Hawaii minimum wage workers will see an increase in pay during the next few years, but some are questioning whether it’s enough.
Gov. Neil Abercrombie signed a minimum wage bill into law during a ceremony on May 23, marking the first time Hawaii’s minimum wage will be raised from $7.25 since 2007. Hawaii is the third state this year to increase its minimum wage to $10.10, following Connecticut and Maryland.
Supporters of the minimum wage increase say it will help attract more enthusiastic workers, support working families, and help match the cost of living in Hawaii.
“I’ve felt since I moved here from California that people were underpaid at their jobs,” said Connie Bastianelli, a cashier at Island Naturals in Hilo. “Those in the service job industry should get paid more money to balance out the cost of living.”
For 22-year-old Hilo resident Fran Kekaualua, the increase is good news.
“Being that it’s Hilo, it’s awesome!” she said during her shift at the Subway Restaurant on Kilauea Avenue. “You can do a lot with just a little more.”
Brandee Botelho, 22, hopes to run her own bakery someday. She said she supports the increase and believes higher pay attracts more aggressive workers. Having worked minimum wage jobs before, she said it’s about time.
“I think it’s great because it’s been the same for a really long time. Especially to live here, it’s hard for the locals to live off minimum wage, or for the college students and high school students for that matter,” she said. “We enter the workforce and work the longest at minimum wage.”
But some people are skeptical.
Jeremy Understeller, a 24-year-old employee at Just Cruisin Coffee, said he’s pleased to hear the increase is coming but is curious what will happen next.
“What will happen? Are they going to increase housing, gas costs…” he said.
Carol VanCamp, president of the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Hawaii, said throughout the legislative session, the chamber aligned itself with the position taken on by the Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii, and that was that anytime there is an increase in the minimum wage, it can be harmful for business.
“However, since the increase to a high of $10.10 per hour will be phased in over four years, it was a better outcome than it would have been if it had been increased all at once or over a shorter period of time,” she said.
But some people say it’s still not enough.
Tam Vu, chair of the Department of Economics at the University of Hawaii at Hilo, said it should have been more.
“How about the person whose salary is $10.25?” she asked. “Minimum wage should have been higher across the board, not just for one level, but for all levels.”
And Vu still wonders how it will effect the issue of inequality.
“The rich are so rich and the poor are so poor,” she said. “Anyone making less than $20 an hour, all these people suffer a lot. It’s good to have an increase, but not at one level. (It) has to be for anybody who gets paid at a low level.”
Employers with tipped employees can get a credit of 50 cents per hour starting in 2015 and 75 cents per hour in 2016 for those workers who earn $7 more per hour than the minimum wage.
Email Megan Moseley at mmoseley@hawaiitribune-
herald.com.
