Hawaiʻi Democrats must raise minimum wage
All Hawaiʻi workers should be able to make ends meet with one job, and it’s our legislature’s responsibility to make that a reality.
Hawaiʻi House leaders shelve bills that would help workers
House leaders are resisting union pressure to revive bills this year that would raise the minimum wage and exempt jobless benefits from state income taxes.
Dark clouds are looming over Hawaiʻi even as the economy appears to be improving
Economic experts say many people are worse off than they were before the pandemic and a lower unemployment rate is simply masking deeper problems.
House leaders ignored the needs of Hawaiʻi’s workers
They killed bills to raise the state minimum wage and to help the unemployed.
Labor leaders urge lawmakers to move minimum wage increase
Teamsters, ILWU and Local 5 leaders ask House Speaker Scott Saiki to schedule a floor vote by Wednesday.
House leadership bails out businesses but bails on worker relief
Unemployment insurance benefits should be exempt from Hawaiʻi income tax, but a Senate bill calling for that has unfortunately stalled.
Raising minimum wage is imperative
Raising the minimum wage to a living wage has been a top priority for the Democratic Party of Hawaiʻi for years.
Two pay raises for lawmakers over the next year are raising eyebrows
The salary commission approved the wage hikes two years ago but critics now question the optics of government officials getting pay raises during an economic crisis.
Hypocrisy in Hawaiʻi’s House of Representatives
How can legislators justify giving themselves a raise when they refuse to hold hearings on increasing the minimum wage?
‘They take the early bus … for us’
The moral and civic renewal we need requires a radical reframing of the terms of economic debate. Our economic foundations must be centered around people—not markets.
Speaker Saiki must stand with workers
For three straight legislative sessions, 2018–20, Saiki and the Hawaiʻi State House of Representatives have betrayed the Democratic Party’s commitment to a $15+ minimum wage.
Low minimum wage perpetuates systematic racism in Hawaiʻi
One policy clearly perpetuating systematic racism in Hawaiʻi is the state’s oppressively low minimum wage.
Essential workers today, with starvation wages tomorrow?
It is one of the shameful ironies of our time that Hawaiʻi continues to fail to address the injustice that many workers deemed essential do not receive a wage that meets their essential needs.
Legislature could quickly raise minimum wage next year
A bill that stalled in the last days of the 2019 session carries over to the assembly that convenes in January, giving state lawmakers an opportunity to secure minimum wage legislation early in the 2020 session.
Minimum wage hike would mean living wage to meet basic needs, help grow economy
The 2018 elections brought the number of living wage supporters above a majority in both the state House and Senate, setting the stage for a living wage bill to pass in 2019.
Candidates should back living wage
Of the 34 House races with more than one candidate on the ballot, 27 have at least one living wage supporter running.
Hawaiʻi’s conservative democrats leave workers struggling to survive
Most elected Hawaiʻi Democrats don’t align with traditional Democratic Party values when it comes to supporting a hike in the minimum wage.
Lawmakers lag on minimum wage
The differences between the House and the Senate proposals will need to be reconciled during conference committee. The fate of Hawaiʻi’s workers and their families is in their hands.