Advocates for a living wage will be asking our elected officials to deliver on their promises and pass a living wage bill in the 2021 legislative session. But we can’t do it without support from you.
It’s time to Raise Up Hawaiʻi
Every worker deserves a Living Wage.
$15 per hour, while short of a subsistence or living wage, is a meaningful step that will truly help working people—and rev up the economy.
Hawaiʻi’s workers need a minimum wage that keeps up with our cost of living. A living wage can help stop the flight of good people from their home. Lawmakers can make it happen.
The main takeaway from the report: low-wage workers plow every penny back into the economy, so giving them a raise should stimulate economic activity.
The report disputes the argument opponents of a minimum wage increase make that a wage increase could hurt small businesses in Hawaiʻi. It says that minimum wage workers would likely spend their additional income in ways that boost the local economy.
We deserve at least $17, and so anything less than $15 is completely unacceptable.
From the day we opened, I guaranteed a $20 an hour minimum wage. I had no capital or loans from wealthy family members to fall back on; just a simple belief that no one who works full time should be unable to live or cover the basics.
Yes, a higher minimum wage would make it harder for me to compete for good attendants. I expect what I pay will have to keep rising. Nonetheless, I’d like people to be less strapped all the time, as mine are.
The issue is now headed for conference committee, because the House passed another minimum wage bill with no details as to how much and when it would increase.
On TV, Hawaiʻi is shown as paradise with palm trees, spotless beaches and hula dancers. However, what isn’t seen is the homelessness, the multiple jobs families need to get by, and people struggling to make ends meet.
