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PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY MARTHA HERNANDEZ / MHERNANDEZ@STARADVERTISER.COM
Hawaii residents face a number of tough choices on this Tuesday’s general election ballot. One of these is whether to call for another state constitutional convention.
While I would usually welcome such a democratic process as a golden opportunity to correct so many wrongs, I worry about the timing of such a convention now.
We live in a state that is being overrun with building and real estate interests as well as the interests of large estate owners.
Meanwhile, the labor movement in the state and nationally continues to weaken after sustained attacks going back to pre-statehood Hawaii and the vibrant labor movements of the 1930s. In those times, attacks on union organizers, like the ILWU and Unite Here, and the harassment and mass arrests of Communist Party of Hawaii organizers were the norm.
Today, this movement is in no condition to outmaneuver the building and real estate lobbies, which will only worsen conditions for working people.
So I hope that while we re-commit ourselves to building a strong labor movement, we will ultimately vote NO on the constitutional convention.
Lowell Denny III
Kailua-Kona
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