HGEA

Author: Malulani Moreno

  • Pay So Low “People Won’t Even Come for an Interview,” Officials Say

    Pay So Low “People Won’t Even Come for an Interview,” Officials Say

    With no end in sight to the staffing vacancy crisis in state and local government, officials are once again admitting what HGEA has long contended: inadequate pay and benefits for public service jobs are hindering the recruitment and retainment of employees.

    “The pay is probably the biggest challenge,” said Dawn Apuna, the city’s director of the Department of Planning and Permitting, according to The Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Apuna sits on the state Legislature’s task force to examine bottlenecks in Hawaii’s permitting process. “Private pays more, and then you have the feds … they pay even higher.”

    HGEA has consistently argued that state and local government, with their decades-old salary scales, have been attempting to recruit with both hands tied behind their back. We’ve called for a dramatic overhaul of pay and benefit packages if government wants to remain competitive in a job market filled with younger workers saddled in student debt and desiring flexible work arrangements.

    The sobering vacancy picture at Honolulu’s DPP mimics that of many other departments across government. In commercial property permitting, 14 out of 33 positions are vacant. Six out of 32 positions are vacant in residential permitting. The situation on Maui isn’t all that different, according to the Star-Advertiser, with the county’s Department of Public Works reporting five vacancies out of 14 positions.

    Pay and benefits for public service jobs lag so far behind the private sector that applicants often balk at the paltry salaries, Apuna said.

    “People won’t even come for an interview just knowing what the salary range is,” she said.

    Read the full Star-Advertiser story.

  • Unit 13’s Bennett Yap Is Keeping Hawaii On the Cutting Edge of Tech

    Unit 13’s Bennett Yap Is Keeping Hawaii On the Cutting Edge of Tech

    For more than 40 years, Unit 13’s Bennett Yap, information technology manager, has worked to ensure that the public has easy access to government services.

    One of his proudest career moments was leading the quick set up of the emergency unemployment insurance claim center in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Often working seven days a week to ensure the hub and its 500 workstations were running smoothly, Bennett and his team transformed a ballroom at the Hawaii Convention Center into a claims processing center that ran for one and a half years. Outside the office, Bennett serves on the HGEA Board of Directors.

  • Unit 6’s Albert Hetrick Tells KHON Why Aliamanu Earned National Honors

    Unit 6’s Albert Hetrick Tells KHON Why Aliamanu Earned National Honors

    Aliamanu Middle School Principal Albert Hetrick, a Unit 6 member, visited KHON 2 News’ morning broadcast to celebrate his school’s selection as a 2025 “School of Distinction.” Moanalua and Kaimuki Middle Schools were also honored by the Association for Middle Level Education, making them among only 24 schools across the country to gain the distinction.

    “It’s humbling to be honored like this,” Hetrick said. “There are a lot of great things happening at the middle school. … It’s all about opportunities, giving [our students] as much opportunities as we can. I’m just so proud of our staff.”

    Each school was selected for its extraordinary capability of meeting “the unique needs of middle schoolers,” academically, socially and emotionally, according to the state Department of Education.

    “This award is a testament to our schools’ commitment to creating positive environments that encourage growth, exploration and well-being during a crucial time in students’ lives,” Superintendent Keith Hayashi said.

  • The Zoo’s Oki Uyeda Retires After 40 Years

    The Zoo’s Oki Uyeda Retires After 40 Years

    Dwain “Oki” Uyeda, animal specialist and Unit 13 member, recently celebrated his retirement after four decades of service at the Honolulu Zoo.

    Oki had a childhood fear of geckoes that he overcame to become the reptile keeper for beloved animal friends like Elton the crocodile monitor lizard, according to a city news release. 

    “Oki’s incredible knowledge of animal care and ability to problem solve made him a huge asset to the team. I already miss his smiling face and wish him well in his new adventures,” said Honolulu Zoo Director Linda Santos.

    Oki’s story appeared on Hawaii News Now. Watch now!

  • Unit 3’s Darice Garcia Creating “A Place Where People Care” for Lahaina Students

    Unit 3’s Darice Garcia Creating “A Place Where People Care” for Lahaina Students

    Two years after one of the deadliest wildfires in U.S. history ravaged Lahaina, Maui students are finding glimmers of hope on the King Kamehameha III Elementary School campus.

    CBS Mornings’ Nate Burleson visited the temporary campus, built in 90 days by the Army Corps. of Engineers, and spoke with Unit 3’s Darice Garcia, an educational assistant at the school.

