Hawai’i Workers And The Community Had A Lot To Celebrate This Year!

by Dr. Arcelita Imasa

It is always good to gather to celebrate successes, whether big or small. For the two labor unions that held their strikes and got new contracts for them, their success is huge!

I am sure their victories will make a Christmas celebration even better for all of them! And shared celebration is what the workers and their supporters did at the Hawai’i Workers Center’s third annual Workers Victory Night last November 15 in Honolulu, Oahu.

Hawai’i Workers Center recognized 2024 awardees for their organizing and victories: The Kapiʻolani Medical Center for Women and Children nurses, the Max’s Restaurant 6, Jun Shin, and Maria Rallojay.

Hawaii Filipino Chronicle has covered in previous editions the stories of the nurses as well as the restaurant workers. Jun Shin is recognized for his work in advocating for Hawaii’s workers in the legislative arena, while Maria Rallojay’s help was instrumental in the restaurant workers’ win in their wage theft case.

Reverend Sam Domingo shares this message:

The Hawai’i Workers Center envisions a Hawaiʻi where all workers are empowered to exercise their right to organize for their social, economic, and political well-being.

This has been a very busy year for us in providing Know Your Workers’ Rights training, supporting expungement workshops for workers clearing hurdles to employment, organizing Filipino restaurant workers, helping Filipino restaurant workers win in their fight against wage theft, restarting the COFA Workers Association, and fighting off landlords from expelling families on Maui in the year after the Lahaina fire.

We want to highlight our support for the Hawaiʻi Nurses Association in their fight against Kapiʻolani Medical Center for Women and Children during their strike and lockout. We join in the celebration of the more than 1,800 Hilton Hawaiian Village Hotel Workers and UNITE HERE! Local 5 workers in getting a new contract after more than 40 days on strike.

We are hopeful that the 7 other hotels that voted to strike will settle. And we are mindful of the local US postal workers in their seeking a new contract.

Hawai’i Workers Center wants to continue the work of organizing workers and get the word out of our commitment to defend and respect all workers.

We seek partners in this challenging work, inviting individuals and organizations to join in solidarity with all workers. We continue to add partners to our Defend and Respect Hawaiʻi’s Workers Coalition.

The results of our national election have brought a dark cloud over us and demonstrated that worker rights will continually be attacked. There is an urgency now and we can no longer be complacent about anything.

Let us not lose hope. Let us see this as an opportunity to employ our resources and skills to build a strong movement to fight back and win!

Maligayang Pasko at Manigong Bagong Taon to all Hawai’I workers and their families!

DR. ARCELITA IMASA is a practicing family physician and the secretary of the Hawaii Workers Center’s Executive Committee of the Board. She grew up in the Philippines before migrating to Hawaii with her family more than a decade ago.

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