JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARADVERTISER.COM
Local 5 members Elsa Felix, middle and Cynthia Mondala, right, carry signs during a rally in the Hilton Hawaiian Village lobby on July 23.
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Striking hotel workers face an uphill battle in their effort to obtain living wages, fair workloads and proper staffing. Many hotel workers must work two jobs to afford to live in Hawaii. Thousands of residents are forced to move to the mainland every year due to low pay and an increasingly high cost of living.
The hotels should use their substantial profits from post-COVID room rate increases to hike worker benefits, rather than outlast striking workers who lack the savings to sustain protracted action.
It is well known that tourist-based economies create and perpetuate a poorly paid lower class. Hawaii is no different. One can only hope the hotels will begin to fairly compensate their employees for their valuable contributions.
Leonard Lepine
Kailua
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