IBEW Defends Hawaii Telephone Workers Pension Moneys

Hearing focuses on sale of Verizon Hawaii

By Phil Hayworth - The Garden Island
Posted: Saturday, Oct 09, 2004 - 03:50:08 am HST

Over 50 people turned out for the state Public Utilities Commission hearing Thursday at the Lihue Neighborhood Center to weigh in on the proposed $1.65 billion sale of Verizon Hawaii to The Carlyle Group.

Supporting the purchase of the telephone company were Kaua‘i representatives of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, the Kaua‘i Economic Development Board and at least 10 Kaua‘i employees of Verizon Hawaii.

"This is in the best interest of the employees of Verizon and the people of Hawai‘i," said one local Verizon employee.

But others at the meeting were less sure that The Carlyle Group, a company that uses both private and public pension funds to invest in various enterprises around the globe, was the right choice to handle the telephone business for people of Hawai‘i.

"You have to ask yourself, ‘what am I getting out of this,'" said Pat Bustamante, president and chief operating officer of Pacific LightNet, a local telephone and Internet company based in Honolulu. "They haven't promised rate decreases. I say, put it in writing."

The name of the new telephone company will be Hawaiian Telecom. Bill Kennard, managing director for Carlyle and a former FCC chairman, insisted that the sale means more jobs for the people of Hawai‘i, and better service because Carlyle plans to move various back-office positions to the islands.

"We're returning the company to its roots," Kennard said. He said that Carlyle plans to modernize the Hawai‘i's telephone infrastructure and invest millions doing so, "without increasing rates."

Kennard said that Carlyle hopes to see Hawaiian Telecom as a "stand-alone local company" where local management and better equipment will bring better service to Hawaii.

The only sticking point in the deal so far is the IBEW's insistence that Carlyle keep the union's surplus of pension funds, which is estimated to be between $100 and $200 million. An IBEW representative testified on behalf of IBEW representative Scott Long that the union could not support the deal unless the pension fund remains in Hawaii, intact.

Kennard did not comment on the pension fund issue.

There are 52 Verizon Hawaii employees on Kaua‘i; five are mangers and 47 are hourly workers.

Pacific LightNet and Time Warner are competitors of Verizon Hawaii, but they also rely on interconnection agreements with the likes of Verizon to fulfill their obligations as full-service dial-tone providers.

Pacific LightNet, however, is the only other provider of service statewide, along with Verizon.

Phil Hayworth, Business Editor, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 251) and phayworth@pulitzer.net


The Garden Island
Copyright © 2004, Pulitzer Inc.