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.”

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