Advocates for a living wage will be asking our elected officials to deliver on their promises and pass a living wage bill in the 2021 legislative session. But we can’t do it without support from you.
It’s time to Raise Up Hawaiʻi
Every worker deserves a Living Wage.
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.
For too many families living in Hawaiʻi, the answer to, “How’re you doing?” is, “Just hanging on.”
The vast majority of those who testified at Monday’s LCA meeting favored the 2026 date for the increase, with 113 testifying in support of the 2026 date and 11 individuals testifying in support of the 2028 date. Five favored a Hawai‘i Chamber of Commerce proposal for $15 an hour by 2027, and 11 favored no increase at all.
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.
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.
Labor Chair Onishi and House leadership are about to let SB2018 die without a hearing in the House, demonstrating a carelessness toward tens of thousands of struggling Hawaiʻi workers.
While some of the opposition was from the perspective of business owners worried about the increased labor costs, most were concerned that the bill does not do enough.
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.
