Aikea Movement rallies against condo conversion
Aikea, a labor movement organized by hospitality & healthcare union UNITE HERE! Local 5, rallied at Honolulu Hale today in support of Honolulu City Council Bill 16.
“We used to have 500 workers at the Ilikai, and now we’re down to 60 because of condo conversion,” said Joli Tokusato, a 23-year employee of the Ilikai Hotel and organizer for UNITE HERE! Local 5, the Hawaiʻi chapter of the hospitality & healthcare union, which represents 300,000 members in the United States and Canada.
According to Tokusato, many of her friends (who were also at the rally) have already lost their jobs at the Ilikai.
The rally, held earlier this afternoon, was attended by hundreds of supporters who covered the intersection at King Street and Punchbowl with red shirts outside Honolulu Hale, where Bill 16 is still moving through the Honolulu City Council.
The bill—introduced by council members Ron Menor, Joey Manahan and Stanley Chang—passed its first reading on Wednesday, March 12, with a vote of 9-0. The goal of the legislation is to preserve hotel jobs by requiring hotel owners to obtain a permit if they plan to convert 20 percent or more of their hotel rooms into condominiums. It also requires that employees be notified if units are to be converted, and requires that employees be retained for a 90-day period before layoff. In the event of layoffs, those employees are to be put on a preferential rehire list.
“Aikea Movement is people coming together to make sure our futures are taken care of, and not the big developers,” said Tokusato.
That’s what brought Meynard Duyao, a worker at the Hilton Hawaiian Village, down to support his fellow union members from the Ilikai. “I moved here from the Philippines three years ago,” said “My job is what is putting me through school so I can follow my dream of becoming a registered nurse. I feel it is important for me to be here to support other hotel workers who are losing their jobs because of [condo conversion]. My job could be next.”
The industry trend over the past decade has been for hotel owners to convert units to condos that are then sold at Hawaiʻi’s high market rates, making money for the owners, but costing jobs and economic growth in the process. This has been, at least partially, responsible for the loss of over 8,000 hotel units statewide—including 5,000 units in Waikīkī alone—over the past 10 years.
“This is just the first step,” said Tokusato. “Bill 16 won’t solve everything, but it’s a big step forward. Making sure the politicians are taking care of us. That’s why I’m here; that’s what we want. We urge the City Council to pass this bill.”
Earlier this week, by a 292-0 unanimous vote, UNITE HERE! Local 5 workers at the Hyatt Regency Waikiki hotel ratified a new contract, resolving a longstanding dispute that began in 2010.
