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.
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.
Fight for $15: Lawmakers fail our ʻohana on wages
How much harder for those working minimum-wage jobs in Hawaiʻi, who had every right to expect their elected leaders to address their needs?
Saiki, House leave local workers worse off
Saiki could have written two lines that synthesized his entire commentary: “The Chamber of Commerce, which funds my campaign, didn’t want me to pass a living minimum wage for the people of Hawaiʻi. So I didn’t.”
‘Republicrats’ failed workers by not raising minimum wage
The leadership of the House of Representatives let our workers down: they include Scott Saiki, Mark Nakashima, Della Au Belatti, Dee Morikawa, Tom Brower, Aaron Johanson and Sylvia Luke.
Hawaiʻi’s people suffer while legislators fail to pass meaningful bills
People are dying. Real people are really dying. Let’s vote for some real change in 2020, shall we?
Sine Die—my take on the 2019 session
Our state legislature, dominated by lawmakers who were elected under the flag of the Democratic Party of Hawaiʻi, refused to pass legislation increasing the minimum wage, a top legislative priority of their own party.
Legislature did nothing to deserve pay raise
Our legislators should be embarrassed. Instead they are going to receive pay raises they don’t deserve.
‘Democratic’ lawmakers fail to pass living wage
One lawmaker reportedly called the outcome “bittersweet.” No, it was just bitter.
Raise Up Hawaiʻi comments on deferment of minimum wage increase
In a press release, the coalition said it is “deeply disappointed” that the legislature failed to increase the minimum wage this year.
Livable wage can sustain our economy
At $10.10 an hour, our low-income workers clearly do not have enough to buy food and pay rent—in short, to be “self-sufficient.”
A living wage will help Native Hawaiians
A 2016 statewide poll revealed that above 70 percent of Native Hawaiians live paycheck to paycheck. A third say they struggle to pay for food. This cannot continue.