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I'm surprised to be reading all these pro-union posts - I bet the Hawaii State Teachers Association would really disagree with you considering the multi-year fight they just had with the state. We have the same unions you find on the mainland (police, fire, teachers, hotel, airline)
It is a matter of perspective, when you live in a right to work state and the republican candidate for governor's goal is to bust any remaining unions in the state, Hawaii appears union friendly. Or only friendlier that the south, mountain west and Midwest.
According to Bureau of Labor statistics, over 22% of Hawai'i workers are union members, the 4th highest rate in the nation. Historically this strength among Hawaiian unions dates back to the pre-war territorial struggles between workers and owners. The violent Hilo dock strikes of 1939 are an example of the roots of union strength in Hawai'i.
And since the land owners and business owners were Republicans, and controlled the territory until the transition to statehood, the union members aligned with the Democrats, who had historically been pro-union across the rest of the country. And that's the classic split, labor vs. capital, which has dominated Hawai'i's politics for over 50 years. .
One of our former members moved to Maui from Texas, a right-to-work state, to take a government job, and was shocked to find that membership in the Public Employees Union was mandatory and that dues would be deducted from his paycheck whether he liked it or not.
We also have a lot of union members associated with the naval yards... welders and ship builders and such... that a lot of states don't have.
This article nets out the Union history in Hawaii - we have less people in unions than Alaska - Palin's battleground. I don't think we'd ever say Alaska is "liberal".
With 43,000 members, the state Hawaii government has by far the largest membership group.
Open D, Viper who needs a computer when these brahs are around Tiger Beer i respect your opinion. Robin, Iowa, Oregonws and everyone Mahalo for your inteligent posts. Life is good, to learn new things everyday. Aloha keep it up please.
It's hard to comprehend the scope of political stagnation here in Hawai'i. Yes, we may have had a two term Repub governor, but she was by no means in any powerful position. There was an air of independent, common sense about Lingle, but she couldn't accomplish much against the absolute majority of Democrats in senate and house. Their were a lot of protest voters who wanted to see any other face but a democrat as governor.
The few local republicans I read about are more of the libertarian kind; all the other prospective candidates have given up on playing opposition and switched to form a massive democratic-conservative party wing in Hawai'i. So at least they can head a committee, have a political career in front of them.
Transferred to a national scale, our Democratic party would not be an integrating home for a North eastern state or California liberal. But it's not to compare to a dixie-crat of souther mentality a la Lyndon B Johnson either. There's no drive or excitement here about anything really, it's just about holding office, partake in ceremonies, get your lunch paid by a lobbyist, go to Washington for handouts, not offend anyone and be home at 3PM. Smile a lot.
I am not going in lengthy documentation mode with reference links about this. Just take one example: Jessica's Law. HAwaii democrats continuously oppose to protect our youngsters against sexual predators with this effective legal instrument. This is not liberal, this is not conservative. 42 states have it. Not Hawaii. This is to be understood only as encouraging repeat sexual offenders to do more and do it in our state. Again, Hawaiian 'democrats' don't want to offend anyone--not even sexual offenders preying on our keikis.
Is Hawai'i the most liberal state? something to think about if you move there
Re-reading the title, it seems to imply that liberal is a negative. That it's something you really have to seriously consider, if you were to live in such a place. (I wouldn't consider Hawaii as liberal at all, but I wouldn't consider it conservative either).
But, if someone were looking for a conservative part of the country, that also had beautiful beaches and warm weather, you might want to consider the Florida Panhandle.
Re-reading the title, it seems to imply that liberal is a negative. That it's something you really have to seriously consider, if you were to live in such a place. (I wouldn't consider Hawaii as liberal at all, but I wouldn't consider it conservative either).
But, if someone were looking for a conservative part of the country, that also had beautiful beaches and warm weather, you might want to consider the Florida Panhandle.
No that wasn't my intention, no being liberal is not bad. But i was unaware that the last two terms of office for the gov had been a republican. I am always used to Hawai'i being a big blue state. I am from the old Hawai'i i didn't do the research
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Mahalo
Tiger Beer i respect your opinion
. Robin, Iowa, Oregonws and everyone Mahalo for your inteligent posts
. Life is good, to learn new things everyday. Aloha
