Local 5 on Bobby Bunda

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Some may disagree with our support of Bobby Bunda, and that’s ok. But we’re confident Bobby is the best candidate for Council District 2.

Bobby has never shied away from criticism, but he has also been subject to a series of unfair, illegal and anonymous mailers that do not reflect the values of our hard working families in District 2. The sender of these mailers want you to believe they came from Dave Burlew, another candidate in the race, but he sent a statement to the State Campaign Spending Commission saying he had nothing to do with the mailers.

Before you vote, or even if you have already voted, you should know the whole truth behind each candidate. Google search Heidi Tsuneyoshi, Dave Burlew, Choon James and Bobby Bunda and start learning the facts. Also, ask yourself which candidate has enough money to pay for an expensive mass mailing campaign and stands to gain the most from attacking Bobby Bunda?

While we may not agree with Bobby on every issue, he has always shown a willingness to listen.

In 2011, Bobby accepted an appointment to the newly created Public Land Development Corporation (“PLDC”), but he was NOT responsible for its creation. It was the State Legislature that created it, and it was then Governor Neil Abercrombie that signed it into law. Local 5 opposed the PLDC, and we continue to oppose the “fast-tracking” of development on our public lands.

Alongside community leaders from across the State, Local 5 helped to organize the repeal of the PLDC. And we won! After hours of testimony and in hearings all across the State, Bobby Bunda listened. In 2013, we successfully passed a new law repealing the PLDC.

Today, Bobby is standing with us against the proliferation of illegal short-term rentals in our neighborhoods that threaten to take away valuable housing and jobs from locals. And Bobby continues to listen to our concerns over the protection of our island’s precious natural resources including our undeveloped open space and pristine shorelines.

Local 5 members believe our principles of truth, justice and morality should guide us. Let them be your guide too. Don’t let anonymous mailers persuade you.

Union: Marriott Agrees To Subsidize Hotel Workers’ Housing

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(Honolulu Civil Beat) – By Anita Hofschneider. Marriott has agreed to contribute to a housing fund to help hotel workers deal with the high cost of housing in Hawaii, according to representatives from Unite Here Local 5 who are in the midst of collective bargaining.

Primary Election Endorsements

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The Hawaii Primary Election is on Saturday, August 11. To find your polling place or any other information on the election, click here.

Download our Primary Election Endorsements flyer (PDF).

Local 5 Primary Election Endorsements

2018.06.21 Local 5 Endorsements mailer United State Senate: Mazie Hirono

Governor: David Ige

Lieutenant Governor: Kim Coco Iwamoto      

Honolulu City Council District 2: Robert Bunda 
(Mililani Mauka, Wahiawa, Mokuleia, Waialua, Haleiwa, Pupukea, Sunset Beach, Kahuku, Laie, Hauula, Punaluu, Kahana, Kaaawa, Kualoa, Waiahole, and Kahaluu.)         

Honolulu City Council District 6: Ikaika Hussey
(Portions of Makiki, Downtown Honolulu, Punchbowl, Pauoa Valley, Nuuanu, Alewa Heights, Papakolea, Fort Shafter, Moanalua, Halawa, Aiea, Kalihi Valley, and portions of Liliha and Kalihi.)

Honolulu City Council District 8: Brandon Elefante
(Lower Aiea, Pearlridge, Waimalu, Newtown, Pearl City, Seaview, Crestview, Waipio Gentry and Waipahu.)

Office of Hawaiian Affairs (At-Large): Anthony “Makana” Paris       

Maui Mayor: Elle Cochran   

Maui County Council (West Maui): Tamara Paltin            

Maui County Council (Molokai): Keani Rawlins-Fernandez

Senate District 19: Matthew LoPresti
(Ewa)

Senate District 23: Clayton Hee
(N. Shore to Kahaluu)

Senate District 24: Jarrett Keohokalole
(Kane‘ohe, MCBH, Kailua, He‘eia, ‘Ahuimanu)

House District 12: Tiare Lawrence
(Spreckelsville, Pukalani, Makawao to Ulupalakua) 

House District 23: Benton Rodden
(Manoa, Punahou, University, Moiliili)

House District 33: Tracy Arakaki
(Aiea)

House District 46: Amy Perruso
(Wahiawa, Whitmore Village, Launani Valley) 

House District 47: Sean Quinlan
 (Waialua, Haleiwa, Pupukea, Kahuku to Kaawa)   

House District 48: Jessica Wooley
(Kaneohe, Kahaluu, Waiahole)

House District 49: Scot Matayoshi
(Kaneohe, Maunawili, Olomana)

House District 51: Chris Lee
(Kailua, Waimanalo)  

Workers at Marriott negotiations: Stop the Squeeze!

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On Thursday, June 28, 2018 Local 5 opened negotiations with Marriott. This followed an amazing day of action on June 27th where over 1500 members and supporters hit the streets on Oahu and Maui to tell the world that we want a future in which One Job Should Be Enough!

At the negotiations, Marriott workers from Waikiki Beach Marriott Resort and the Sheraton Kauai unloaded. The night was filled with passionate testimony taking the company to task for not staffing correctly, and piling unreasonable workloads and expectations on us. The workers demanded that the company stop the “squeeze” that is bad for us physically and mentally.

