Labor

State lawmakers have passed a bill aiming to streamline the unemployment filing process, but some worry it goes too far.

As the Trump administration attempts to reshape the federal workforce, the head of the Hawaii Government Employees Association, Randy Perreira, gives insight into the direct impacts on labor unions.

HPR continues to look at how federal funding cuts have affected people in Hawaiʻi. HPR's Savannah Harriman-Pote talked to three federal workers who were fired from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Kauaʻi amid Trump's efforts to downsize the government.

State lawmakers want to develop a framework for a paid family leave program. The House Labor Committee advanced a resolution to create a working group to produce a report on paid family leave that could include proposed legislation.

The City and County of Honolulu is still actively recruiting displaced federal employees and professionals from non-governmental organizations impacted by federal funding cuts. This is in response to Gov. Josh Green's executive order on Feb. 18 that aims to tap into the pool of laid-off federal workers and fill over 4,000 open positions in state government.

The Commission on Salaries recommended that the governor receive an $85,000 raise spread over the next six years. State lawmakers will not receive their first 32% raise until 2027 — after the next election.

The County of Hawaiʻi has reached an agreement for COVID-19 hazard pay with the Hawaiʻi Government Employees Association and Hawaiʻi Fire Fighters Association. Hazard pay negotiations had been a contentious issue.

Federal funding cuts have hit close to home for Maui residents. As HPR's Catherine Cluett Pactol reports, a grant program that supported wildfire recovery efforts has been terminated.

A bill introduced this legislative session would have required local medical school graduates to work as physicians in the state for two years after graduation. While supporters said it would have helped tackle Hawaiʻi’s physician shortage, the bill has died this session.

The commission is recommending that the governor, lieutenant governor, department heads and their deputies receive a 15% raise starting in July. Those positions would continue to receive raises ranging from 4% to 8% in the five years following. HPR's Ashley Mizuo reports.