Posted on: Monday, January 14, 2002

ISLAND VOICES
Labor leaders failed in jobs

By Micah A. Kane and Brennon T. Morioka

We agree with Dick A. Ornellas' Dec. 24 Island Voices commentary that began, "Linda Lingle probably stands her best chance ever of becoming Hawai'i's governor next year, and the state's labor community knows it."

Ornellas, a spokesman for Local 5, AFL-CIO, goes on to say, "Before they can defeat Lingle, labor officials will have to persuade their own memberships that union leaders are trustworthy and out to help the members rather than themselves."

Of course, there would be no need for persuasion if union leaders had been doing a good job of serving their memberships all along. They have not.

Both of us come from families with strong Democratic Party and labor union ties. Our grandparents, parents, uncles and aunties were members of both private and public labor unions, some recalling the days they worked in the sugar-cane fields and the pineapple cannery.

Back in those days, the value of unions ran deep in the blood of families because the labor unions and their leaders fought for something important: a better life for Hawai'i's working people.

As labor union membership grew in numbers and developed ties with the newly powerful Democratic Party, the enlarged egos and self-interest of Democratic Party politicians and union leaders (often one and the same), became more important than the working people they said they represented. It was Democrats in the Legislature who proposed taxing workers' pensions.

Too many labor leaders have become an overpaid elite group looking for ways to make themselves richer and more powerful. At the same time, tens of thousands of our families and friends have been forced to move to the Mainland in order to be able to afford a home and send their children to decent public schools.

Ornellas says that "Within 11 months, union leaders statewide must convince tens of thousands of their disenchanted rank-and-file members (and retirees) that the Democratic Party — union officers themselves — did not let down Hawai'i's working people after all." Rest assured that the pre-election threats of increased job loss if Lingle becomes governor and their alleged commitment to Hawai'i's working families will flood the union halls and airwaves this fall. It is the same song and dance union members have heard for the past 20 years.

He is sadly mistaken if he believes that 11 months of rhetoric by overpaid union leaders can erase years of betrayal by union leaders and heal the wounds of what he calls "the Great Democratic Lies of 1998."

Today, it is the Hawai'i Republican Party that truly represents Hawai'i's working families.

Hawai'i Republican Party Chairwoman Linda Lingle was a 22-year-old recent college graduate when she took her first job here as public information officer for both Local 5 and the Hawai'i Teamsters unions. Lingle clearly understands the plight of Hawai'i's working families. In fact, her campaign is made up of hundreds of Hawai'i's working families who have been betrayed by Hawai'i's Democratic Party elite.

Today, at 48, she is about to become a candidate for governor. We have worked closely with her and have come to respect her open style and team approach to problem-solving. We believe she would make a fine governor who would fairly represent all of Hawai'i's people. Most of all, she is a leader we can trust.

So, Mr. Ornellas, why would labor union leaders want to "stop her"? Why would they want to give Democrats another term when they have failed consistently? Why would labor union leaders continue to tell their members that supporting a one-party system would result in a better future for their families in 2002?

If they truly cared for their members, they would get behind Linda Lingle and the Hawai'i Republican Party so that by working together we can make life better for all of the people of Hawai'i.

Micah A. Kane is the executive director of the Hawai'i Republican Party. Brennon T. Morioka is its finance director.