HGEA

Author: Malulani Moreno

  • In the News: HGEA Opposes State Plans to Divide Deputy Sheriffs

    In the News: HGEA Opposes State Plans to Divide Deputy Sheriffs

    A plan to split the workforce of Deputy Sheriffs into two new job classifications — and give pay bumps to only a portion of them — is receiving repudiation from the rank-and-file and HGEA leadership.

    “There should be an increase negotiated for all, to be more competitive,” Randy Perreira, HGEA executive director, told the Honolulu Star Advertiser.

    The new classification, State Law Enforcement Officers, would encompass deputies in patrol, airport, harbor, fugitive, canine, training and criminal investigation units. Amounting to 60% of the workforce, they would receive an 8% pay bump under the plan. The remainder of sheriffs, largely employed at the state’s courts, would not receive the increase.

    While HGEA has been pushing for the last four years to reprice Deputy Sheriffs to ensure their compensation is fair in the face of chronic staffing shortages and heavy workloads, the plan pitched by the state Department of Human Resources Development would create unnecessary division and inequality, the union argues.

    The plan also strips a portion of the existing employees of the deputy sheriff title, which has a historic and proud legacy stretching back to King Kamehameha III.

    “This is a real divisive move. You are suggesting that one class of deputies is better than another,” Perreira said.

  • Election 2026 Wrap-up: Labor-friendly Candidates Ride a Massive Blue Wave

    Election 2026 Wrap-up: Labor-friendly Candidates Ride a Massive Blue Wave

    Blue Hawaii turned even bluer as a tsunami of Democratic candidates washed over all fifty states, driven in large part by union members and labor organizing.

    Thanks to the support of HGEA members, U.S. Rep. Ed Case (Congressional District 1) and U.S. Rep. Jill Tokuda (CD2) handily won re-election and will be returning to a U.S. House under Democratic control.

    Labor showed up big for Gov. Josh Green and his running-mate Kauai County Mayor Derek Kawakami, who will assume the role of lieutenant governor in Green’s second term.

    HGEA also won a huge victory on Maui with the re-election of Mayor Richard Bissen, who faced more than $2.4 million of opposition from the Carpenter’s political action committee. Voters rejected last-minute smear tactics and a flood of mailers and ads attempting to cast doubt on Bissen’s reputation as a friend of public employees and working families.

    Democrats picked up even more seats in the state Legislature, which was already solidly in their control

    HGEA endorsed candidates sailed to victory including Sen. Danielle Bass (Dist. 18) and Sen. Rachele Lamosao (Dist. 19). Seats formerly held by Republicans in the state House will now be filled with union-friendly members, including former UPW President Jamie Wataru (Dist. 18) and former HSTA President Corey Rosenlee (Dist. 39).

    Here’s the full-list of HGEA-endorsed candidates who won Tuesday, Nov. 3:

    Federal Races

    • Ed Case, Congressional District 1
    • Jill Tokuda, Congressional District 2

    Statewide Races

    • Josh Green, Governor
    • Derek Kawakami, Lt. Governor

    State Senate

    • Joy San Buenaventura, District 2
    • Stanley Chang, District 9
    • Tricia Nakamatsu, District 13
    • Danielle Bass, District 18
    • Rachel Lamosao, District 19

    State House

    • Sue Lee Loy, District 2
    • Chris Todd, District 3
    • Greggor Ilagan, District 4
    • Jeanne Kapela, District 5
    • David Tarnas, District 8
    • Tyson Miyake, District 10
    • Terez Amato, District 11
    • Kyle Yamashita, District 12
    • Mahina Poepoe, District 13
    • Pa‘ele Kiakona, District 14
    • Luke Evslin, District 16
    • Dee Morikawa, District 17
    • Jamie Wataru, District 18
    • Tina Nakada Grandinetti, District 20
    • Ikaika Olds, District 23
    • Ian Ross, District 26
    • Ikaika Hussey, District 29
    • Linda Ichiyama, District 31
    • Gregg Takayama, District 34
    • Julie Reyes Oda, District 40
    • Darius Kila, District 44
    • Amy Perruso, District 46
    • Sean Quinlan, District 47
    • Scot Matayoshi, District 49
    • Mike Lee, District 50

    Office of Hawaiian Affairs

    • Keoni Souza, At-large Trustee

    Hawaii County Council

    • Lloyd Enriquez, District 4
    • Ikaika Rodenhurst, District 5
    • Zed Ka‘apana Aki, District 6

    Kauai County Council

    • Paul Applegate
    • Michelle Correa
    • Fern Holland
    • Arryl Kaneshiro
    • Todd Ozaki
    • Dane Smith

    Maui County Mayor

    • Richard Bissen

    Maui County Council

    • Shane Sinenci, East Maui
    • Tamara Paltin, West Maui
    • Marvin Moniz, Wailuku-Waihee-Waikapu
    • Kauanoe Batangan, Kahului
    • Nohe U‘u-Hodgins, Makawao-Haiku-Paia
    • Bobby Pahia, Upcountry

    Oahu County Council

    • Trevor Ozawa, District 4
    • Tyler Dos Santos-Tam, District 6

  • BREAKING 🚨 New State Law Enforcement Job Series

  • Cast Your Vote by Nov. 3, School Psychologist of the Year, and More!

