Kaiser Caravan

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We are calling on all members to join us for an Action Day to fight back against Kaiser Permanente’s plan to outsource our ASC and GI work at Wailuku Clinic. Hotel, Airport and Healthcare workers must stand united to oppose job cuts. We will have a car caravan and sign waving action on September 28th, Monday.
Approved signs: “Quality Care is Essential- Don’t Outsource Us”, “Support Kaiser Maui Nurses”, “Support Kaiser Healthcare Workers”, “Keep clinics open- don’t outsource!”, “Protect good jobs-don’t outsource”
More info to be texted out soon, look for it.

MAUI

The caravan will stage at War Memorial Stadium parking lot at 430pm and will depart at 5pm. A map of the route is attached. A sign waving action will also be happening starting at 3:15pm along Kaahumanu Ave. near the Wailuku Clinic. Marshalls will let you know where you can stand when you arrive.

OAHU

The caravan will stage at the Kakaako Waterfront Park parking lot at 4:45pm and will depart at 5:10pm. We will follow the route on the attached map and circle the Honolulu Clinic 3 times using Piikoi, Young, and King streets.

For those who don’t drive, you can do sign waving across the street, McKinley Highschool side, of Honolulu Clinic. If you are driving, make sure you follow all rules of the road, including no talking on the phone, follow speed limits, and no honking without good reason. Wear a mask and do not crowd people into your car. See you there!

 

 

2020 Hawai’i General Election Endorsements

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The deadline to register to vote is Oct. 5! You can register to vote online & it only takes a few minutes. This is a very important election and an opportunity for working families to take back 2020. Register here ASAP, and share this link with your family & friends: {{https://www.aikea.net/vote}}

 

Mayor, City & County of Honolulu
Keith Amemiya

Prosecutor, City & County of Honolulu
Steve Alm

US Congress
Ed Case
Kai Kahele

State House
Tina Wildberger
Adrian Tam
Sonny Ganaden
Matt LoPresti
Lisa Marten

State Senate
Stanley Chang

Honolulu City Council
Esther Kiaaina
Radiant Cordero
Will Espero

Maui County Council
Tamara Paltin
Keani Rawlins-Fernandez

Office of Hawaiian Affairs
Lanakila Mangauil

Petition: Stop Outsourcing at Kaiser Wailuku Clinic

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UNITE HERE Local 5 is running this petition in solidarity with HNHP (Hawaii Nurses & Healthcare Professionals). Sign the petition below by filling out this form:

We, the undersigned, HNHP Registered Nurses, Healthcare Professionals, and Local 5 Healthcare Workers, demand that Kaiser Permanente stop all plans to outsource GI and ASC work or any other work currently performed at Wailuku Clinic. Kaiser should not violate our contracts and should instead enter into genuine partnership discussions, not a sham perfunctory process.

  • **NOTICE: By giving your information, you understand that you are opting into receiving text messages from UNITE HERE Local 5. Standard data & msg rates apply.
  • Please do not give someone else's email address, or give an email address supplied by your employer.

Updates to BRMS website re: furlough credit rules

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Aloha Local 5 members. Regarding your medical, the BRMS webpage now has a tab, “Hotel-Furlough” which has information on:

  1. Furlough Credit Return to Work (80 Bank Hours Credit) and the Pandemic Furlough Credit Rule (240 Furlough Bank Hours)
  2. Furlough – Eligibility Letter of Appeal

Be sure to read all Furlough Credit rules thoroughly. Remember, you get a total of 240 Furlough Bank Hours if you were covered under the Plan during May 2020. You may receive the 80 return to work hours only if did not have a break in service with the Plan during the Pandemic.

Appeals

If you need to file an appeal for medical eligibility, fill out the “Eligibility Letter of Appeal” form, clearly stating what you are appealing, and send it in immediately to BRMS. You can submit by mail, email, or fax:

By Mail:

Board of Trustees
Benefits and Appeals Committee
AFL Hotel & Restaurant Workers Health & Welfare Trust Fund
560 North Nimitz Hwy, Suite 209
Honolulu, HI  96817

By Email:

[email protected]

With the Subject: Board of Trustees/Benefits and Appeals Committee for medical

By Fax:

(808) 537-1074

Medical Eligibility

To check your bank hours, furlough credit balance, and what month you are covered through for medical, email BRMS at [email protected] or call (808) 523-0199. Please be patient as BRMS is receiving a high volume of emails and calls.

80 compensable hours (work, vacation, sick leave hours), bank hours, or furlough credit hours, or a combination thereof is needed for a month of medical eligibility.

For those who lose medical eligibility on October 31, and want to extend your medical coverage, you may use 80 hours of vacation, but you MUST use it according to the Fund’s eligibility rules.

(Example:  80 compensable hours in August earns coverage for November; 80 compensable hours in September earns coverage for December).

If you choose to use your vacation to “buy” medical coverage, contact your Human Resources Department to verify the amount of vacation hours available to you and to request the use of those hours. Verify with your HR what their pay period coverage dates are so you know the vacation hours used will apply to the needed month (i.e. use vacation hours in August for medical coverage in November). Each property uses different payroll coverage dates so please be sure you follow the schedule for your property. Ask HR to verify your rate of pay for your vacation hours in order to calculate the correct amount for Unemployment Insurance if needed.

Unemployment

Make sure you DO report the income on your weekly or bi-weekly UI claim. You should report it for the week(s) you use the vacation as “Residual Pay.”

For Weekly Filers – You do not need to file weekly when using 40 hours of vacation. Your overall claim status will not be affected. If you take less than 40 hours per week of vacation, you are required to file your UI claim for that week.

