Minimum-wage increase coming Oct. 1
Hawaiʻi’s minimum wage will rise to $12 per hour on Oct. 1, and then will go up by $2 every other year until it reaches $18 per hour on Jan. 1, 2028.
Supporters rally to raise minimum wage to $18 as bill advances back to House
At a Labor for Living Wages rally at the Hawai’i State Capitol on Wednesday, Kona Rep. Jeanne Kapela said current wages cannot begin to satisfy the state’s highest cost-of-living standards in the nation.
Don’t let House gut the minimum wage bill
Working families and our economy have been suffering for decades with wages that fail to come close to a livable standard. Fortunately both chambers are finally acting like this deficit needs to be closed. We need them to stand by their promises to workers and our economy, and finally push this bill over the finish line and on to the governor’s desk.
Editorial: Help for Hawaiʻi households
For too many families living in Hawaiʻi, the answer to, “How’re you doing?” is, “Just hanging on.”
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.
Hawaiʻi lawmakers tussle over one minimum wage bill
A clash of wills and philosophies among state lawmakers over how to raise Hawaiʻi’s minimum wage now appears centered on one bill at the legislature instead of two.
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.
Hawaiʻi minimum wage bill advances despite criticisms
Worker advocates called for a faster increase to $18 an hour consistent with a bill passed in January by the full Senate in a 24–1 vote.
Religious leaders take a stand to raise minimum wage in Hawaiʻi
Our faith demands concern for the poor that is the tap root of the Christian ethic of economic justice.
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.
Minimum wage has stayed at $10.10 for 4 years. With high inflation, will lawmakers make any changes?
The latest state data show a single adult would need to make about $17 to $18 an hour at a full-time job to afford to live in Hawaiʻi.
Children struggle with pressures of poverty
These children grew up disadvantaged, with no clear avenues of escape, in a society that is permitting, even encouraging, a widening gap between the rich and the poor. Why are we OK with this?
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?
‘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.