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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Out of touch lawmakers failed to raise minimum wage
An increase would have shown that Democrats still fight for the interests of working families.
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?
Shameful for lawmakers to not act on living wage
Our legislators allowed a raise for themselves but declined to vote on a living wage for the working people of Hawaiʻi, many of whom work two or three jobs.
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.
Housing progress needs firm steps
Advocates are rightly concerned that the failure of a minimum-wage increase to pass will not make it any easier for low-income renters to afford what housing is available.
Pay raise for ineffectual lawmakers is appalling
What kind of lawmakers would give themselves a large pay raise for a part-time badly done job?