In weeks, hundreds of Hawaii’s hotel workers will lose their jobs

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    MAUI, HI (KITV) — Hundreds of Hawaii hotel workers will lose their jobs come Nov. 13, as numerous hotels notified the state Thursday planned mass layoffs.

With tourism as the number one economic driver in Hawai’i, many hotels were forced to shut down or limit operations back in March when state officials implemented the mandatory quarantine for incoming travelers.

A handful of hotels warn that if hundreds of other workers are not back on the job by Jan. 8, they will be forced to initiate more mass layoffs. One of those employees is Maui resident Keola Hinau. He was about to complete a year of working as a cultural specialist at the Westin Nanea Ocean Resort & Villas before being furloughed in March.

Hinau, a single father, says he has been riddled with uncertainty for the past several months–everyday wondering when he can finally return to work.

“It’s pretty difficult, every time there’s a benchmark set, it keeps getting pushed back and pushed back,” Hinau said.

Even though Hinau has been relying on his savings, he says he has had to receive free food baskets and collect unemployment to ensure he can feed his 7-year-old daughter Isabella.

“That’s my worry everyday,” Hinau said.

“It’s like ‘okay, we’re just coming into September, so the rent is paid, so that buys us one more month. How many more months do we have of this.’ Honestly, it’s terrifying thinking, ‘will I be able to keep a roof over my child’s head?'”

Hinau is just one of 116 employees at the Westin Nanea who could be permanently laid off if they are not recalled to work.

“You kinda just wonder, ‘will we be next?’ It’s a hard realization that we could be,” Hinau added.

Another hotel on Maui, the Aston Ka’anapali Shores, filed its own Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) on Wednesday stating it expects to lay off 120 employees by Nov. 13.

Hawai’i Lodging and Tourism Association president Mufi Hannemann said hotels are prepared to welcome back tourists in increments. He is imploring locals to do their part to stop the Coronavirus from spreading so the state can indeed reopen to tourists on Oct. 1.

“What happens this weekend with Labor Day, the three day holiday, could determine whether in fact Oct. 1 is a reality,” Hannemann warned.

“Once again we’re asking everyone to please, yes it’s a three day weekend, and yes the weather is great, but try to please, be cautious, be careful, because we need to open up this economy, we need to put people back to work.”

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