HONOLULU – An overwhelming majority of the 63 unionized workers in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser newsroom voted on April 25 to ratify a five-year contract with owner Oahu Publications Inc.

The agreement, which includes modest pay raises and a freeze on the worker share of medical premiums, got a nod from 89 percent of voters, all members of the Pacific Media Workers Guild. Turnout was strong, with 73 percent of guild members voting.

“We are happy to have such solid support for this new contract,” said Susan Essoyan, who was elected as co-chair for the newspaper’s guild unit last November along with Joleen Oshiro. “We appreciate the hard work of all of our colleagues and the unity they showed during negotiations. We want to put out the best newspaper we can for the people of Hawaii because we know how vital good journalism is to our community.”

The contract runs from May 1 through April 30, 2023.

Guild members from the daily newspaper include reporters, page designers, a copy editor, photographers, clerks and web staff.

The vote included a 7 percent “no” vote, and 4 percent of voters abstained.

The agreement came more than a year and a half after the previous contract expired in September 2016.