A Hawaii union representing thousands of hotel employees has filed a lawsuit against Turtle Bay Resort over its expansion plans.

Unite Here Local 5, which represents 10,000 workers in the state’s hospitality, health care and food service industries, says that the resort’s proposal to build more condos and timeshares won’t create as many jobs as full-service hotels would.

“For many years, workers at Turtle Bay Resort have fought hard to catch up to the standard set by hotel workers in Waikiki, but still fall behind,” the union’s spokeswoman Paola Rodelas said in a statement. “Building condotels and timeshares in Turtle Bay Resort that pay their workers less with unfair workloads and no union would set a lower standard for the Resort’s existing workers.”

The hotel on Oahu’s North Shore is already being sued by Keep the North Shore Country, a community group that argues that the hotel’s latest environmental analysis of the proposed development should be redone.

A group called Defend Oahu Coalition is also appealing the resort’s land use designation. 

The iconic resort has been embroiled in litigation for years over its plans to expand. The debate has grown so heated that Gov. Neil Abercrombie set aside $40 million in his budget proposal this month to conserve part of the land at the resort in an effort to resolve the controversy. 

This Dec. 2013 photo shows Turtle Bay Resort on the North Shore of Oahu. (PF Bentley/Civil Beat)

— Anita Hofschneider