For Bi-Weekly Filers – You are required to file and report all vacation hours every week.

Options:

When your furlough credit hours are exhausted and you’d rather not use your vacation to get medical eligibility, you may use the Fund’s self-pay or COBRA option. You may also seek to get medical coverage through Med-Quest or through the Marketplace. Click here for more information.

IMPORTANT: If you’re planning to retire within the next 12 months, in order to qualify for the retiree medical, you MUST have had 12 consecutive months of medical coverage under our Health and Welfare Trust Fund Plan up to the day you retire or else you will NOT be eligible for retiree medical. If any of you are about to lose coverage under our Trust Fund Plan, COBRA and Self-Pay is available to keep you on our Health and Welfare Trust Fund. Contact BRMS or visit their website: https://www.vbas.com/HI_Local5/ for more information.

  • If you have an existing account with the BRMS website, click “LOGIN” on the top-right corner
  • If you don’t have an account, register by clicking “REGISTER” on the top-right corner

Please contact your Organizer for any other questions. Mahalo.

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UNITEHERE! Local 5

Press Statement – August 21, 2020

 

Media Contact:

Bryant de Venecia

Cell Phone: (808) 546-0024

[email protected]

UNITE HERE Local 5 Statement on Enhanced Movement Quarantine/Resort Bubble Plan

Our state has not been able to organize effective testing programs, conduct consistent contact tracing or enforce quarantine measures. Many thousands of families have lost health care coverage at the height of a global pandemic—even at state-owned facilities like the airport.

Despite these unsolved problems and even as the virus is spreading among our most vulnerable people, the State is proceeding with hastily conceived “travel bubble” plans to open up travel.  These plans fail at first glance, as they contain no provisions ensuring the safety of workers and the loved ones we rejoin when we pau work.

Our jobs won’t come back until we have proved that we can keep COVID-19 under control—the visitors we will get while the disease is raging are those we don’t want—the ones who don’t care about their safety, or ours.

The state and business leaders have now rushed to announce plans that they will have to cancel as the COVID-19 pandemic gets deeper and more dangerous.  They need to take a deep breath, do what is needed to get the outbreak under control, make sure Hawaii’s people have health care, and get the people most concerned with visitor industry safety—Hawaii’s hospitality workers—involved in the detailed planning needed to operate tourism safely.

Hawaii is blowing our one chance to get it right.  It is no virtue to announce vague and poorly planned measures that cannot work.  Hopefully, it’s not too late to get back to the drawing board.

 

# # #

UNITE HERE Local 5 represents approximately 12,000 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 300,000 workers throughout the U.S. and Canada. For more information, visit www.unitehere5.org.

 

7/23 COVID-19 Update

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We hosted a forum for the Honolulu Prosecutor’s race candidates. Watch the full recording here: www.facebook.com/uniteherehawaii/live

 

 

Take Action: Call 415-763-5949 and tell the Senate to pass the HEROES Act today to extend the $600 unemployment checks past July 31, protect healthcare and so much more.

 

News:

Hotel Union Unite Here Says Mask Mandates Aren’t Enough for Worker Safety – Skift. 

– Excerpt: “Unite Here’s cleanliness demands are about raising U.S. and Canadian hotel cleaning standards to those in Asian markets like China and Singapore, [D.] Taylor said. ‘Haven’t we learned already about what happens if you cut corners and don’t do the kind of cleaning we’re advocating?’ he added in reference to the rising case count in the U.S.”

 

Hawaii Reports Record 55 COVID-19 Cases In One Day – Honolulu Civil Beat. 

 

Union [construction] Labor Now Required On Big Honolulu Public Works Jobs – Honolulu Civil Beat. 

– Excerpt: “Manahan said he backed the idea because unions stand between workers and ‘unscrupulous’ employers. ‘I really believe in what unions do,’ he said.”

 

U.S. Hotels Push Hard for Industry-Specific Relief Fund From Congress – Skift. 

– The American Hotel & Lodging Association is lobbying for the next relief package to include more PPP money for hotel companies, a relief fund for CMBS loans, tax incentives for abiding by AHLA’s safety protocols and liability protections for hotels against coronavirus exposure lawsuits.

 

Landlords jump the gun as eviction moratorium wanes – The New York Times. 

– Excerpt: “As the number of Covid-19 cases has surged across the country, a disturbing trend has emerged: landlords commencing eviction proceedings even though the coronavirus relief law known as the CARES Act currently protects about 12 million tenants living in qualifying properties.”

 

AP Exclusive: Migrant Kids Held in US Hotels, Then Expelled – Associated Press. 

– The three hotels were all Hampton Inns. Hampton Inn is a Hilton brand, but Hilton does not own or operate any of those three hotels.

 

To Fight Racial Inequality, We Have to Attack the Power of Corporations – Jacobin. 

– Excerpt: “Blackstone’s very business model turbocharged racial inequality: First, snatch up foreclosed homes in black neighborhoods (in the process driving up housing prices and making it harder for families looking to buy their first house). Second, lease them out while jacking up the rent (and skimping out on repairs). Third, hit tenants with late fees and evictions when they can’t keep up with the inflated rents.”

 

Flight attendant linked to cluster at Hawaiian Airlines training program dies after testing positive for COVID-19 – Honolulu Star-Advertiser.  

– Excerpt: “Airline staff members were exposed at the training session where ‘physical distancing was not practiced and masks were optional,’ according to the state Department of Health. Those employees then exposed eight household members who tested positive. An infected person who attended the training session sparked outbreaks at two Oahu gyms with 20 positive cases, the DOH said.”