Sept. 25, 2012--The Turtle Bay Resort and Unite Here Local 5 reached a tentative settlement on a new contract Monday.

Members of a union negotiating committee voted unanimously to recommend that Unite Here Local 5 workers accept a new contract.

The proposed settlement, which will be subject to a full membership vote on Friday, could end a two-year impasse between the resort and its more than 350 workers,

"We are pleased with the outcome of our joint efforts. Mahalo to our resort owners and employees," said Danna Holck, the resort's vice president and general manager. "It's time now to move forward and work together as the North Shore ohana we have always been."

Details of the contract will be withheld until after the vote; however, union negotiating committee members said they are happy with the agreement which follows a Sept. 13 strike authorization vote.

"This agreement goes a long way to bring Turtle Bay workers' pay and benefits to a first-class level," said George Cox, a 29-year employee of Turtle Bay.

The union's goal was to restore and protect good jobs in the community so current and future residents could work on the North Shore, said long-time Turtle Bay worker Steven Dela Cruz.

"We took a step forward in this contract," Dela Cruz said.

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