MEDIA ADVISORY
For Release, July 9, 2021
TAKE ACTION FOR UNEMPLOYED WORKERS & FAMILIES
JOIN US ON THE 12 TH at 12
Demonstration at the Department of Labor & Industrial Relations (DLIR),
830 Punchbowl St., 12 noon to 1 p.m., Monday, July 12
Sponsored by the Hawaii Workers Center and the Coalition to Defend and
Respect Hawaii’s Workers
Unemployed workers are STILL waiting for their unemployment benefits after a year or more,
and yet the DLIR’s unemployment offices remain closed, though businesses, restaurants, and
many establishments are open. We will rally and hold signs in front of the DLIR’s office on
Punchbowl Street to demand a safe reopening of the unemployment offices statewide so
workers and their families can get the assistance they need and have a right to receive!
The Coalition to Defend and Respect Hawai’i’s Workers is joining with the Hawai’i’s Workers
Center to sponsor the demonstration on July 12. Hawaii Workers Center representatives
requested to meet with DLIR Director Anne Perreira-Eustaquio to discuss ways of reopening
UI offices but, to date, the Director has not responded. A letter was also sent recently to
Governor David Ige requesting a meeting, but no response has been received.
The Coalition’s 19 organizational members include UNITE/HERE Local 5, Living Wage Hawaii,
AIKEA, Hawai’i Nurses Association, Hawaii Alliance for Progressive Action, Young
Progressives Demanding Action, Pono Hawaii Initiative, Anakbayan Hawaii, Hawai’i Scholars
for Education & Social Justice, Faith Action, Hawai’i State Teachers Staff Organization
(HSTO), Academic Labor United, Thriving University for a Thriving Hawai’i (TUTH), Af3irm
Hawaii, Working Families Coalition, Raise Up Hawaii Coalition, Hawai’i Peoples Fund, Hawaii
Peace and Justice, and the Hawai’i Workers Center. .
The Coalition has united around several key issues including, but not limited to, defending and
advancing workers’ rights; fixing the broken Unemployment Insurance (UI) system (opening up
DLIR offices to provide safe, direct, in-person services and timely benefits); the safe return and
fair recall of workers to their former jobs; raising the minimum wage; exempting unemployed
workers’ benefits from state taxation; banning forced overtime for health care workers;
increasing state funding for public education; and reducing inequality and poverty.
For more information, please call Jun Shin (255-6663), Rev. Sam Domingo (384-8701),
Sergio Alcubilla (371-4805), or John Witeck (347-3306).