Friday, March 29, 2024
Hawai'i Free Press

Current Articles | Archives

Sunday, November 8, 2020
A Ham-Fisted Way of Getting Folks Back to Work
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:00 AM :: 3062 Views :: Honolulu County, Labor, Tourism

A Ham-Fisted Way of Getting Folks Back to Work

by Tom Yamachika, President, Tax Foundation Hawaii

Here in the City and County of Honolulu, lots of people are out of work, especially in the hospitality industry.  At some point the economy will reopen, and people will start occupying hotels again.  Then, according to a proposal before the Honolulu City Council, we force the hotels to rehire people to their old jobs.  Or comparable ones. 

The proposal is called Bill 80.  One of its first provisions says, “A hotel employer shall recall to active employment the same number of employees in substantially the same classifications as the hotel employer’s active workforce on March 1, 2020, adjusted by the ratio the occupancy of the hotel bears to 100 percent.  A hotel employer must clean and sanitize every occupied guest room every day and must employ a number of housekeeping employees to ensure that this standard is met.”

The bill then mandates that an employer offer its laid-off employees all job positions which become available for which the laid-off employees are qualified.  Qualified means that the employee held the same or similar position at the enterprise at the time the employee was laid off, or the employee is or can be qualified for the position with the same training that would be provided to a new employee.

The positions the employer would need to offer would need to be in the same classification or job title with substantially the same employment site (with some exceptions), duties, compensation, benefits, and working conditions as applied to the laid-off employee before March 21, 2020.

The provisions in the ordinance could be enforced by private lawsuit, and if the employee wins the employer would need to pay the employee’s attorney’s fees.

So far, the hotel workers’ unions are pushing the bill and are getting individual employees (or former employees) to testify in favor of it.  The hotels are screaming bloody murder.  The bill has been cleared by one Council committee, paving the way for it to receive a public hearing before the Council.

One of the fundamental questions this bill raises is, how far does government power extend?  We as a country brag about the free enterprise system in our economy.  But is it really free when government can dictate who to hire and how much to pay?

We raised concerns about minimum wage legislation which is, when you look at its structure, a prohibition upon hiring unless the employer can pay a certain amount.  The upshot is that employers are given a disincentive to hire.  The same can be said here.  Would hotels really want to reopen if the government shoves hiring decisions down their throats?

There are also sovereignty issues.  Our federal government has a National Labor Relations Act, and the Supreme Court held in San Diego Building Trades Council v. Garmon, 359 U.S. 236 (1959), and many cases since, that the Act displaced state and local power to regulate broad aspects of labor relations.  We also have a State Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, and various statutes that regulate the balance between management and labor.  If those statutes are to have meaning, counties arguably should not have the power to upset that balance.

It seems to us that rehiring and recall decisions should not be made by a government less acquainted with the economic damage that has befallen employers as well as employees.  The weighing of woes, the back-and-forth, and the agreements can and should be made at the bargaining table. 

And while we’re at it, perhaps we should be re-examining other employer and employee mandates, including payroll taxes, to see if they really are necessary or are at an appropriate level, especially when the normal management-labor dynamic has been scrambled by the pandemic.

---30---

Star-Adv Nov 3, 2020: Honolulu City Council Chairwoman Ann Koba­yashi said Monday that she did not schedule a hearing for Bill 80 due to legal concerns. Instead, Kobayashi said the Council will hear Resolution 20-296.

Links

TEXT "follow HawaiiFreePress" to 40404

Register to Vote

2aHawaii

808 Silent Majority

Aloha Pregnancy Care Center

AntiPlanner

Antonio Gramsci Reading List

A Place for Women in Waipio

Ballotpedia Hawaii

Broken Trust

Build More Hawaiian Homes Working Group

Christian Homeschoolers of Hawaii

Cliff Slater's Second Opinion

DVids Hawaii

FIRE

Fix Oahu!

Frontline: The Fixers

Genetic Literacy Project

Grassroot Institute

Habele.org

Hawaii Aquarium Fish Report

Hawaii Aviation Preservation Society

Hawaii Catholic TV

Hawaii Christian Coalition

Hawaii Cigar Association

Hawaii ConCon Info

Hawaii Debt Clock

Hawaii Defense Foundation

Hawaii Family Forum

Hawaii Farmers and Ranchers United

Hawaii Farmer's Daughter

Hawaii Federalist Society

Hawaii Federation of Republican Women

Hawaii History Blog

Hawaii Homeschool Association

Hawaii Jihadi Trial

Hawaii Legal News

Hawaii Legal Short-Term Rental Alliance

Hawaii Matters

Hawaii's Partnership for Appropriate & Compassionate Care

Hawaii Public Charter School Network

Hawaii Rifle Association

Hawaii Shippers Council

Hawaii Smokers Alliance

Hawaii State Data Lab

Hawaii Together

HIEC.Coop

HiFiCo

Hiram Fong Papers

Homeschool Legal Defense Hawaii

Honolulu Moms for Liberty

Honolulu Navy League

Honolulu Traffic

House Minority Blog

Imua TMT

Inouye-Kwock, NYT 1992

Inside the Nature Conservancy

Inverse Condemnation

Investigative Project on Terrorism

July 4 in Hawaii

Kakaako Cares

Keep Hawaii's Heroes

Land and Power in Hawaii

Legislative Committee Analysis Tool

Lessons in Firearm Education

Lingle Years

Managed Care Matters -- Hawaii

Malama Pregnancy Center of Maui

MentalIllnessPolicy.org

Military Home Educators' Network Oahu

Missile Defense Advocacy

MIS Veterans Hawaii

NAMI Hawaii

Natatorium.org

National Christian Foundation Hawaii

National Parents Org Hawaii

NFIB Hawaii News

No GMO Means No Aloha

Not Dead Yet, Hawaii

NRA-ILA Hawaii

Oahu Alternative Transport

Obookiah

OHA Lies

Opt Out Today

OurFutureHawaii.com

Patients Rights Council Hawaii

PEACE Hawaii

People vs Machine

Practical Policy Institute of Hawaii

Pritchett Cartoons

Pro-GMO Hawaii

P.U.E.O.

RailRipoff.com

Rental by Owner Awareness Assn

ReRoute the Rail

Research Institute for Hawaii USA

Rick Hamada Show

RJ Rummel

Robotics Organizing Committee

School Choice in Hawaii

SenatorFong.com

Sink the Jones Act

Statehood for Guam

Talking Tax

Tax Foundation of Hawaii

The Real Hanabusa

Time Out Honolulu

Trustee Akina KWO Columns

UCC Truths

US Tax Foundation Hawaii Info

VAREP Honolulu

Waagey.org

West Maui Taxpayers Association

What Natalie Thinks

Whole Life Hawaii

Yes2TMT