Locals argue for higher wages
Kauaʻi residents Patricia Wistinghausen and Marion McHenry flew to Honolulu Tuesday to join other advocates on visits to legislators at the State Capitol to urge them to pass a true living wage for workers in Hawaiʻi.
McHenry, who is retired after three decades in the hospitality industry, says she remembers when people like her could live on minimum-wage jobs.
“Not any more,” she said. “Wages have just not kept up with the cost of living. Even with the last increase to $10.10, I see more and more people becoming homeless because they cannot afford a place to stay. I came to speak on their behalf because they cannot leave their jobs to advocate for themselves.
McHenry said she feels for families she has witnessed preparing their children for school while living in a car.
“These children have no place to return to that can be called a home,” she said.
