2014 UNITE HERE Delegate Election Voting

Voting for the 2014 UNITE HERE Delegate Election will take place by secret ballot at the following dates, locations and times. Any member in good standing may vote at any location. You MUST show photo ID in order to vote (or have 2 other members verify your identity):

  • Tuesday, April 22, 2014 – Island of Maui
    • Kaiser Clinics – Lahaina: 7:30 AM – 8:00 AM
    • Kihei: 9:00 AM – 10:00 AM
    • Wailuku: 11:30 AM – 1:30 PM
    • Mauilani: 4:00 PM – 6:00 PM
  • Wednesday, April 23, 2014 – Island of Maui
    • Sheraton Maui – Employees Cafeteria: 7:00 AM – 9:00 AM and 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM
    • Kaanapali Beach Club – Employees Cafeteria: 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM
  • Friday, April 25, 2014 – Island of Kauai
    • Sheraton Kauai – Room TBA: 9:30 AM – 1:00 PM and 3:00 PM – 5:30 PM
  • Saturday, April 26, 2014 – Island of Oahu
    • (Kaiser Conference) Best Western Plaza Hotel – 3253 N. Nimitz Hwy., Honolulu, HI 96819: 1:00 PM – 5:00 PM
  • Tuesday, April 29, 2014 – Island of Hawaii
    • Waikoloa Beach Marriott – Employees Cafeteria: 10:30 AM – 1:00 PM
    • Royal Kona Resort – Employees Cafeteria: 4:00 PM – 6:00 PM
  • Wednesday, April 30, 2014 – Island of Hawaii
    • Kaiser Clinics – Waimea: 7:30 AM – 8:30 AM
    • South Kona: 10:00 AM – 10:30 AM
    • Kona: 11:30 AM – 1:30 PM
    • Hilo: 5:00 PM – 6:15 PM
  • Thursday, May 1, 2014 – Island of Oahu
    • Ala Moana Hotel, 410 Atkinson Dr., Honolulu, HI 96814 – Hibiscus Ballroom: 6:00 AM – 6:00 PM

List of Candidates (and slate affiliations)

1) Novena M. Aguas – UP and UP 19) Momi Hai – UP and UP

2) Lydia Agustin – UP and UP

 20) Arlene Sueyoshi Inoue – MEMBER TO MEMBER MOVEMENT
3) Juliana Alcaraz – UP and UP 21) Cesilee Linares – UP and UP
4) Evelyn Barnatia – UP and UP 22) Evelyn Marcelino – UP and UP
5) James Bartolome – UP and UP 23) Jason L. Maxwell – UP and UP
6) Suzanne Benson – MEMBER TO MEMBER MOVEMENT 24) Liza Pintor – UP and UP
7) Caridad Berzamina – MEMBER TO MEMBER MOVEMENT 25) Angela Prigge – UP and UP
8) Myline Blando – MEMBER TO MEMBER MOVEMENT 26) Corazon Quinesares – MEMBER TO MEMBER MOVEMENT
9) Violeta Cabuyadao – MEMBER TO MEMBER MOVEMENT 27) Elizabeth Ramos – MEMBER TO MEMBER MOVEMENT
10) Ester Carey – UP and UP 28) Lolita Rodriguez – MEMBER TO MEMBER MOVEMENT
11) Josephine Carter – MEMBER TO MEMBER MOVEMENT 29) Stacia Scanlan – MEMBER TO MEMBER MOVEMENT
12) Marilyn Custodio – MEMBER TO MEMBER MOVEMENT 30) Marleen Siona – MEMBER TO MEMBER MOVEMENT
13) Jatin Dharia – NO SLATE AFFILIATION 31) Juanita V. Tan – MEMBER TO MEMBER MOVEMENT
14) Nelia Dingal – MEMBER TO MEMBER MOVEMENT 32) Raul Tan – MEMBER TO MEMBER MOVEMENT
15) Mary Ann Dumaslan – MEMBER TO MEMBER MOVEMENT 33) Joli Tokusato – UP and UP
16) James Giffard – NO SLATE AFFILIATION 34) Adoracion Udani – MEMBER TO MEMBER MOVEMENT
17) Eric Gill – UP and UP 35) Blace Valenzuela – UP and UP
18) Berry Griffin – UP and UP 36) Shayne Yabui – UP and UP

Support autism insurance coverage

Kaiser Autism PetitionSB 2054, which will require state-regulated health plans to provide coverage for those with autism spectrum disorders, will be heard by the conference committee on Monday, April 21 at 8:50 AM.  We support the bill and urge the committee to maintain the coverage until age 21 and with the originally proposed (or higher) annual and lifetime limits. Kaiser’s proposed age limit of 6 is absolutely shameful. Please submit testimony before the hearing and urge your legislators to pass the bill.

