Residents of Hawaii Kai and other East Honolulu neighborhoods who have had bulky trash items left uncollected — some since Dec. 25 — will need to wait until next week to have them picked up, city Environmental Services Director Lori Kahikina said Friday.

Kahikina said the contract with unionized refuse workers requires the additional pickups to be done as voluntary overtime, and the refuse division has had a difficult time finding workers willing to work the shifts that call for hauling sofas, beds, shelves and other bulky items from East Honolulu to the HPOWER facility in Kalaeloa.

“Nobody wants to accept it because they have to go from Hawaii Kai all the way to HPOWER, and we can’t force them to accept it,” Kahikina said. “We’ve offered it islandwide, all of our base yards, and nobody wants it.”

Some neighborhoods of East Oahu, specifically Sector 8, have been picked up, but others will need to wait until next week, which is their regular pickup week, on Monday and Wednesday, she said.

Sector 8 consists of the area from Niu Valley to Kalama Valley and includes Kuliouou, Hahaione Valley, Hawaii Kai, Mariners Ridge, Portlock and Queen’s Gate.

Both East Honolulu Councilman Trevor Ozawa and state Rep. Gene Ward (R, Kalama Valley-Queen’s Gate-Hawaii Kai) said their offices have been inundated with angry and frustrated constituents.

Ozawa said the Caldwell administration needs to rectify the union situation either through the upcoming budget or through negotiations with United Public Workers.” Our constituents believe this to be a core function of the city — solid waste disposal,” he said.

Crews have completed picking up bulky refuse left behind since Christmas and New Year’s in Sector 7, which includes Diamond Head, Kahala, Waialae, Kalani Valley, Waialae Iki, Aina Haina, Hawaii Loa Ridge and Wailupe Peninsula.

The monthly bulky item schedule calls for pickup of Sectors 7 and 8 on the fourth Monday and fourth Wednesdays of each month.

Because Christmas 2017 and New Year’s Day, the only two days out of the year refuse workers are off, fell on a Monday, crews have already been working overtime to catch up with regular trash collection.

No fines are being issued to residents for leaving out bulky items in the affected areas, city officials said.