An important step forward today as we received a community pledge of support. The pledge can be downloaded here (PDF) and its full text is reproduced below. The pledge was hand-delivered to Kaiser Hawaii President Janet Liang by a delegation of community members (scroll down for a photo!).
As leaders in Hawaii’s community we are committed to fairness, honest relationships, and the common good.
We therefore affirm our deep and committed support of the members of UNITE HERE Local 5 and the nearly 1,800 health care workers employed through Kaiser Permanente Hawaii.
We are proud of these union workers and their commitment to serving the health care needs of the people of Hawaii. We stand with these workers at this time and embrace their cause as our own.
We believe job security, a greater voice on the job, safe workloads, and the rights of workers to organize are among the standards critical for equipping front-line healthcare workers with the necessary tools for delivering quality patient care for our community.
Hawaii’s community is behind our workers. Their struggle is our struggle. They are our neighbors, our family and our friends.
We call on Kaiser Permanente Hawaii to settle a fair contract now.
Tambry R. Young, Co-Chair
Family Equality Coalition
Charlene Cuaresma, President
Filipino Coalition for Solidarity
Sybil K. Lopez
Community Supporter – Molokai
Richard Port, Former Chairman
Democratic Party of Hawaii
Marti Townsend, Program Director
KAHEA: The Hawaiian-Environmental Alliance
Nancy Aleck, Executive Director
Hawaii People’ s Fund
Agnes Malate, Vice-Chair
Filipinos for Affirmative Action
Eri Oura, Member & Co-Chair
Collective for Equality, Justice and Empowerment
Raymund Liongson, PhD.
Philippine Studies Program-Leeward Comm. College
Dr. Amy Agbayani, Vice-Chair
Nat’l Federation of Filipino American Assoc., Region 12
Joy Kobashigawa Lewis
Labor Caucus, Democratic Party of Hawaii
Deanna Espinas
Community Supporter
Jake Manegdeg, President
Fil-American Citizens League
Kyle Kajihiro, Program Director
American Friends Service Committee, Hawai’i Area
Steve Dinion, President
Pride at Work – Hawaii
Helena Manzano, Vice-President
Filipino Coalition for Solidarity
A community delegation preparing to enter President Janet Liang’s office to deliver their message.
CORRECTION: Eri Oura is a member/co-chair of the Collective for Equality, Justice and Empowerment; not the President. We have corrected the post, though the flier still reflects this error.