LIHU‘E — Demonstrators called for an increase of the state minimum wage Wednesday afternoon, on the corner of Kuhio Highway and Nawiliwili Road near the Kukui Grove Center.
More than a dozen residents, including Kaua‘i County Councilmember Felicia Cowden, had gathered by 3:30 p.m., to wave signs reading “Raise Up Hawai‘i” at passing traffic.
“People are having a hard time making a living. We can’t live on $10.10 an hour,” said Raymond Catania, referring to the state’s current minimum wage. “Hawai‘i has one of the highest costs of living in the United States, and we need more money in order to pay rent and buy food to take care of our kids.”
The 71-year-old Catania described himself as a lifelong labor rights advocate. He represented two organizations Wednesday, including Hawai‘i Workers Center and Raise Up Hawai‘i, the second of which claims any wage less than $17 is not enough to pay for necessities like food, housing, transportation and health care.
Raise Up Hawai‘i takes its $17 figure from the state self-sufficiency standard report, published by the Hawai‘i Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism in December 2019.
DBEDT reported a single adult in Honolulu County with no children needed to earn an hourly wage of $17.21 in 2018 to be able to meet their basic needs and to be economically self-sufficient (a single adult in Kaua‘i County needed to earn $16.48 in 2018).
Chris Molina, of social-justice group Hawai‘i Appleseed, said raising the wage is “a no-brainer.”
“A lot of us say that one job should be enough for someone,” Molina said. “They shouldn’t have to work three or four jobs, just to make a living.”
Molina claimed an increased minimum wage would not only put food on families’ tables but put money in their pockets for spending at local businesses.
“Happy workers, good business,” Molina said.
Catania, gesturing toward the women in attendance yesterday, said women and single mothers are hardest-hit by low pay.
Nina Schanklin, a single mother of two children, was one of the first demonstrators to arrive.
“I haven’t been able to return to work yet, because there’s no affordable childcare,” Schanklin said. “Before the pandemic, I was making $16 an hour, but I feel like it still wasn’t enough to feed my kids and everything.”
Schanklin has always held more than one job throughout her working life.
“Yeah,” she said. “Always at least had two.”
Both Molina and Catania, who noted the state Legislature is back in session next month, said this demonstration is the first of more to come.
“Our job is to get the information out there and to push our politicians, in particular the Democratic Party, to take up the causes of Hawai‘i’s workers, especially the poorest ones,” Catania said.
This issue has been debated back and forth many times both in the public and in this paper. I agree that the minimum wage should be raised, but not to $17 or $18/hour. The minimum wage is not meant to be a wage to raise a family on or to provide for two people. It is meant to be a wage that is suitable for a certain standard of work or employment position. If the minimum wage were increased to $17/hour, you would see restaurant prices increase as well as most retail items to offset the increased cost to employers. Small business owners would suffer the most because they wouldn’t be able to offset the increase, especially if they are just making a living themselves.
A more realistic increase would be $14/hour. As a small business owner, I already pay well over the minimum wage because I can afford to. Some businesses don’t have the flexibility because of the margins of their business. Unfortunately, it is expensive to live and do business in Hawai’i. People have the option to relocate to where they can afford to live or work harder to live here. It is not individual business owners’ responsibility to make sure their employees are able to afford all of their choices and obligations.
Here we go again! Raise the minimum wage! Forget about the fact that it will directly lead to higher prices being set for all consumer goods in order to pay for this magical and artificial “rise”. But that’s a little bit too difficult for the naive and more uninformed among us to understand. News Flash! Not all jobs are meant to support a family! Some jobs are meant for young workers, or uneducated individuals to learn how to work, or for some to simply make a little money to help with their school costs, go on a vacation, help with family obligations, or to save for a car etc. How do you like the inflation cycle we’re now in, Molina? It’s the highest it’s been for over 40 years! Why? Because of the very people who whine and snivel about making businesses pay enough for every job so someone can support a family or buy a bigger TV. The last Republican President we had, gave us an almost zero inflation rate, the highest employment rates ever, and the fastest rise in everyone’s wages we’ve seen since Ronald Reagan! It’s the Molina’s of the world who have caused our current inflation, and the pain we’re feeling as a Country! By the time this inflation is through, a $15 minimum wage will be worthless! Because of you! It was you who voted for an unbelievably inadequate and senile President! Now enjoy your irresponsible “free” stuff, anti-business foolishness! The rest of us will make sure we vote Republican across the board forever more, and pray to God we’ll have a Republican President, Senate, and Congress, SOON!