  • Members in the News: Unit 15’s Joey Cadiz “Fell in Love” With Public Safety

    Members in the News: Unit 15’s Joey Cadiz “Fell in Love” With Public Safety

    When Lifeguard Joey Cadiz, a member of Unit 15, leapt into action to rescue his North Shore neighbors during the Kona Lows, he was simply acting on the instincts of someone who long ago “fell in love” with public safety.

    Featured in Honolulu Magazine’s October issue, Cadiz recalled getting “frantic” calls in the middle of the night about the dangerous conditions on the North Shore. “My lifeguarding instincts snapped into action, and I decided to get there as quickly as possible,” he told Honolulu Magazine.

    Cadiz alongside first responders and other good Samaritans rescued nearly 100 people, the magazine reports.

    In the two months following the storm, Cadiz took a temporary assignment with the City & County of Honolulu to serve as a liaison with the community during recovery efforts. He’s back in the ocean now with a new perspective: “My love for different parts of the North Shore has expanded because of the floods, and my connections deepened,” he told Honolulu Magazine.

  • Shane Myers’ “Transformational” Leadership Earns Him School Psychologist of the Year

    Shane Myers’ “Transformational” Leadership Earns Him School Psychologist of the Year

    The Hawaii Association of School Psychologists has selected Unit 13’s Shane Myers as School Psychologist of the Year for his 18 years of service to students across Central Oahu and the North Shore.

    Myers has been described as a transformational leader for the Waialua Complex, using his abilities to foster collaboration and teamwork to spearhead a shift in the way district-level support staff empower school-level teams.

    He’s praised for helping address the unique challenges students in rural communities face, as well as promoting mental health solutions focused on the “whole child.”

    “Despite the added operational load of building and maintaining these collaborative structures, Shane views the cultural shift in the Waialua Complex as their proudest professional milestone,” HASP wrote in a statement.

    By putting teamwork first, Shane “helped build a resilient, supportive environment where educators thrive and students receive holistic, proactive support,” according to the association.

  • STATEMENT: Deployment of Flock license plate readers by the state Department of Law Enforcement deserves full scrutiny.

    STATEMENT: Deployment of Flock license plate readers by the state Department of Law Enforcement deserves full scrutiny.

    HGEA RAISES PRIVACY AND ACCOUNTABILITY CONCERNS OVER STATE’S USE OF FLOCK CAMERAS

    State Department of Law Enforcement’s proposal deserves full scrutiny to ensure civil liberties are protected.

    The following is a statement from HGEA Executive Director Randy Perreira:

    We understand the desire to use every available tool to keep our communities safe and to investigate serious crimes. But public safety and individual privacy are not mutually exclusive, and the deployment of Flock license plate readers by the state Department of Law Enforcement raises serious questions.

    Every person in Hawaii has a right to expect that government surveillance will be subject to reasonable limits and appropriate safeguards. Courts across the country, when it comes to Flock and similar technology, have recognized that traveling on a public road does not mean you surrender your reasonable expectations to privacy.

    We’re calling for full scrutiny of this latest proposal from DLE by the Hawaii County Council and state lawmakers to ensure civil liberties are protected.

    ###

    Media Contacts:

    Malulani Moreno
    Communications Manager
    (808) 543-0024
    mmoreno@hgea.org

    Kristina Lum
    Senior Communications Specialist
    (808) 543-0063
    klum@hgea.org

  • STATEMENT: Kawakami Supporters Are Resorting to Dirty Tactics to Ensure Wealthy Developer Interests Win Out Over Working People’s Concerns

    STATEMENT: Kawakami Supporters Are Resorting to Dirty Tactics to Ensure Wealthy Developer Interests Win Out Over Working People’s Concerns

    A poll is attempting to smear lieutenant governor candidate Rep. Della Au Belatti.

    Randy Perreira, executive director of the Hawaii Government Employees Association, representing more than 30,000 public employees, issued the following statement after a poll was launched to smear state Rep. Della Au Belatti:

    “We always knew cash-flushed Pacific Resource Partnership and its political action committee For a Better Tomorrow would resort to underhanded tactics to try to buy this election for Derek Kawakami — we’re frankly more surprised it took them so long.

    “Their poll of leading questions, full of falsehoods and mischaracterizations, is meant to smear state Rep. Della Au Belatti. Gee, they even went so far as to ask about HGEA’s favorability. Are they looking to compare their image with ours?

    “Just 72 hours ago, Kawakami sat on a sound stage at Hawaii News Now and told the public he wants to see an end to negative campaigning. Does he approve of these attempts to inject lies into the bloodstream of the electorate? Is this the type of leader he wants to be?

    “We know Kawakami wants to shrug off the Milton Choy bribery scandal as old news. But corruption and dirty money are the defining issues of this campaign. So, let’s be clear about the facts: Derek Kawakami waited four years to part with $15,000 he received from convicted felon Milton Choy.

