Column: Grow power of organized workers, on and past May Day

As we near the end of this legislative session, a myriad of bills meant to support workers, improve work conditions, and increase the likelihood of success for working class families here in Hawaii have come and gone. Many were heard through their various committees, providing a glimmer of hope for workers who came out in support, only to die the slow death of a bill that could not overcome strong, corporate interests.

Still, despite these setbacks, the power of organized workers continues to grow.

A few bills come to mind as we celebrate and recognize International Workers’ Day on May 1. International Workers’ Day or May Day is a national public holiday in the majority of countries around the world to commemorate a general strike for the eight-hour workday that, ironically, had roots in Chicago when striking workers were met with resistance and physical violence by police. Today, that physical resistance has been replaced by even stronger corporate interests who push back against the hard-earned advances of labor for work-place safety, economic justice, fairness and respect.

One glaring example is Senate Bill 1580, strongly supported by the Hawaii Nurses Association, that sought to increase patient safety by establishing minimum nurse-to-patient ratios and allowing health-care workers to actually take their meal and rest breaks. At the height of the coronavirus pandemic, nurses were celebrated as health-care heroes as images of exhausted and overworked nurses, having to isolate themselves from their families, filled our nightly news. How quickly we have forgotten.

Nurses have long been forced to skip their meal breaks and forgo even basic restroom breaks as they race from one patient to the next. Nurses have raised the alarm with policymakers for years as this exploitative system reduces patients’ care and endangers patients’ safety.

Despite receiving dozens of written testimonies and hearing directly from front-line nurses in strong support of SB 1580, the bill was easily defeated by the corporate interests and deep pockets of hospital CEOs and administrators. In testimony opposing the bill, they gave lip service to employee retention and wellness programs while not even addressing safe-staffing ratios. The health and safety of the public lost out that day as the bill was quickly deferred. The Legislature’s caving in to those interests has made it almost inevitable that our state will experience major nursing strikes over the next few years.

Yet, the growing power of workers here in Hawaii can claim its victories. One is the defeat of SB 125, which was introduced to further decrease the take-home pay of tipped workers. Currently, employers can deduct $1 from paying the minimum wage if a tipped worker can make it up in tips. This amounts to more than $2,000 in savings to an employer, but is lost income for a full-time tipped worker. The bill sought to increase it to nearly $5,000 per year in lost income if a tipped worker is paid the subminimum wage. With more than 130 pieces of written testimony opposing the bill and restaurant workers coming to voice their opposition, the bill was rightfully deferred and allowed to die.

The power of organized workers across the country will need to continue to grow in order to overcome the entrenched power of corporate interests. We can add to that power by recognizing International Workers’ Day together with the “Coalition to Defend and Respect Hawaii Workers.” The coalition is composed of more than 20 labor groups, unions and community advocates — who over the weekend, marched and rallied to highlight the issues recently won by coalition members.