A settlement is expected by week’s end on four-year contracts for more than 5,000 unionized Hawaii hotel workers in UNITE HERE Local 5 — about half of the union’s membership — who will gain a $10-an-hour pay increase.

While the added income basically catches employees up with the erosion in their earning power because of inflation, as one Hawaii economist noted, Local 5 secretary-treasurer Cade Watanabe praised the agreement as a “historic new standard for hotel workers … [with] wages that help us get ahead, and not just get by.”

Negotiations continue or are pending with hotel companies employing the remainder of Local 5’s members.