To: Senate Committee on Ways & Means, Senate Committee on Judiciary
Attn: Chair(s) Donovan Dela Cruz & Karl Rhoads, Vice Chair(s) Gilbert Keith-Agaran & Jarrett Keohokalole, Committee members
Hawaiʻi Workers Center Testimony for February 22, 2021’s Joint Committee Hearing
Supporting With Amendments, SB676 SD1 Relating to the Minimum Wage, Which Would Raise the Minimum Wage For All Employees Except Those Covered Under HRS 387-9 From $10.10/hr to $12/hr in July 1, 2022.
The Hawaiʻi Workers Center (HWC) is a resource and organizing center which addresses the issues and concerns of unemployed workers, low-wage workers and immigrants. For the past several months, we have been publicly advocating for unemployed workers, urging the Department of Labor & Industrial Relations (DLIR) to reopen its unemployment offices and provide safe, direct, in-person services for the thousands of workers who have been furloughed or permanently laid off since March 2020. Given the poor condition of DLIR’s archaic mainframe computer, the difficulty of submitting a claim, and the department’s failure to be responsive to claimants’ emails and phone calls, direct servicing that keeps claimants and public employees safe is urgent and essential.
We sincerely appreciate that the committees are willing to hear a bill to raise the minimum wage despite pressures to look to austerity as an economic and political solution. But while raising the wage to $12/hr in 2022 is helpful, it’s far from enough for working class families. Before the COVID pandemic, these families were already working multiple jobs, and struggling to survive in the state with the highest cost of living. The pandemic has made this inequality worse. Hours are being reduced, jobs are being cut, and people will need to stay at home to protect their health and the health of their family members.
We have a lot of work to do, but to begin to seriously address the immediate needs of workers and their families, the Hawaiʻi Workers Center offers the following amendment: Raise the minimum wage to $15/hr by 2022 to make up for the increases that should have been made as cost of living went up, until it reaches $17/hr by 2026. These increases should be gradual rather than enacted at just one time so that workers can immediately start to use the wage increases to pay the bills, as well as use what’s left over to spend on local businesses and have a financial foundation to weather the pandemic and beyond. This would be a win for working class families and our consumer oriented economy.
Despite the continuous fear mongering by employers, raising the minimum wage does not actually hurt businesses. On the contrary, data shows us that raising the minimum wage has actually helped small businesses in Hawaiʻi. The number of small businesses and small business employees increased during the last minimum wage hike between 2014 and 2018 (which raised the wage from $7.25 to $10.10, or about 10 percent per year). Businesses have more demand for their goods and services as wages rise across the state, helping them pay their employees more as well. Low-wage labor is only a small portion of a business’s costs, so incrementally raising the wage will ensure that there isn’t a significant increase in the prices.
Giving workers a raise would allow for more people to be able to pursue creative interests, open up small businesses, live less stressful lives, buy homes, pay student loans or further their education, and spend more time with their families as they would need to worry less about their economic futures. This would be the real thank you that essential workers in retail, fast food, caregiving, teaching, etc deserve. For workers who are already making $15 or higher, an increase for low-wage workers would give them the opportunity to raise the floor on their own wages and further their rights as workers.
Alongside an adequate minimum wage increase for current workers, we also need to extend relief to the workers who are currently unemployed, furloughed, or have yet to be rehired/recalled back to their jobs. There are many who still have been unable to file unemployment claims or who are having trouble with their current claims. We need to continue to urge the DLIR Director and other state officials to implement solutions like safely reopening DLIR offices in each county for direct in-person services, resolving staffing shortages and technological issues/inadequacies at the Unemployment Insurance office, and opening up computers in public spaces like libraries with trained staff. This will help ensure that unemployed workers can be served directly so that they can get assistance as needed, allowing for families to be able to finally receive some relief.
One Job Should Be Enough!
Submitted by Rev. Sam Domingo, John Witeck, and Jun Shin of the Hawaiʻi Workers Center
Phone Number: 808-255-6663
Email: hiworkerscenter[@]gmail.com
To: Senate Committee on Labor, Culture and the Arts
To: Senate Committee on Labor, Culture and the Arts
Attn: Chair Brian Taniguchi, Vice Chair Les Ihara Jr, and Committee members
Hawaii Workers Center Testimony for February 8, 2021, Committee hearing
Supporting With Amendments, SB676 Relating to Minimum Wage, Which Would Raise the Minimum Wage For All Employees Except Those Covered Under HRS 387-9 From $10.10/hr to $12/hr in July 1, 2022.
The Hawaii Workers Center (HWC) is a resource and organizing center which addresses the issues and concerns of low-wage workers and immigrants. For the past 6 months, we have been publicly advocating for unemployed workers, urging the Department of Labor & Industrial Relations (DLIR) to reopen its unemployment offices and provide safe, direct, in-person services for the thousands of workers who have been furloughed or permanently laid off since March 2020. Given the poor condition of DLIR’s archaic mainframe computer, the difficulty of submitting a claim, and the department’s failure to be responsive to claimants’ emails and phone calls, direct servicing is urgent and essential.
We sincerely appreciate that the committee is willing to hear a bill to raise the minimum wage despite pressures to look to austerity as an economic and political solution. But while raising the wage to $12/hr in 2022 is helpful, it’s not enough for working class families who were already working multiple jobs and struggling to survive in the State with the highest cost of living before the pandemic. This has become harder to do in the pandemic when your hours are being cut or you’ve lost your job, and you might need to stay at home to protect your health and the health of your family members.
To begin to seriously address the immediate needs of workers and their families, the Hawaii Workers Center offers the following amendment: Raise the minimum wage to $15/hr by 2022 to make up for the increases that should have been made as cost of living went up, until it reaches $17/hr by 2026. These increases should be gradual rather than enacted at just one time so that workers can immediately start to use the wage increases to pay the bills, as well as use what’s left over to spend on local businesses and to save up to have a financial foundation to weather the pandemic and beyond. This would be a win for working class families and the economy.
Raising the minimum wage would be the real thank you that essential workers in retail, fast food, caregiving, teaching, etc deserve. For those who are already making $15 or higher, this would give them the opportunity to raise the floor on their own wages. We would see more people able to pursue creative interests, open up small businesses, live less stressful lives, buy homes, and spend more time with their families if they had to worry less about their economic futures.
Alongside a minimum wage increase for current workers, we also need to extend relief to the workers who are currently unemployed, furloughed, and have yet to be rehired/recalled back to their jobs. There are many who still have been unable to file unemployment claims or who are having trouble with their current claims. We need to continue to urge the DLIR Director and other state officials to implement solutions like safely reopening DLIR offices in each county for direct in-person services, resolving staffing shortages and technological issues/inadequacies at the Unemployment Insurance office, and opening up public access computers in libraries with trained staff. This will help ensure that unemployed workers can be served directly so that they can get assistance as needed and answers to their questions, allowing for more families to be able to finally receive some relief and have their frustrations resolved.
One Job Should Be Enough!
Submitted by Rev. Sam Domingo, John Witeck, and Jun Shin of the Hawaiʻi Workers Center
Phone Number: 808-255-6663
Email: hiworkerscenter[@]gmail.com