Hundreds of Hawaii labor union members and supporters marched through Kalihi Valley Saturday to celebrate International Workers’ Day, which comes as many of Hawaii’s pandemic-affected workers still haven’t returned to work and others are fighting new job cuts.

Dozens of Hawaii labor unions participated in the march, which started at Kalihi Valley District Park and wound through a neighborhood filled with diverse working-class families. The march ended at the Towers at Kuhio Park Resource Center, where the Hawaii Workers Center marked the occasion and encouraged union members to continue to support one other.

The program and march were upbeat, but they followed one of the worst legislative years for Hawaii’s workers, who were unable to get the state to increase the $10.10 hourly minimum wage or fix unemployment. The unions said county lawmakers also failed to support measures that would have offered workers greater job security and more COVID-19 safety protections.

More than a year into the pandemic, the economy has started to improve. But companies still are cutting jobs at hotels, the airport and at health care facilities such as those operated by Kaiser Permanente, where Unite Here Local 5 has been notified that 57 jobs are in danger of being outsourced.

Unite Here Local 5 Financial Secretary-Treasurer Eric Gill said only a small percentage of union hospitality employees have returned to work, and the union is fighting permanent job cuts.

Gill said most of its union hotels have eliminated daily cleaning, significantly cutting housekeeping, the largest department at any hotel. He said the union’s contracts require that hotels offer daily housekeeping service, so it has filed grievances.

As of the end of February, Gill said only an estimated 31% of Local 5 hospitality workers had returned to their jobs based on their hours.

“Here we have our industry basically saying to the people of Hawaii, ‘We’re going to keep your beach. We’re going to get all the tourists back, and you’re going to open up. We are going to keep our room rates the same, but we are going to provide less service to the people and less jobs to Hawaii,’” he said.

Gill warned a wave of woes is coming in September when federal unemployment and the COBRA health insurance subsidy expire. He said fewer union members are paying into the health and welfare insurance fund, meanwhile the stress of the pandemic has contributed to higher claims.

Local 5 member Kai Lagua, who was furloughed from his job as a fry cook at Turtle Bay Resort over a year ago, still faces an uncertain future.

The resort, which closed for renovations in the midst of the pandemic, is supposed to reopen July 1. Lagua said he and other North Shore workers are hoping to come back but worry not all workers will be recalled.

“We have recall rights at Turtle Bay, but they expire in about six months,” he said. “I want to come back. It’s hard to find good jobs on the North Shore. Before I involved myself in the tourism industry, I was living on the beach for about two years.”

Lagua said he hopes Turtle Bay will bring union workers back so he and others don’t face greater housing, food and medical insecurities. Moreover, he said the industry needs workers to return because they supply Hawaii’s famous aloha spirit.