eccentricfusion

The $22/hr rate is true (it is mentioned often in local articles, like here). There is a lot of backlash from the local population to that, since it is fairly high pay for unskilled labor, especially since many people living in Hawaii are working jobs that require degrees and experience get paid less than that. Any time the strike has been mentioned in the local newspaper online, the comments section on the articles is pretty toxic and generally not supportive. Recently there was a piece in the Star Advertiser interviewing some of the workers (in particular, a couple both employed at the same hotel) who had worked there for years and they said they couldn't afford to raise their family with a few children. My personal opinion is that jobs like these should be stepping stones up - a motivator to increase your own skills. Those staying in the same unskilled labor position for years, I don't have much compassion when it comes to low pay. The real issue in my opinion is the high cost of living in Hawaii and the factors contributing to that, like the sky high cost of housing here, the lack of available affordable housing, poor public transportation options, etc. The San Francisco Bay Area definitely suffers from a lot of the same issues that the residents in Hawaii face. Throwing money at things may pacify people temporarily, but there are a lot of deeper issues that need to be solved.

There have been plenty of complaints from guests at the Kyo-ya properties about service. I feel bad for them, since a factor like this is not in their control it can really ruin a vacation they saved up for. The workers in Hawaii will be going back to the table soon with Kyo-ya, hopefully things are resolved soon.