BUSINESS BRIEFS
Naniloa workers reject ILWU
Advertiser Staff and News Services
Employees of the newly named Naniloa Volcanoes Resort in Hilo, Hawai'i, have voted against being represented by ILWU Local 142, according to the company that took over the former Hawai'i Naniloa Resort.
Hawai'i Outdoor Tours rehired about 20 of the 136 unionized hotel workers after taking ownership in February. Only five employees — out of 58 who cast ballots — voted to have the ILWU represent them at a recent election, according to Kenneth Fujiyama, Hawai'i Outdoor Tours chairman and chief executive.
ILWU officials could not be reached for comment.
TONY ROMA'S LEAVING KAHALA
Tony Roma's in Kahala will close its doors tomorrow night but is looking to reopen in another location, owner WDI International Inc. said.
The restaurant will serve its last plate of ribs after 20 years at the Wai'alae Avenue location. The company sold its lease for the Kahala site because it had expected a new location would be ready by now, "but it didn't turn out that way," said Steven Pratt, Hawai'i district manager for WDI. The company is in negotiations for other locations, he said.
The Tony Roma's Waikiki and Westridge restaurants and the Ala Moana express location will remain open, and a restaurant in Lahaina, Maui, is expected to open in August.
SEC LIFTS BAN ON QUATTRONE
WASHINGTON — Federal regulators overturned a lifelong ban from the securities industry against former star technology banker Frank Quattrone yesterday, four days after his conviction on charges of obstructing justice was thrown out by a federal appeals court.
The five members of the Securities and Exchange Commission took the action unanimously, ruling that the brokerage industry's self-policing organization violated its own rules when it banned Quattrone in November 2004 for allegedly failing to cooperate in an investigation of his activities.
ALCATEL, LUCENT MAY HOOK UP
Alcatel SA may buy Lucent Technologies Inc. for at least $12.6 billion, combining two telephone-equipment makers that never recovered from the collapse of the technology bubble six years ago.
Lucent, whose roots trace back to Bell Laboratories and the invention of the transistor, and Alcatel, a Paris-based supplier of telephone gear for more than a century, said in a statement yesterday that they are discussing a "merger of equals" that would be "priced at market."
Shares of Lucent, down 95 percent since 1999, jumped 24 cents, or 8.5 percent, to $3.06 in New York Stock Market composite trading.