    “In 2022, Kawakami told KHON2 he had no intention of returning the money because, he claimed, nothing improper had occurred. This as Choy’s businesses received Kauai County contracts, including a $750,000 wastewater project.

    “Kawakami returned the money only after the media and HGEA exposed him earlier this month. He accused us of lying when we pointed out that he had not yet given it back. But the Campaign Spending Commission reported receiving the money only after HGEA issued its statement.

    “His campaign is rolling in hundreds of thousands of dollars from big money, mainland-connected developers who would like nothing more than to reshape Hawaii into a playground for the rich. The working people who are currently struggling to afford groceries and rent can thank the economic crisis we’re facing on these developers who are driving up the cost of housing in Hawaii. All this while Kawakami attempts to run as the anti-corruption candidate.

    “Compare that to Belatti, the only candidate who has rejected corporate PAC money. She’s taking small $25 donations from kupuna who can barely afford their medications and young workers trying to start families while carrying crushing student loan debt. She has helped pass legislation to clean up our broken election system so candidates can’t be bought. Kawakami cannot hold a candle to that kind of leadership.”

    ###

    Media Contacts:

    Malulani Moreno
    Communications Manager
    (808) 543-0024
    mmoreno@hgea.org

    Kristina Lum
    Senior Communications Specialist
    (808) 543-0063
    klum@hgea.org

  • Three Debate Moments that Prove Derek Kawakami Is Unfit for Lieutenant Governor

    Three Debate Moments that Prove Derek Kawakami Is Unfit for Lieutenant Governor

    Hawaii Deserves Della Au Belatti as Its LG: Leadership Working People Can Trust

    In a live-streamed and televised lieutenant governor forum on Hawaii News Now, Mayor Derek Kawakami’s unfitness for office was on full display. In contrast, state Rep. Della Au Belatti showed why she’s the real anti-corruption candidate working people can trust.

    Here are three moments that prove Kawakami doesn’t deserve to be Hawaii’s lieutenant governor.

    1. He shrugged off his receipt of $15,000 in campaign donations from convicted felon Milton Choy, and his refusal to return the money, as “old news.”

    But here’s the thing: If that were true, why did he only recently (July 8, to be exact) decide to return the dirty money, some four years after insisting he should be allowed to keep it?

    Could it be the June 28 Civil Beat article, which highlighted Kawakami’s refusal to return the funds, and HGEA’s July 7 news release slamming his comments? Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke, Mayor Rick Blangiardi, Sen. Ron Kouchi, and many others gave back the money in 2022. Why did Kawakami only now decide to change his tune?

    During this exchange, Kawakami also disclosed the County of Kauai has multiple contracts with Choyʻs company and that his administration, and he believes they don’t represent any quid pro quo, having gone through procurement processes.

    2. He’s beholden to big money interests, not working people. Just look at the wealthy, mainland-connected developers on his supporter list.

    Private developers are flooding our local politics with millions of dollars in an attempt to turn Hawaii into a playground for the rich. That’s why so many Hawaii families are watching their children pack their bags for the mainland because the rent is too high and the wages aren’t enough.

    We don’t need more luxury condos and resorts. That’s what Kawakami’s wealthy backers represent. Working people deserve someone working to make Hawaii affordable for everyday people.

    3. He refuses to be an independent voice as lieutenant governor, which the Hawaii state constitution empowers the LG to be.

    Whereas Belatti vows she will bring the voices of working people to the decision table, Kawakami said he doesn’t have any interest in being an independent member of the executive branch.

    He belittled Belatti’s insistence that the LG is empowered to be a separate voice within the executive branch by saying, “right now we don’t need more watchdogs, we have a lot of watchdogs.”

  • A Clear Choice for Working People: Ed Case’s Pro-Labor Record vs. Jarrett Keohokalole’s No Vote On Your Raises

    A Clear Choice for Working People: Ed Case’s Pro-Labor Record vs. Jarrett Keohokalole’s No Vote On Your Raises

    As organized labor faces an unprecedented assault from a hostile federal administration, U.S. Rep. Ed Case has stood against rollbacks of worker rights and undermining the middle class. 

    Over the last two years, as anti-union extremists in Washington, D.C., have taken a sledgehammer to decades of progress for the labor movement, Case worked to thwart their agenda at every turn.  

    His record is clear: 

    • He co-sponsored the Protecting the Right to Organize Act to expand workers’ rights to bargain collectively and hold employers accountable for anti-union practices.  
    • He voted against provisions that would have stripped collective bargaining rights from federal civil servants. 
    • He stood against the so-called Big Beautiful Bill that slashed billions from SNAP food benefits and Medicaid coverage for Hawaii residents. 

    Compare that to state Sen. Jarrett Keohokalole who voted in 2020 against your pay raises. Not only that, he had the audacity to take to the floor of the state Senate and announce his no vote. 

    Watch the speech.

    Working people deserve a leader who is willing to stand with them during difficult times. Rep. Case is that person.