false.
"To be clear, Hawaiian Electric officials approached the Carpenters Union about the Securitization Bill, about this bill, to try to create a billion-dollar fund on the backs of ratepayers. And the Carpenters Union let Hawaiian Electric know that that is not a starting point. So any relationship between the Carpenters Union and Hawaiian Electric, the starting point would be absolutely no to this Securitization bill," said Pereira.
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