Posts tagged Hawaii
Former Honolulu Union Leader’s Wife Headed To Prison For Fraud
March 30, 2023 // A Honolulu woman who was convicted alongside her husband for embezzling from a local union and helping to fraudulently increase membership dues was sentenced on Tuesday to nearly six years in prison. Marilyn Ahakuelo was found guilty in November of conspiracy, wire fraud, and embezzlement from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1260, a shop once headed by her husband, Brian Ahakuelo. She is scheduled to surrender to authorities on May 17. A jury found that as an employee of the union, Marilyn Ahakuelo conspired with her husband to falsify a dues increase vote in January 2015. She also used union funds to pay for travel that had little, if any, union purpose, including first-class flights. Marilyn was one of several of Brian Ahakuelo’s family members who were on the union’s payroll, and she earned over $100,000 a year for mainly clerical work.
Which States Are Best for Remote Workers?
March 2, 2023 // Remote work has proliferated as a work arrangement since the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020. While its popularity has declined since its Spring 2020 peak, remote work remains far more common today than it was before the pandemic (see Figure 1). Research from Nicholas Bloom and others found that last month, nearly 13 percent of workers were fully remote, and an additional 28 percent worked in a hybrid arrangement.
New York’s biggest labor actions of the past year
February 28, 2023 // Only one other state, Hawaii, has a unionization rate higher than New York’s 20.7%. In the public sector, just around two-thirds of New Yorkers are in a union. In 2022 alone, nearly 200 workplaces in the state filed for representation through the National Labor Relations Board. But, despite the hype and a 57-year high in Americans’ approval of labor unions, New York’s union participation (and the country’s as a whole) is still trending downward. In 2012, 23.2% of New York workers were union members, 2.5 points higher than it is today. CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies Labor Department Chair Ruth Milkman said that despite 2022’s historic union victories, many were with small firms. “So all this publicity and media attention to these iconic companies that have had some recent experience of successful unionization, it’s kind of a drop in the bucket in terms of the whole labor market in New York,” she said.
Union says it’s ready to continue negotiations as strike enters third day
February 27, 2023 // The union represents nearly 500 nurses, aides, respiratory therapists, housekeepers, cooks and other workers at Maui Memorial Medical Center, Kula Hospital and Lanai Community Hospital, which are operated by Maui Health. Workers at the three facilities walked out Wednesday and began picketing after voting to reject Maui Health’s final offer. Maui Health has said that it has a contingency plan that includes staffing areas affected by the striking workers. “This staffing is provided through multiple sources with additional assistance available should the strike continue for an extended time,” the hospital operator said. Maui Health did not respond directly to questions of how many workers have been brought in during the strike and who is handling the striking workers’ roles. However, it emphasized again that it is working to make sure patient care continues.
Former union leader found guilty of fraud, other crimes
December 5, 2022 // Hawaii is the Aloha State, but union members of IBEW Local 1260 are not singing a happy tune: A jury found a former union leader guilty of fraud, money laundering, and embezzlement by misusing union dues. Brian Ahakuelo, a former union business manager and financial secretary, was found guilty of 68 charges to fund an extravagant and lavish lifestyle for himself and his family members. Marilyn Ahakuelo, Brian’s wife, was found guilty of 46 similar charges. Brian Ahakuelo placed five of his family members on union payroll, where each earned a six-figure salary, and used $80,000 in union dues to fund travel to Japan.
Former sports anchor, union official sentenced to probation for his role in corruption scandal
December 5, 2022 // Former KHNL sports anchor and union official Russell Yamanoha has been sentenced to two years of probation and was fined $5,000 for his role in a union corruption scandal. Yamanoha, the former assistant business manager for the IBEW Local 1260, was convicted in 2019 for helping rig union votes. Outside of court today, he apologized for the harms he caused. The union rigged the votes to increase membership dues to fund the lavish lifestyle of Yamanoha’s former boss Brian Ahakuelo. Critics said that given his news background, Yamanoha should have known better.
Fighting For Workers Or Fleecing Them? An Ousted Honolulu Union Boss Faces His Reckoning
October 13, 2022 // In court filings, prosecutors describe a brazen abuse of power by a union leader and a stunning display of greed by a man accused of using union funds as a piggy bank for himself and his family. The feds say the family charged numerous personal expenses to the union and, when funds started to dwindle, rigged a union vote to raise dues against the wishes of the members. Ahakuelo and his family members have pleaded not guilty, and he said they all plan to take the stand. “It’s not true,” Ahakuelo said of the criminal charges in an interview with Civil Beat last week. “Some of the stuff will be, maybe, morally incorrect … However, it’s not criminal.”
Opinion: Handcuffing Freelancers Is Bad For Economy And Small Business
June 3, 2022 // Addressing the increasing economic uncertainty, rising inflation, and declining consumer confidence requires a pro-growth economic response from Washington D.C. The right policy focuses on broad-based deregulation to reduce costs on businesses, encourage entrepreneurship, and incent greater economic activity