Labor

...bills heard this week (HB76, HB233, and HB234) attempt to amend the law passed last summer by adding new severance options for the hospital employees....

... Kupuna Caregivers $70/Day Appropriation SB534 / HB607 ....

The "shall make sufficient sums available" language is used in one more place in our constitution. It's in Article XII, Section 1, relating to the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands....

This measure, the so-called Fair Pay and Safety Workplaces rule, would have allowed government officials to debar, or blacklist, construction companies from bidding on federal projects based on the mere allegation of labor law violations without any due process....

County workers throughout the state make higher wages than nearly all of their mainland counterparts adjusted for the cost of living....

The work stoppage was in apparent violation of the contract between the Hawaii Stevedore industry and the ILWU....

...Unsustainable government salaries and pensions are worsening the crisis....

SB107 would raise the minimum wage 62% from $9.25 / hour ....

...if the minimum wage was increased, many grocery stores today would simply replace workers with automated tablets....

 ...$9,450 a year more without spending a penny....

...Randall Roth comments on two stories on the DoE investigation into education reform advocate John Sosa which ran on KHON Feb 6 and Feb 7....

...the department has chosen to support Senate Bill No. 424 and House Bill No. 456....

...UHERO: ‘Discriminatory’ HSTA Property Tax Plan hits Renters Hardest....

...Must read: AG responds to 9 questions from Ing.  Short version of responses: “No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, and No.”....

Hawaii is missing $23 billion ....

to lobby for a constitutional amendment that will drastically increase property taxes....

...Honolulu County workers make more than neighbor island workers....

Is a 7% return on investment sustainable into the future? Another organization that studied the issue said that a more realistic rate of return would be the “risk-free” rate, which they calculated at 2.344%....

New York continued to have the highest union membership rate (23.6 percent), Hawaii and Alaska are tied for second at 21.7 percent each....

...an owner of an investment property in Honolulu worth less than half a million dollars can expect to see his (her) combined City and State property tax bill double....

Salaries and benefits of Hawaii government workers have increased by 26 percent in the past decade....

...county workers in Hawaii make a mean average wage of $61,365 a year....

...non-government workers in Hawaii make, on average, $43,544 in annual pay and benefits (adjusted for cost of living) which ranks as the lowest compensation in in the nation....

...our state government paid half a million dollars in pension payments to people who were already dead. Well, then, what do you think of budgeting many times that amount for people who don’t even exist?....

... What do we have to show for $2B in High-Tech tax credits?  Nothing ....

State lawmakers were in shock this week as Hawaii’s pension debt increased from $8 billion to $12 billion....

The sole purpose of the taskforce was to help the 675 workers who were laid off last year....

...teachers may continue to plan trips and serve as chaperones with private tour companies....

The next scheduled raise is Jan. 1, 2018 when it will increase to $10.10....

Earlier this year, our lawmakers passed Act 25. It bans smoking on the premises of our state-owned hospitals....

...fourth quarter 2016 Statistical and Economic Report....

In 2016, Hawaii ranked 40th among the states with an OPEB funding ratio of 29.2 percent....

...Judge Katherine G. Leonard of the Intermediate Court of Appeals served as Acting Chief Justice for the Hawaii Supreme Court in this case. All five of the regular justices of the Hawaii Supreme Court had recused themselves....

...job pressures, low pay and lack of mobility force many teachers to quit soon after they start....

On the day the AP report was published, a Task Force was formed made up of influential vessel owners, suppliers, the Honolulu Fish Auction and the Hawaii Seafood Council to begin to assess the problem and work on solutions to protect the welfare of the crewmen....

A State-by-State Analysis of the Factors Influencing Teacher Supply, Demand, and Equity....

...Why are matters of life and death not taking precedence over every other issue facing the state at this time?....

The impact of the bed closures will mean a decreased capacity with critical services such as Stroke, Heart, Neurosurgery, Orthopedics, Trauma and other critical care needs requiring transport to Oahu....

With a new date of July 1, 2017, we will all avoid the perpetual raising and dashing of expectations as interim closing dates are repeatedly set and cancelled....

SB2077 could result in the ERS plan being disqualified by the Internal Revenue Service....

Percentage of population with a long commute, Hours worked, Percentage of income spent on rent....

Hawaii’s construction industry made the second largest contribution to state GDP at 5.9 percent with an increase of 0.5 percent from 2014, the largest year-over-year improvement of any state....

...nearly 30% of union members would quit if they could....

The Maui Region hospitals will be transferred from Hawai‘i Health System Corporation management to Kaiser not earlier than November 6, 2016....

... contributions would be included in the employees’ income and taxed as normal wages when contributed. Further, the employees would be subject to federal income taxes on the portion of their benefits funded by the employer at the time that the benefits vest ....

...what happens if a benefit plan does get disqualified? According to the IRS’ website, there are potentially severe consequences to the employer, the employees, and the plan itself....