Many deserve credit for minimum-wage increase
While House Speaker Scott Saiki and his leadership faction will claim the credit, this group has actually been the greatest impediment to increasing the minimum wage and denying workers a pay increase over the past four years.
State legislature closes an ambitious session
After two years of COVID-induced budget cuts, the state legislature took advantage of a rebounding economy and federal relief funding to enact an ambitious agenda.
Friday deadline looms for Hawaiʻi lawmakers to raise minimum wage
Supporters rallied in events across the islands to urge lawmakers to agree on a final version by Friday. If they do not agree on terms, the measure will be killed. The sticking point has been how much the raises will be and how fast they will be implemented.
Working families need help, not gamesmanship
There is no good reason for the House and Senate to be at loggerheads over the minimum wage and the Earned Income Tax Credit bills.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
Why is every legislative session shrouded in political mystery?
The much ballyhooed effort to raise the minimum wage was just one bill that died with no vote or announcement. Lawmakers didn’t want you to even ask, much less know.
Minimum wage hike gets immediate support as legislature convenes
The Hawaiʻi legislature convened its 30th biennial session Wednesday, and its leaders wasted no time proclaiming that a top priority would be increasing the state’s $10.10 per hour minimum wage.
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.