1516 S. King st. Honolulu, HI 96826
About UNITE HERE Local 5
Local 5 represents 10,000 workers throughout Hawaii who work in the hospitality, health care and food service industries and is an affiliate of UNITE HERE, an international union that represents over 250,000 workers throughout the U.S. and Canada.
Starwood acknowledges grounds workers should get paid for higher rated work
After being asked to perform higher rated work (construction work) without proper compensation, a group of Grounds workers at the Starwood properties in Waikiki decided to press for negotiations and back pay. On June 17, 2014 they engaged with the General Manager at the Sheraton Waikiki and moved the company to acknowledge that they are […]
Back pay for Moana Surfrider bartender
Yvonne has worked as a bartender for over 20 years at the Westin Moana Surfrider. Recently, she was issued a 10 day suspension because $35 meant to be turned in as a bank drop, instead ended up in a cash drop. Yvonne is an excellent employee with no record of making this error before. The […]
2014 UNITE HERE Delegate Election Rerun
All members in good standing of UNITE HERE Local 5 are notified that there will be a Rerun Election for delegates to the UNITE HERE International Union convention to be held in Boston, Massachusetts on June 25-27, 2014. To be eligible to vote in the rerun election, you must be a member in good standing. […]
Victory against Sound & Light subcontracting
In 2002, many of our hotel contracts were strengthened with new language to fight subcontracting. Recently, Starwood sought to ignore it and planned to outsource the Sound and Light work done at the Sheraton Waikiki and Royal Hawaiian to an outside company called PSAV. The Union filed a grievance and the case went to arbitration. […]
Justice served for Moana Surfrider worker
Jeffrey Varga, Food Prep at the Westin Moana Surfrider, recently had three suspensions removed from his record and was awarded 18 days of back-pay. Jeff felt he was being railroaded to termination by the previous Executive Chef. Working with his shop steward, Alex Manog, and the Union staff he was able to make the case […]
The Modern Honolulu workers vote in favor of Local 5 representation
On May 15, workers at The Modern Honolulu strongly voted in favor of being represented by Local 5, keeping intact all of the benefits and protections of their union contract. 171 workers participated in the vote: 149 voted yes, 20 voted no, 1 ballot was voided, and 2 ballots were challenged. Workers are excited to […]
Kaiser Permanente backpays hospital aide for overtime
Congratulations to Hospital Aide Junior Tabonda for fighting for his rights and WINNING for all workers! On December 16, 2013, Kaiser Permanente Hawaii required Junior to go home at the beginning of his shift in order to avoid paying overtime. The Union and Junior fought back! Kaiser agreed to backpay Junior $388.60 for overtime. Kaiser […]
Leafletting in front of Bank of Hawaii
On May 10, Kaiser Permanente Hawaii workers lead another action to draw attention to the low pay of bank tellers. They passed out leaflets in front of Bank of Hawaii and called on Edward Pei, Kaiser Permanente Board Member and Hawaii Bankers Association Executive Director, to raise bank tellers’ pay. This is just the beginning […]
Valet wins grievance case
Kamu, a valet at The Modern Honolulu, took a stand for his seniority rights. The Modern Honolulu wrongfully changed his seniority, so he took action and presented the facts to Human Resources in a grievance meeting with the union. Kamu won his grievance case, and the employer corrected his seniority. The employer also agreed to […]
Transporter wins grievance against Kaiser Permanente
Kavika has worked at Kaiser Permanente as a Transporter for three years. Last year, he applied for a Maintenance Worker 1 position. He was denied even though he was fully qualified, and he was never given an in-person interview. Instead, Kaiser gave the position to a non- Kaiser worker. To make matters worse, in January […]