
Business groups wrong on minimum wage
It is my hope that our elected officials will base their decision-making on the preponderance of evidence regarding the minimum wage, and not the patently false centenarian talking points of the collective of business associations.

Standing for $18 minimum wage
This demonstration comes after the state House pivoted away from the original minimum-wage proposal, Senate Bill 2018, that would have incrementally increased the minimum wage to $18 an hour by 2026.

Wage measures still alive
A bill in the state House of Representatives that would increase the minimum wage cleared a committee hurdle Tuesday.

Rep. Roy Takumi: Workers deserve a (barely) living wage
It would raise the living standards for women, the elderly, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders who are disproportionately in low-wage jobs.

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.

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.

State, city hoodwink the poor, rest of us
“Sickening, just sickening,” writes Joel Fischer, Waiʻalae resident.

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.

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?

Proposal to raise Hawaiʻi’s minimum wage to $12 remains alive
Many who wrote testimony in support of the wage increase called for an amendment to raise the hourly minimum to $17 by 2026.

‘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.

Minimum wage hike bill advances, but critics say it’s still not enough
A bill to hike Hawaiʻi’s minimum wage is moving to the full house, but critics say it still falls short of what a person needs to live in the 50th state.

Minimum wage bill teed up for House vote
If also approved by the Senate and governor, Hawaiʻi’s minimum wage would rise to $13 an hour by 2024.

Working families need more relief
The statistics on the struggle of Hawaiʻi’s families look worse with each passing year. The current minimum hourly rate, $10.10, does not go far enough.

A dream deferred: A week after Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the war on the poor continues
Tom Yamachika’s Jan. 18 column, “What really is a minimum wage?” offers a clear articulation of the disregard and disdain for the poor which appears at all levels of government.

Advocates rally at the capitol to demand higher minimum wage
About 50 living wage advocates rallied at the state capitol Wednesday evening to push lawmakers to raise the the hourly wage to $17, from the current minimum of $10.10.

How a living wage would help lots of Hawaiʻi workers
More than half of the children in the state have a parent earning below $17 per hour.