1 - American Memory

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EXHIBIT III
orriCE or THE MAyon — iitr tt kaoiii, kiia, ki««ii iiTtt
•HUNICHI KIMUHA
September 3, 1971 ••ton
Honorable John A. Burns
Governor
State of Hawaii
State Capitol Building
Honolulu, Hawaii 96813
Dear Governor Burns<
71-.9-28
On August 26, 1971, we began the first of a series of weekly calls to
major Big Island business firms.
The purpose of this survey is to assess the impact of the shipping tie-
up as it relates to the econoiny of the Big Island, especially employment.
Six hundred (600) firms were surveyed. It was reported that thirty (30)
firms have released 78 employees since the strike has begun. Businesses
anticipate strike-related layoffs to total 210 people by the end of
September. By the end of October, the reported layoffs are expected to
run to 311 and by the end of November to 349. An additional 67 layoffs
were reported as possibilities with expected dates uncertain—thus it is
possible that 416 layoffs might come by the end of the next three months.
The layoffs in most inatancas involved portion of a company's employment.
In some cases, however, complete shutdowns of operations are anticipated.
Many business firms could not answer the question "how many do you
exp>ect to layoff if the strike continues". Obviously with the prolonga-
tion of the strike, other firms will start to see actual layoff Situations
or potentials. The impact besides the mentioned layoff includes the
reduction of work hours by as much as one full day per worker by a few
firms. Many of the employers are requesting their workers to take
vacations at this time before going into measures such as cutting of hours
and layoffs. Understandably, everyone is experiencing operational hard-
ships in one form, shape, or another.
One Big Island major employment sector deserving special attention is
the sugar industry. The Big Island sugar companies anticipate normal