HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.C.R. NO.

298

TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2007

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

requesting the director of labor and industrial relations to explore the possibility of expanding the dislocated workers program.

 

 

 


     WHEREAS, in today's fluid economy, businesses are bought and sold at will; and

 

     WHEREAS, in Hawaii, the businesses that are the most vulnerable to frequent sales are those in the tourism industry, namely hotels; and

 

     WHEREAS, with Hawaii tourism growing by leaps and bounds, and hotel occupancy rates averaging more than eighty per cent this year, hotel ownership has become a lucrative business, especially for investors who thrive on buying and selling; and

 

     WHEREAS, for workers of these hotels, however, job security is often at risk when a hotel is sold because workers are terminated, or are asked to apply for their old jobs or are subject to screenings and tests to determine their suitability for the very jobs they have held for years, such that they may find themselves be out of work despite all their efforts, if the new employer does not want to hire formerly unionized employees; and

 

     WHEREAS, such mass layoff practices create needless disruption in the workforce, in the business itself, and in the community; and

 

     WHEREAS, one recent example of this disruption occurred at the Hawaii Naniloa Resort, whose workers had been organized through a union for many years and was the only unionized hotel on the east side of the Island of Hawaii; and

 

     WHEREAS, early this year, the Hawaii Naniloa Resort was sold to the highest bidder in an auction by the State for a lease of the land on which the hotel is situated, and the new owner hired only twenty of the one hundred forty incumbent workers and brought in workers from the owner's two other operations; and

 

     WHEREAS, the sale left one hundred twenty Hawaii Naniloa Resort workers jobless who were then forced to consider either a two-hour commute to the west side of the island for hotel work or retraining for a completely new line of work; and

 

     WHEREAS, the new owner claimed the workers did not have the right attitude for the business, yet the real motivation for not retaining incumbent workers may have been to make the operation as non-union as the owner's two other businesses; and

 

     WHEREAS, on three occasions the Legislature was urged to enact laws to protect workers against mass layoffs such as the layoffs at the Hawaii Naniloa Resort and numerous other hotels, but business interests vigorously argued that such legislation was bad for business and would drive away investors; and

 

     WHEREAS, some legislators agreed with business interests and legislation to protect incumbent employees was defeated each time; and

 

     WHEREAS, Hawaii is still a favored tourist destination and hotels are posting record profits, making it unlikely that investors will be dissuaded by employee protection laws that make good business sense; and

 

     WHEREAS, a law to require the buyer of a hotel to retain incumbent workers makes sense because it:

 

     (1)  Helps to minimize disruption in the business;

 

     (2)  Protects management's right to manage the business and its employees;

 

     (3)  Avoids negative publicity and creates good will in the community; and

 

     (4)  Allows workers to make a smoother transition, if necessary, into new employment rather than be terminated in a mass layoff; and

 

     WHEREAS, the present dislocated workers program under chapter 394B, Hawaii Revised Statutes, covers workers who are subject to a sale, transfer, merger, or other business takeover that results in a closing or partial closing of business operations; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-fourth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2007, the Senate concurring, that the Director of Labor and Industrial Relations is respectfully requested to explore the possibility of expanding the dislocated workers program to cover the employees of a business that is subject to a business takeover without any closing or partial closing; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Director of Labor and Industrial Relations is requested to determine whether legislation should be developed to require, in the event of a sale or divestiture of a business, that the buyer shall retain the seller's employees, unless the business that is continued by the buyer differs substantially from the business that was sold by the seller; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Director of Labor and Industrial Relations is further requested to submit findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, to the Legislature not later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2008; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a certified copy of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Director of Labor and Industrial Relations.

 

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

_____________________________

 

 

Report Title: 

Successor Businesses