Testify in Support of Living Wage This Legislative Session!
In addition to our work to make Hawaiʻi’s food system more fair and sustainable, HAPA links arms with our allies to support various campaigns to make the islands more socially and economically just for all. One economic policy we support is the effort to raise the minimum wage from $10.10/hr to a living wage of $18/hr by 2026.
Here are a couple of ways that you can support an economy that works for all.
HAPA is proud to be a member of the Raise Up Hawaiʻi coalition along with over thirty other local organizations and businesses. Together, we advocate raising the minimum wage to a livable wage - $18/hr by 2026. For regular alerts on living wage legislative sign up for alerts from Raise Up Hawaiʻi here.
ARE YOU A BUSINESS OWNER WHO SUPPORTS A LIVING WAGE? JOIN THE NEW CHAMBER OF SUSTAINABLE COMMERCE!
A group of like-minded business owners have come together to create a new Chamber of Sustainable Commerce and are seeking to grow the organization’s membership. The Chamber of Sustainable Commerce supports an array of policies “that strengthen our economy without hurting workers, communities, or the environment.”
Chamber of Sustainable Commerce Mission:
“Too many chambers of commerce in Hawaiʻi have rewarded leadership that perpetuates these short-sighted, dysfunctional practices which have hurt our customers, our workers, our communities, and our long-term economic sustainability.”
To learn more and/or join, please visit the Chamber of Sustainable Commerce website:
LIVE ON OʻAHU? JOIN THE LIVING WAGE RALLY ON MARCH 8TH, 2022 FROM 11AM-1PM!
Legislation to create a living wage in Hawaiʻi is moving through the legislature, but the measures that are advancing don’t go far enough.
Please join us and Raise up Hawaiʻi Coalition at the Hawaiʻi State Capitol building on March 8, 2022 from 11 AM to 1 PM for a rally outside the House chamber in the rotunda. Masks and social distancing will be required.
Note: You can register individually or on behalf of an organization. If you would like to RSVP for both yourself and an organization, please submit TWO different RSVP forms.
Here is the status of legislation living wage legislation from Raise Up:
“The State House remains unwilling to hear the people’s demand for living wages. Despite overwhelming testimony in support for $18 by 2026 (121 out of 143 testimonies, or 85%), the House labor and tourism committee (LAT) left the painfully slow increase to $18 by 2030 unchanged in HB2510.
It already costs more than $19 an hour just to survive in Hawaiʻi, and that figure only increases each year. The Senate position of $18 by 2026 is a reasonable compromise. The House proposal would only put workers at $14 by 2026, which is almost the exact equivalent of where workers were left in 2018 with $10.10—more than $7 short of a living wage.
It seems that the State House has yet to truly hear us. We’re hoping to change that, because Hawaiʻi’s minimum wage and low-wage workers deserve better than 8+ years of wage stagnation. We are determined to do everything we can to hold the line on $18 by 2026, and we think that means bringing people power back to the rotunda.
..There will be workers, organizers, legislators on the agenda at this rally at the Capitol. The Capitol will finally be open for the public, so it’s super important that we are out there IN FORCE!
We still have a chance to raise the minimum wage—let’s keep up the good fight!
See you, your membership, your friends, neighbors, colleagues, family at the Capitol on March 8 at 11am!”
Contact Information
Christy MacPherson (Lead Organizer)
christy@hiappleseed.org // (808) 554-3833
Will Caron (Communications)
