Diamond Resorts has notified 78 workers at The Modern Honolulu that their positions are to be eliminated in the next 30 days, according to Unite Here Local 5, the labor union representing the workers.
Local 5 posted a news release on its website Thursday that said the layoffs, which affect about 30% of the hotel’s staff, are spread across multiple departments, including housekeeping, banquets, pool, in-room dining, reservations and food and beverage.
Las Vegas-headquartered Diamond Resorts, which bought The Modern in April 2018 for a reported $225 million, did not return a call from the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.
Local 5 represents 270 workers at The Modern, one of 21 hotels and timeshares within Diamond Resorts’ international network of managed or affiliated properties. The union said The Modern is a full-service hotel but that Diamond Resorts had expressed interest in cutting guest services and partially or fully converting the property into a timeshare.
Local 5 did not return a call from the Star-Advertiser, but issued a statement saying that it was “looking into its legal option.”
CVS closes 2 Honolulu pharmacy stores
Two CVS pharmacy locations in Honolulu have been closed as part of a move by the retailer to shed 46 underperforming stores across the country.
The Honolulu stores are at 1441 Kapiolani Blvd. and 1401 S. Beretania St.
ON THE MOVE
Coldwell Banker Pacific Properties has announced that Justine Jones is the firm’s newest independent agent at its Honolulu office. Jones previously was a realtor-associate at Caron B. Realty and has been licensed in real estate since 2007.
The Queen’s Medical Center has honored the following two physicians as the 2019 Ke Kauka Po‘okela Outstanding Physicians of the Year:
>> Dr. Daniel Cheng received the award for Outstanding Community-Based Physician. He is an Emergency Department physician as well as the department’s medical director and assistant chief for The Queen’s Medical Center. Cheng is also Queen’s Care Coalition’s medical director.
>> Dr. Kazuma Nakagawa was awarded as Outstanding Hospital- Based Physician. He is a neurointensivist as well as medical director of Queen’s Comprehensive Stroke Center. Nakagawa also serves as an associate professor of medicine at the University of Hawaii John A. Burns School of Medicine.
