When the Cost of Living Pushes Our Own People Out: Why This Fight Matters

The pay stub tells a story that’s become far too familiar in Hawaiʻi.

It belongs to a former Local 1186 brother, someone who grew up here, trained here, worked here, and wanted nothing more than to build a life in the islands he calls home. But the math stopped working. The cost of living kept climbing (32% over the last 10 years). Union wages stayed flat. And eventually, he had to make the heartbreaking decision to pack up his life and leave. Today, he’s working under IBEW Local 46 in Washington state, earning the kind of wage he should have been making in Hawaiʻi all along.

This isn’t an isolated case. It’s not a one-off story. It’s a pattern, one that’s pushing good, hardworking people away from their families, their communities, and their roots. When a skilled tradesperson can’t afford to live in the place they were raised, something is deeply out of balance. And the truth is painful: People aren’t leaving because they want to. They’re leaving because they can’t survive here anymore.

The Human Cost of Stagnant Wages

Every time a brother or sister leaves Hawaiʻi for better wages on the continent, we lose more than a worker. We lose:

• A mentor who could have trained the next generation

• A parent trying to raise their kids near grandparents

• A community member who volunteers, coaches, and gives back

• A friend, a neighbor, a familiar face on the jobsite
  

These are not numbers on a spreadsheet. These are lives uprooted.

Wages Must Reflect Reality — Not Yesterday’s Economy

Hawaiʻi’s cost of living is one of the highest in the nation. Housing, groceries, utilities, transportation, everything has gone up. Yet wages for many trades have not kept pace. When the gap between what it costs to live here and what workers earn keeps widening, families are forced into impossible choices.

If we want to keep our members in Hawaiʻi, if we want our communities to stay whole, wages must match the real cost of living. Not the cost of living from five years ago. Not the cost of living from a negotiation cycle long past. The cost of living today.

This Is Why the Campaign Exists

The campaign behind this message isn’t about politics for the sake of politics. It’s about survival. It’s about dignity. It’s about ensuring that the people who build Hawaiʻi can afford to live in Hawaiʻi.

It’s about:

• Real change — not promises that fade after election season

• Real leadership — leadership that listens, understands, and fights

• A real push for wages that reflect the value of our members’ work
  

Because every time we lose a brother or sister to the mainland, we lose a piece of our community. And if nothing changes, we will keep losing more.

Before We Lose Any More of Our Own

The pay stub that sparked this conversation is more than a document. It’s a warning. A reminder. A call to action.

Hawaiʻi deserves to be a place where working families can stay, grow, and thrive, not a place they’re forced to leave behind.

The fight for fair wages isn’t just about economics. It’s about keeping our people home.