JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARADVERTISER.COM
A newly wed couple from Japan takes photos as picketers walk the line in front of the Sheraton Moana Surfrider hotel on Monday in Waikiki. The Unite Local 5 union representing the hotel workers have yet to come to an agreement with Kyo-Ya Hotels as they seek higher wages and better benefits.
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After some six years of record tourism growth, Hawaii’s top industry is having a tough year. Disasters, manmade and natural, have tested the sector: January’s false missile-alert scare; April’s rains and floods that hit Kauai’s north shore and Oahu’s east side especially hard; Kilauea’s dramatic, lingering eruption; a couple of hurricane close calls.
And now, a hotel workers’ strike since Oct. 8 affecting Marriott-linked hotels in Waikiki and Maui — just as Waikiki’s biggest convention of the year, the American Dental Association’s 2018 meeting, runs today through the weekend. For the sake of all concerned, focus on the bargaining table.