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.
Hawaiʻi’s lowest-in-the-nation real minimum wage has left hundreds of thousands of workers living paycheck-to-paycheck and struggling to make ends meet. A state Department of Economic Development and Tourism study identifies that full-time workers need at least $17 per hour to afford their basic needs—Hawaiʻi’s minimum wage is a starvation wage of only $10.10 per hour.
Democrats failed to address this issue in 2018 and 2019, leaving the minimum wage stagnant. This was after Governor David Ige ran on a $15 minimum wage platform in 2018 with the majority of both the House and Senate agreeing with him.
We are dependent on the labor of thousands of low-wage workers who are now risking their health and safety, ensuring that our community can still function. In April, dozens of McDonald’s workers and their family members in Kona tested positive for COVID-19.
How have we expressed our gratitude? With starvation wages that do not allow them to feed their families or thrive. We should instead guarantee all workers a path toward a living wage.
