Our Mission
“The purpose of this organization shall be to organize all persons working under its jurisdiction; to establish and maintain equitable wage scales and working conditions; to elevate the moral, social and intellectual standing of its members; to guard their financial interests; to promote their general welfare and the Local’s cardinal principles of truth, justice and morality; to secure employment for its members and to uphold the dignity of Labor; and to assist employees in the hotel, motel and restaurant industries in all legitimate ways.”
ARTICLE I – NAME & OBJECT, Section 2, UNITE HERE Local 5 BYLAWS
A Bright Future Built on a Proud Past
1990: Members walked off the job in Waikiki and marched down Kalakaua to a stop work meeting at the Kapiolani Park Bandstand, where they voted to authorize a strike.
From the earliest days of Hawaii’s tourist industry, our union has led Hawaii hotel workers to fight for good, secure jobs with a future, in an industry where most workers around the world work below the poverty line.
Chartered in 1938 by the Hotel and Restaurant Employees and Bartenders International Union, Local 5 has remained one of the International Union’s most important and successful local unions ever since. Now named UNITE HERE, Local 5 continues to be a key player in the International Union’s strategies and campaigns.
Just as in the hotel industry, Local 5 members in Kaiser Permanente set the highest standard for wages and benefits in Hawaii’s health care industry, benefiting not only our members, but also all local health care workers. Since the 1950s, Local 5′s health care membership has grown to about 2,000 members — a large and important part of Local 5′s membership.
Throughout our history, Local 5 has maintained a reputation for aggressive advocacy and powerful servicing on behalf of our members, and hard-hitting negotiations campaigns that deliver what our members need. That reputation for building power on behalf of our members enabled Local 5 to grow from a few hundred members up to the current 10,000 members.
Today, we stand on the shoulders of the giants of our past, who have handed down to our generation of leaders a strong, effective and powerful labor union with a positive reputation in our community. More than ever, tourism is the key link in Hawaii’s economy, and Local 5 the key player to make tourism pay for our people and our community. We have great potential and great opportunities. With your help, we will achieve our mission.
