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.
All tagged Keiki Health
At a Labor for Living Wages rally at the Hawai’i State Capitol on Wednesday, Kona Rep. Jeanne Kapela said current wages cannot begin to satisfy the state’s highest cost-of-living standards in the nation.
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.
What can you buy for $10? Two gallons of unleaded gas... a gallon of milk? It's not enough for a plate lunch anymore… maybe a mini if you're lucky. You may have to settle for a few musubi. That’s how far $10 goes these days. Not far at all.
Now more than ever, we see that wage levels in Hawaiʻi need to be raised substantially to improve workers’ living standards and safeguard the public’s health.
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.
Our representatives need to give us some hope that we can prosper here. That our keiki can prosper here. Raise the minimum wage.
The legislative package proposed by leadership in the State House and Senate calls for a $13 an hour minimum wage by 2024—Hawaiʻi workers already need at least $17 an hour to afford basic needs in 2020.
More than half of the children in the state have a parent earning below $17 per hour.
How much harder for those working minimum-wage jobs in Hawaiʻi, who had every right to expect their elected leaders to address their needs?
