Big Island shoppers weren’t worried yet about running out of staples for the July Fourth weekend as contract talks aimed at ending a tugboat workers strike that idled commercial sea traffic around the Hawaiian Islands resumed Saturday. Shoppers at grocery
Big Island shoppers weren’t worried yet about running out of staples for the July Fourth weekend as contract talks aimed at ending a tugboat workers strike that idled commercial sea traffic around the Hawaiian Islands resumed Saturday.
Shoppers at grocery and large discount stores on the Big Island said they would become concerned if the job action by 60 workers that began Thursday dragged on beyond a week.
“It hasn’t changed our shopping habits, but I was concerned about toilet paper,” Jarilyn Wiberg said outside the Costco warehouse in Kona. “If it goes into next week, I’ll start to worry. We have a grandchild in diapers, so that might be a concern.”
Wiberg and her husband, Norman, drove into Kona from Waikoloa for their regular shopping trip. He said they did buy more soda than usual and an extra pack of paper towels.
Norman Wiberg said he did not sympathize with the strikers and favored firing them.
Negotiators for Young Brothers Ltd.-Hawaiian Tug & Barge, and the Inlandboatmen’s Union of the Pacific, met in Honolulu at 9 a.m., recessed in the early afternoon and resumed talks in the evening, a spokeswoman for the sister companies said.
Meanwhile, a barge loaded with a $17,000 shipment of Fourth of July fireworks, as well as food and supplies for hotels on Lanai arrived at the Pineapple Isle on Saturday morning.
The barge had been loaded and ready to go when the strike started.
The strike began Thursday after negotiations with the union — the marine division of the International Longshore & Warehouse Union — broke down Wednesday night.
The company, which ships everything from food to cars and appliances among Hawaii’s six main islands, canceled all sailings until further notice. Though the company was keeping its ports open to deliver cargo to customers, no cargo was being accepted for shipping.
Young Brothers’ interisland barges cannot move without the tugboats, which are operated by the striking workers.
Managers at several Big Island stores declined to comment Saturday, other than to say business was typical for a holiday weekend.
Items appearing most often in shopping carts included water, rice, toilet paper and diapers. Beer and soda also were popular, although shoppers indicated those purchases were holiday related.
Most notably, Costco’s shelves were depleted of toilet paper. Customers were snapping up paper towels. Shelves were still stocked at Wal Mart or KTA Super Stores in Kona.
Mark Henriques and his family stopped for lunch at Costco after buying paper towels, beer and other supplies for a Fourth of July party.
“I’m not really concerned yet,” he said. “I hope it doesn’t last that long. If it does, I hope the government steps in. Anyway, we shop at Costco about every 10 days and have enough to last us.”
Outside the KTA supermarket in Kona, Pam Brewer-Fink said she heard about the strike Saturday morning but had not made extra purchases.
“I’m not worried,” she said. “People are a little paranoid, don’t you think?”
She did, however, double back for toilet paper after learning Costco had run out.
At Wal Mart, Jodi Mercier said her only concern was finding ingredients for her daughter, who does not eat meat or grain products.
“I’ve stocked up so much in the past that I still have so much,” Mercier said. If some items become scare, she said she’ll turn to friends and co-workers.
At the independent Matsuyama Food Mart, manager Kevin Mulligan said his customers likely wouldn’t notice shortages until next week or the week after.
“We’ll feel it when our distributors get nailed,” Mulligan said. “Everybody who’s been around here long enough knows that already.”
Mulligan did notice a dip in business Thursday, as customers went to bigger grocery stores to stock up after the strike started.
Cost U Less manager Mike Kelley said his store in Hilo has about a two-week supply of goods. Four containers arrived Friday, including one carrying rice.
“There is no urgency right now,” Kelley said. “Some people are buying two or three 50-pound bags of rice, but that’s typical.”
The store has not seen an unusual spike in business, he said, noting it was the beginning of the month and also a holiday weekend.
On the Net: Young Brothers-Hawaiian Tug & Barge: http://www.htbyb.com/ Inlandboatmen’s Union of the Pacific: http://www.ibu.org/