We’ve also been collecting signatures of those who believe Kaiser should support the needs of people with autism spectrum disorders. Please sign our petition if you believe so.

Ala Moana Hotel agrees to new contract

The Ala Moana Hotel negotiating committee voted unanimously to recommend that their co-workers vote “YES” on this new contract.

The Ala Moana Hotel negotiating committee voted unanimously to
recommend that their co-workers vote “YES” on this new contract.

Ala Moana Hotel union members achieved their most cherished goal this week. On April 16, management agreed to match the new hotel contract settled with the other major Local 5 hotels—and give additional raises each year! The extra raises bring Ala Moana wages back in line with the rest of the major hotels.

For 27 years, Ala Moana wages have been behind. For 27 years, Ala Moana workers have felt this was unfair.

“All these years, weʼve felt we were being treated second-class. In this contract, weʼve finally won! No more second class!” says Susanna Ramos, a seamstress at the hotel.

Under the terms of the new contract, Ala Moana workers will receive an extra wage increase each year until their wages catch up to those in other major hotels. In addition, management has agreed to make the sick leave provisions at Ala Moana match those in other hotels.

Also, Ala Moana workers donʼt have to worry about falling behind in the next contract—management has agreed in advance to match everything that Hilton workers get in the next contract, too.

Hawaii Bankers Association: Support your own employees!

Bank Tellers Hawai'iKaiser Permanente Hawaii workers wrote an open letter to Edward Pei, Executive Director of the Hawaii Bankers Association (HBA) and a Board Member of Kaiser Permanente. It has come to our attention that the HBA will soon begin its 2014 Hawaii Food Bank donation drive. We commend their support of the Food Bank, as it does good work helping struggling families and those who are less fortunate.

However, it is striking that the HBA is asking customers, community members and possibly even bank tellers to donate money and food when many tellers are paid less than a living wage. According to the most recent Bureau of Labor Statistics data, half of Hawaii tellers make less than $12.02 per hour. We all know that $12 per hour is not a living wage for people living in Honolulu (this is easily demonstrated by looking at MIT’s living wage calculator).

While it is a good thing that banks are supporting the food drive, we feel that local banks should be supporting their own employees. We ask Edward Pei: what actions will the HBA and its member banks take to ensure that bank employees do not have to live in the same sort of poverty that would require Food Bank assistance?

We also ask, as a small step in the right direction, that each individual member bank of the HBA match the total monetary donations received from customers and outside donors during the HBA donation drive. Doing this will show commitment to the community and increase the Food Bank’s receipts.

We hope that Edward Pei and the HBA will help the local community thrive by helping bank employees thrive in the long term.

Full infographic can be viewed here.

2 down. Who’s next?

In 2 months, 2 Kaiser Board Members resigned: Christine Cassel & Jenny Ming. It looks like we’re not the only ones who think Kaiser is headed in the wrong direction!2014.04.09 Kaiser 2 Down leaflet

Christine Cassel was paid hundreds of thousands of dollars by Kaiser and Premier Inc. Both have a stake in her company, National Quality Forum.

Jenny Ming is the CEO of Charlotte Russe. We leafletted at their stores to let customers & employees know about their business practices.

2 down! Who’s next?

2nd action at Charlotte Russe

2014-03-29 11.24.36On March 29, we went out to the Charlotte Russe stores at Pearlridge Center, Windward Mall, and Waikele Outlet to leaflet about Charlotte Russe’s “significant labor violations.” These include paying workers less than minimum wage, violating overtime pay laws, and falsifying workers’ time cards.

We passed out leaflets outside of the store, placed them in the mall’s bathrooms, and left leaflets inside the store to inform workers and employees of these issues.

Jenny Ming is the CEO of Charlotte Russe and a Board Member of Kaiser Permanente. Our Kaiser workers believe that Kaiser has a responsibility to care for the community.