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What I’ve Been Reading This Week


Readers might recall that there had recently been renewed efforts in Hawaii to raise the state’s hourly minimum wage rate.  While several efforts in the past few years had fallen short, supporters of this year’s legislation have been hopeful that the Hawaii Legislature will finally approve the measure.  As the article below notes, those minimum wage advocates have a reason to be hopeful that this year is finally the year.

As always, below are a couple articles that caught my eye this week.


United Airlines To Allow Some Unvaccinated Workers Back

Last summer, United airlines indicated it would require all of its employees to get a coronavirus vaccine or risk termination.  While employees with a sincerely held religious or medical exemption could still retain their job if they did not get the vaccine, many of these employees were either put on unpaid leave or given the opportunity to apply for positions within the company that were not “public facing.”  However, as Alison Sider at The Wall Street Journal writes, United recently has taken steps to allow those employees that qualified for an exemption to come back to work.  Note, United has apparently not taken steps to bring back those employees (estimated to be about 200 or so workers) that refused to get the vaccine and were terminated without having requested an exemption.  As well, all newly hired employees are still required to be vaccinated.


Hawaii’s Minimum Wage House Bill HB 2510 Moves Forward

On Tuesday, by a vote of 43 - 8, the Hawaii House of Representatives approved HB 2510, the proposed minimum wage bill which would eventually raise hourly pay rates in the islands to $18/hour.  The legislation was met with spirited debate on both sides with advocates pushing for its passage to help workers deal with rising living costs while opponents pointed to the fact that many employers will be unable to deal with the surge in labor costs.  Of course the legislation still needs to clear the Hawaii Senate, which is no sure thing.  For the time being however, minimum wage advocates can notch Tuesday’s vote as a victory.

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