Hawaii’s minimum wage has been stuck at $7.25 per hour since 2007, while the cost of basic expenses such as food, utilities, and gasoline continues to rise.

Raising Hawaii’s minimum wage to at least $10.10 per hour over two years will generate more than $54 million in new economic activity.

 We are calling for an increase in minimum wage with no increase to the tip credit. A tip credit allows employers to pay tipped workers less than the minimum wage. Advocates of the tip credit believe that tipped workers receive plenty of tips and can therefore afford to be paid less than minimum wage. The reality is that the average tipped worker in Hawai’i earns just $9.88 per hour. And tips can vary significantly from shift to shift and from season to season.

Check out our minimum wage fact sheet and our tip credit fact sheet to learn more. Hawai’i Appleseed Center for Law & Economic Justice has a great infographic showing what a real minimum wage budget looks like in Hawai’i.

What you can do

Although Hawai’i legislators failed to pass a minimum wage increase in 2013, we want our legislators  to do the right thing in 2014.

We strongly encourage everyone to send in supportive testimony for this important bill.  Raising the minimum wage will promote Hawai‘i’s economic recovery and help lift our families out of poverty and toward financial security. Hawai‘i needs a raise to build economic opportunity and stability for all of our workers!

Visit the Hawaii State Legislature’s website for the contact information of our state legislators if you would like to call or email them about raising the minimum wage.

You can also sign our petition to support increasing minimum wage to $10.10.

If you would like to get involved in our campaign to raise minimum wage, please fill out our Contact form and we’ll contact you shortly.