    “In the early days, I would hear the kids make comments like, ‘My house is gone,’ ‘My cousin died,’” said Garcia. She sees her role as providing a sense of stability by “being open arms for them, that love and compassion… so they know they can come to a place where people care about them.”

  • CBS Mornings Spotlights “Bravest Lifeguards On the Planet”

    CBS Mornings Spotlights “Bravest Lifeguards On the Planet”

    There’s no question that Oahu’s North Shore is home to some of the most dangerous waves in the world. But it’s also home to world’s most elite class of lifeguards.

    CBS Mornings traveled to Pipeline to speak to the men and women whose job it is to put their own lives at risk to save someone else’s. Featured Unit 15 members include David Wassel, Tau Hanneman, Kyle Foyle, Kirk Ziegler, Jeffrey Okuyama, and Vitor Marcal.

    Patrolling the beautiful yet treacherous waters, the water safety officers from Honolulu Ocean Safety are ranked as some of the most skilled in the profession worldwide. With upwards of more than 1,000 rescues for some veteran lifeguards, it is evident how the work our members do on the coast protects the community and saves lives.

  • Blazing a Trail for Women in Ocean Safety

    Blazing a Trail for Women in Ocean Safety

    Ever since she was a little girl, Toni Watanuki of Unit 15 knew she was destined to be a lifeguard. Watanuki has been a water safety officer at Hanauma Bay for the past three years.

    Her journey began with the junior lifeguard program, where she found inspiration from her instructors—especially the trailblazing women who helped pave the way for future female lifeguards. Her words of wisdom to other young girls interested in ocean safety is to “just do it—and keep trying!”

  • “Survive Until the Midterms” — U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz Townhall

    “Survive Until the Midterms” — U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz Townhall

    U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz has emerged as one of the strongest voices of opposition to the unprecedented assault being waged in Washington D.C. against working people by billionaires and anti-union extremists.

    The senator joined AFL-CIO members last week to offer his take on the current administration’s agenda of public service cuts, mass firings and devastating budget cuts, all for the benefit of big corporations and wealthy donors.

    “The question I’m getting the most is, ‘Hey, what can I be doing?’” Schatz told the members gathered in HGEA’s union hall. “You all remember Calvin Say, who used to say, ‘Be like the bamboo — bend, but don’t break.’ As we think about society itself, the object of the game here is to try to survive until the midterms with the bones of society still in place.”

    While those in control of Washington, D.C. rode a working class wave into office, Schatz said he finds hope in shifting public sentiments. Working people are waking up and will fight back in 2026, he said.

  • It’s a Home Run: Two Members Honored in Hall of Fame

    It’s a Home Run: Two Members Honored in Hall of Fame

    One coached the University of Hawaii-Hilo baseball team to more than 500 wins, the other a two-time Olympian who coached UH-Hilo women’s volleyball to six national championships — both are retired Unit 8 members being inducted into the Big Island Sports Hall of Fame.

    Joey Estrella began his baseball career under legendary UH coach Les Murakami, and is the first to receive UH-Manoa’s Jack Bonham award in 1974. He went on to spend four decades coaching UH-Hilo’s Vulcans, becoming a legend in his own right.

    Sharon Peterson’s volleyball coaching career spans more than 50 years, leading the University of Hawaii-Hilo women’s program to six national championships from 1978 to 2002. Prior to her Olympic appearances in 1964 and 1968, she blocked and spiked for Long Beach State, earning her a spot in the university’s hall of fame 20 years later.

  • New State Board of Directors Sworn In

    New State Board of Directors Sworn In

    State Board President Ginet Hayes, a Unit 13 member, challenged the recently elected HGEA State Board of Directors to commit to growing and strengthening the union for the future. Her remarks occurred during the board’s orientation and swearing in on Friday, July 25, marking the beginning of the 2025-2027 term.

    “To our younger leaders – it is your time to help us shape what HGEA will need to become,” Hayes said. “How do you see yourself contributing to the continuity and sustained growth of our union to see it thrive past 2025?”

    With eyes toward the future, board members heard from Executive Director Randy Perreira, who stressed the need to get organized as anti-union extremists in charge of the federal government take a chain saw to Medicaid, SNAP and other benefits working people rely on. The federal cuts, he said, will cause a ripple effect through other parts of the state budget.

    “We are not isolated from what is happening in Washington, D.C. We will see an impact here at home, and it is already starting,” Perreira said.

    The board approved its new officers, which include Vice President James Sunday of Unit 6, Secretary Jojo Kawana of Unit 9, and Treasurer Bennett Yap of Unit 13. See the full list of new board members. Their term runs through June 30, 2027.