If you live in the state of Hawaii and have not started prepping or are not yet done, you have only about a week left IF the long-shoremen go on strike! Even if the strike is short-lived, it would take weeks (or even longer) for the supplies to reach "normal" levels. This week alone saw a work slowdown that already "inconvienced" numerous businesses and consumers

The last time they went on strike in 1971, it was a very bad situation. I remember the near riots at Long's Drugs for whatever toilet paper they could get in... they would have the customers wait in the parking lot and throw the boxes out to them. People would literally fight with one another just to get them. The supermarkets were bare of food, or they were priced 2 or 3 times higher due to air freight. A local radio station would offer toilet paper as prizes since "No Mo Toilet Papa"!

People still remember the effects of the strike. Yesterday, after asking my wife to pick up additional toilet paper from Costco, she noticed that every 9 carts out of 10 had toilet paper. Too bad I couldn't go... I would be looking for what else they were buying.

Link:

http://starbulletin.com/1999/10/16/news/story1.html

-- Forum Regular (Here@y2k.comx), October 17, 1999

Answers

I have relatives there. They are BIG DGI's.....I have tried, but they are buying the party line...hook line and sinker....

They also believed that Clinton was innocent...then that everybody did it (though not them!), ....then that it didn't matter....

Hawaiians are notoriously laid back. I am most concerned about them. The most I could do was to convince them to have extra water and cash.... They routinely stock up at Costco though...hope they got enough...I am sure my brother in law and his wife have NOTHING extra around.....sigh...it begins...

-- Ynott (Ynott@incorruptible.com), October 17, 1999.

If this pans out in any way like in the past, it will be bad! I seriously believe that this event is the start of "y2k" for us. You gotta remember, 90% of all goods brought into the state of Hawaii comes in those containers. The baring of shelves would've already started 2+ months before the actual event (and this is with the infrastructure in place!). People who were putting off prepping until the last few months of the year will not be able to even start! (I'm glad I more or less finished earlier this year).

It's going to be bad...

-- Forum Regular (here@y2k.comx), October 17, 1999.

The most relevant article...

Food businesses feel slowdown the most By Mary Adamski Star-Bulletin

Islanders shopping for groceries or dining out aren't likely to feel an immediate impact from the weeklong dockworkers' slowdown, but it's already been costly to food businesses, according to the state's food and beverage wholesalers.

And consumers may find slim pickings for some items in a couple of weeks.

A federal judge yesterday issued a temporary restraining order telling ILWU Local 142 to end the slowdown, which began Sunday. After that, the union gave its 72-hour notice to terminate its contract.

The companies and union had been in negotiations for several months and operating under a contract extended since a June 30 expiration date.

Home Depot has 20 containers filled with hardware goods left on the docks that it can't touch, said assistant store manager Shawn Troup. That, of course, means consumers can't touch it either.

"There's definitely an effect on everybody in the retail sector on this island," Troup said. "We would prefer to have our stock now. So would our customers."

Back stock will provide goods for store shelves for the upcoming week. But once that goes, and if the dockworkers situation remains unresolved, shelves could become bare, he said.

"It would be very nice to see this thing as quickly resolved as possible so people can enjoy why we came here -- for good prices, great service and great products," he said.

There are no shortages yet, said Steve Christensen, distribution manager for Fleming Foods/-Hawaii division, the state's largest wholesaler.

"We've got plenty of rice and stacks of toilet paper," he said, referring to the items islanders traditionally stockpile. "There's not much impact except, for really fresh produce, there may be an impact next week."

Christensen said his company's inventory is relatively high because "we've been building up a little for the Y2K, just in case there is an issue."

"It's nothing drastic yet for us," he said. "There's additional expenses for waiting in line, taking longer to pick up. It's more expensive right now for us but we just eat it."

Jim Konersman, president of Anheuser-Busch Sales of Hawaii, said his company receives 50 or 60 container loads per ship. Its drivers normally would drive them all off the docks in a couple of days, he said, but "now we're paying our manpower to sit and wait," with the longest wait so far lasting seven hours.

"It's not an effective use of equipment or manpower. We're probably going to look at its effect on our costs. We may have to cut other costs to keep competitive," and that could affect his employees, Konersman said.

"There is truly a slowdown. It is going to deplete food items in the islands," he said. "This is a huge disservice. It's not a mature resolution of the problem."

Konersman said the company, which brings in about 50 percent of beer sold here, keeps about 10 days of inventory in refrigerated warehouses at five locations in the state.

"We're concerned about freshness, that's the reason we need to get containers off the ship as soon as possible." To fly in inventory would be prohibitively expensive, the beer wholesaler said.

A firm that supplies local restaurants and hotels already has had to resort to air freight.

Larry Vogel, president of Y. Hata & Co., said: "We've been forced to fly product in. We've had no alternative but to go to the extra expense."

One example was meeting the demand for a steakhouse customer, he said. "We had to fly steaks in to keep them going."

Vogel said he doesn't anticipate curtailed restaurant menus because of shortages since his company usually keeps "safety stock." But fresh meat isn't something that can be stockpiled, he said.

"So far we haven't failed to deliver," he said. "We have taken the extra step of searching around town or paying to fly it in."

Vogel said the company has sent letters to customers notifying them of potential problems.

-- .. (..@....), October 17, 1999.

At least with all that ocean around you you'll be able to effectivly dispose of all the corpses.I was stationed at schofield barracks when I was a grunt in '88 and jeepers,was it crowded then.If the supplies stop flowing HI is one paradice just waiting to become a hell- hole.Way too many people for subsistance farming,and way too many people per square mile.Flee to the mainland.

-- zoobie (zoobiezoob@yahoo.com), October 18, 1999.