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Many hotel workers struggled to make ends meet the last two years — even when properties were fully occupied. Now, Hilton housekeepers are returning to full-time work thanks to a new contract. HPR's Casey Harlow spoke with one employee about how the return of daily room cleanings affects her.
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Housekeepers and other union workers at the Hilton Hawaiian Village have a new contract. Members of UNITE HERE! Local 5 ratified the hotel's proposal Wednesday. HPR's Casey Harlow spoke with the union's treasurer to detail some of the contract's major aspects.
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A contract between Waikīkī’s biggest hotels and its hotel workers is set to expire Thursday. The union leaders and hotel executives are still working on a deal. HPR’s Casey Harlow has more.
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UNITE HERE! Local 5 held a rally on Tuesday outside the Waikīkī Hilton, calling for hotel executives to bring back positions such as housekeeping. In the meantime, visitor arrivals are nearing pre-pandemic levels — and hotel revenues have skyrocketed.
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As tourism continues to recover in Hawaiʻi, the state’s largest hospitality worker union is demanding hotels bring more of their employees back full time. Unite Here! Local 5 argues that hotel occupancy and the average daily room rates have risen dramatically in recent months.
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Local union workers at Kaiser Permanente have voted to authorize a strike if an agreement on a new contract cannot be reached. Union spokesperson Bryant De Venecia says the pandemic has increased worker dissatisfaction, but issues had been festering long before that.
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Visitor arrivals have plummeted since Gov. David Ige urged tourists not to come to the islands in August. As a result, Hawaiʻi's largest hospitality worker union says hotels have been furloughing workers or cutting their hours.
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The widow of one of the 9/11 victims remembers her husband and shares her journey of healing; the business manager for the hotel workers union talks about the uneasiness its members are feeling as the visitor industry enters its slow season; Honolulu Civil Beat's editor Chad Blair joins us to look closer at efforts by one woman to help a homeless campsite find a better way forward in today's Reality Check; and the State Archivist shares more about the new digital access to Queen Lili'uokalani's personal papers.
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As hotel occupancy rates continue to rise in the state, there is a staffing shortage in hotels and restaurants. While hotels are working to bring back employees, a local union is concerned they are using this time to cut jobs.
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The state's tourism has seen the pendulum swing from a record-high 10 million visitors in 2019 to record lows due to strict travel restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, as visitors have returned, a look at how hotels are faring in this latest installment of Hawaiʻi Public Radio's Waikīkī Summer series