Our point was to make sure the company knows that it is not good enough to just give us a wage increase. The workers made the point loud and clear.

We demanded:

  1. A safe and healthy workplace
  2. Strong commitments to our job security in a rapidly changing industry

Local 5 endorses Ikaika Hussey in City Council race against Carol Fukunaga

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Local 5 endorses Ikaika Hussey in City Council race
against Carol Fukunaga

(Honolulu, HI) – UNITE HERE Local 5, Hawaii’s Best Union three years in a row and one of the largest private sector unions in the state, is endorsing community advocate and longtime Local 5 ally Ikaika Hussey, who is running against incumbent Carol Fukunaga in the Honolulu City Council District 6 race.

“We are very excited to support Ikaika Hussey, who has been a friend of Local 5 for many years,” says Joli Tokusato, a Local 5 member and Ilikai Hotel worker.

Tokusato also ran for City Council against Carol Fukunaga during the last election in 2014, winning nearly 6,000 votes in the primary election but not quite enough to win the seat. “Running against an incumbent who has held political office since 1978 was a challenge. But as I went door to door talking to voters, I got a sense that people are tired of career politicians. Ikaika has been going door to door since August, talking and listening to the people and sharing his vision for a better Hawai’I,” she said.

Local 5 member Lydia Agustin, who is a housekeeper at the Hilton Hawaiian Village and a Kalihi resident in City Council District 6, expressed strong support for Hussey: “I’m voting for Ikaika Hussey because he is for the community, not for himself. He is for working families. Most of our union contracts expire this year, and we’re calling on big hotel companies like Marriott to make one job enough to live on. Ikaika is joining us in our call that one job should be enough.”

Over 10,000 Local 5 members in the hospitality, healthcare, and food service industries have union contracts expiring this year, starting on June 30. Over 7,600 of them are workers from 20 hotels across Kauai, Oahu, Maui, and Hawai’i Island.

Local 5 represents approximately 11,000 workers throughout Hawaii who work in the hospitality, health care and food service industries and is an affiliate of UNITE HERE, an international union that represents over 250,000 workers throughout the U.S. and Canada. For more information, visit www.unitehere5.org.

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Hawaii workers defy Trump administration in largest union action this year

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UNITEHERE! Local 5

Press release for June 27, 2018

Media Contact:
Paola Rodelas
Office Phone: (808) 941-2141 ext. 270
Cell Phone: (808) 333-4782
[email protected]

Hawaii workers defy Trump administration in largest union action this year

Over 1,500 Local 5 members and community supporters show unity and strength amidst the Janus decision, demanding that One Job Should Be Enough

View tweets from actions worldwide: #1job #UNITEHERE

(Honolulu, HI) – Over 1,500 members of UNITE HERE Local 5 – the union representing over 11,000 hotel, healthcare, and food service workers – were joined by community supporters in a march and rally in Waikiki to demand that one job should be enough to live in Hawai’i and keep up with the cost of living.

Earlier today, the U.S. Supreme Court made a decision on Janus v. AFSCME that rigs the system like never before against working-class families. But Local 5 remains defiant, moving forward with its plans to march down Waikiki.

“The Janus decision is another attack on working families by the Trump administration—just like the family separation happening at the border and yesterday’s Supreme Court ruling supporting the Muslim ban. It shows that the Trump administration and the corporations are scared when working people are united and organizing. So our response is to organize and come together. And we did that today at our One Job Should Be Enough march and rally,” says Gemma Weinstein, President of UNITE HERE Local 5.

Governor David Ige, who also released a statement today expressing his disappointment with the Janus decision, spoke at the rally. He told a cheering crowd of Local 5 members that he “shares their dream that one job should be enough.”

The march in Waikiki was part of the launch of a national campaign to raise standards in the hotel industry with demonstrations led by thousands of union and non-union Marriott workers in eight cities across the United States, including San Francisco, Boston, San Diego, Seattle, Philadelphia and San Jose. Carrying the message “One Job Should Be Enough,” Marriott workers are calling on their employer, the largest and most profitable hotel company in the world, to use its leadership in the global hotel industry to create jobs that are enough to live on.

Around 100 Maui residents who work at Sheraton Maui and Kaanapali Beach Club sign waved and demanded that one job should be enough

Around 100 people on Maui also took action and sign waved in front of Lahaina Cannery Mall. “I’m a single mom of 3 kids and I work two full-time jobs as a phone operator at two hotels. I am fighting for this contract to make these jobs good enough so that I can work one job and spend time with my kids. I also don’t want them to struggle with two jobs like me,” says Laurie DeCoite, who has worked at the Sheraton Maui’s PBX department for 30 years.

Over 10,000 workers have union contracts expiring in 2018. Over 7,600 of them work in 20 hotels on Kauai, Oahu, Maui, and Hawai’i Island. Nearly 4,000 work at Marriott hotels. Local 5 members have their first contract bargaining session with Marriott tomorrow on June 28.

Local 5 represents approximately 11,000 workers throughout Hawaii who work in the hospitality, health care and food service industries and is an affiliate of UNITE HERE, an international union that represents over 250,000 workers throughout the U.S. and Canada. For more information, visit www.unitehere5.org.

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