Hawaii
High-profile speakers trade popular conference for picket line
HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Several high-profile guests invited to a forum of Hawaii’s top women leaders canceled Friday because of the ongoing workers strike at the venue.
U.S. Rep. Jill Tokuda, D-Hawaii, was supposed to be inside the Hilton Hawaiian Village, speaking at the annual Wahine Forum.
She chose not to attend, saying she had to stand with striking hotel workers.
“I don’t care how great a conference it is in there — and it really is a great conference — but the future of Hawaii, to me, what we mean when we say we support workers and families, it’s right out here on the picket line,” Tokuda said.
Thousands of Local 5 unionized Hilton Hawaiian employees, everyone from housekeepers to restaurant workers, have now been on strike for nearly three weeks. They want wage and staff increases, and say they won’t give up until they have an agreement.
Related story: Striking Hilton Hawaiian Village workers could set standard for hotel industry
“How can we talk about elevating and supporting women and families when they’re right out here?” Tokuda said. “Right out here, marching and fighting for the most basic thing, like the fact that one job should be enough, but more importantly, for a hard day’s work, they should be fairly paid.”
Hawaii Business Magazine sponsors the forum. We’ve reached out for comment on the cancellations.
A group of invited guests who also skipped the event told us the fight for workers’ rights is also a fight for women’s rights.
State Rep. Della Au Belatti, D-Makiki, Punchbowl, said, “We must act in solidarity. We have only gotten here today as the state with the best health care in the nation because of what we did collectively.”
Deborah Zysman, Hawaii Children’s Action Network executive director, said, “We fight for families, and we fight for what’s important for all of our keiki, and we were not going to cross that picket line. I reached out to many, many others, and also told them to not go inside.”
Honolulu City Council member Radiant Cordero also joined the picket line to support the union and her family.
“Not only did I used to work at Sheraton Waikiki and the Royal Hawaiian, but my brother also works at Hilton Hawaiian and struggles to make a living,” Cordero said, choking back tears. “So he has struggles, not only just with the job he has, but also just being on strike.”
Hilton previously said that it’s “committed to reach a fair and reasonable agreement” for the workers.
The union’s supporters say it needs to happen soon.
Congresswoman Tokuda said, “It is about standing in solidarity with our workers and our labor unions, saying enough is enough, let’s get them back to work. Let’s get them a fair contract.”
Copyright 2024 Hawaii News Now. All rights reserved.
Hawaii
Indicted Hawaii doctor's wife details alleged hiking trail attack in restraining order petition
HONOLULU — An anesthesiologist hiking with his wife on a precarious trail in Hawaii grabbed her by the arms and started pushing her toward the edge of a cliff before attempting to inject her with a syringe, the woman wrote in a petition for a temporary restraining order against her husband, who was indicted Friday on attempted murder charges.
Gerhardt Konig and his wife were visiting Oahu from their home on Maui on Monday when he allegedly tried to kill her on the hiking trail, prosecutors said. An attorney who represented Konig during a hearing Thursday hasn’t responded to an email seeking comment.
The petition for a restraining order said that in December, Konig accused his wife of having an affair, “which led to extreme jealously on his part.” They have been in therapy and counseling since, she said.
A judge signed an order Friday that says Konig must stay away from his wife and their children.
The Associated Press isn’t naming the wife because she says she is a victim of domestic violence.
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EDITOR’S NOTE: This story includes discussion of domestic violence. If you or someone you know needs help, please call the national domestic violence hotline: 1-800-799-7233 in the U.S.
Tourism executive and former Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann resigned as chair of the Hawaiʻi Tourism Authority Thursday after questions were raised over possible inappropriate use of HTA resources by two nonprofits he leads.
Hannemann told the board shortly before noon that “the best thing for me to do is to step down as chair, and then I will have to think whether I want to stay on the board, because the reputations of those incredible, important organizations have been put into question.”
The HTA board then elected boad member Todd Apo as its new chair.
HTA board members on Tuesday questioned Hannemann at length about the Hawaiʻi Lodging and Tourism Association’s public safety conference at the Hawaiʻi Convention Center on Dec. 6, 2023, and a meeting of the Pacific Century Fellows at the convention center on May 15 of last year.
Hannemann is president and CEO of the Hawaiʻi Lodging and Tourism Association, which advocates for the hotel and tourism industries. He is also founder of the Pacific Century Fellows program, a nonprofit leadership training organization.
Jimmy Tokioka, director of the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, has said the ethics commission has begun interviewing people as part of an inquiry into more than $14,000 in food and beverages provided for the two events. Tokioka is also an HTA board member.
Tokioka said in an interview that HTA documents show HLTA and Pacific Century were supposed to pay for breakfasts served at those events that cost more than $14,000, but there was no record of payment.
Hannemann announced his resignation after the board discussed those gatherings for the second time this week. He suggested the HTA board should instead be focusing on Hawaiʻi’s visitor industry.
“People watching from everywhere will say, ‘Can’t those guys get on with the business of tourism?’” Hannemann said. “‘Can’t they get on with the business of making sure there’s funding? Can’t they get on with the business of making sure that the staff that works there is appreciated?’”
It’s the second major shakeup in HTA leadership in a week.
The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported March 20 that HTA had appointed Caroline Anderson its new interim president and CEO following the resignation of interim top leader Daniel Naho’opi’i, who had been in the role for a year and a half.
“Naho’opi’i, who ends his tenure Friday at HTA, had been the agency’s 11th top leader since the state Legislature created the HTA in 1998,” according to the article.
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