Malama market workers on strike

[kalianna]

For those who may not know, the meat and fish workers are in their fourth week of a strike.  I canʻt personally verify these numbers but Iʻve read that those workers earn 40% less than their fellow workers at Foodland and Sack and Save though all are owned by the same company.  If you support the striking workers you can contact CEO Jenai Sullivan Wall at 808-732-0791 and tell them how you feel.

[HiloJulie]

For those who may not know, the meat and fish workers are in their fourth week of a strike.  I canʻt personally verify these numbers but Iʻve read that those workers earn 40% less than their fellow workers at Foodland and Sack and Save though all are owned by the same company.  If you support the striking workers you can contact CEO Jenai Sullivan Wall at 808-732-0791 and tell them how you feel.

Yes, this was discussed in a prior thread a few weeks ago.

It is true.

And the wage difference is 40%. And all stores involved have the same parent company.

What I find amazing is the meat and fish IS NOT 40% less at Malama Market than at Foodland.

Go figure!

[ChunksterK]

If the wage differential is true, then Malama Market not only practices ghetto pricing, but ghetto wages as well.

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

Sometimes workers are paid based on their time with the company.  Foodland Keaau & Sack & Save have been around many more years than Malama.  If a worker at Sack & Save has been with the company 20 years, they probably received raises over that time and will be paid more than a worker with 5 years on the job.  Not saying that’s the reason, but it’s one possible factor.

On the other hand, when I lived on Maui the small Pukalani Foodland had astronomical prices.  I once heard a checkout clerk say their store had the highest profit in the state, even more than the biggest Foodlands on Oahu. 100 paper coffee filters were over $5.  I thought, how much can paper cost?  Then Costco opened and 500 coffee filters sold for $2.50.  So the answer was, paper doesn’t cost that much.

[punikahakaiferret]

I don't have any dates, but the "old" Malama in Pahoa Marketplace sure looked like it had been around a long time, based on the condition of the fixtures, displays, checkouts, gondolas, freezers and coolers. No better than at Kea'au Foodland. The Malama in Honoka'a is no better or newer, looks aged and run-down. Never been to Sack-and-Save in Hilo, nor the other Malama in...HOVE, is it?

But nevertheless, regarding wages commensurate with experience, I just don't know if that holds water.

In any event, I haven't crossed the picket line, and would only rarely shop at Malama, and never for meat, only for the few products they carried I couldn't readily find, but I'm making do without for now. The new Malama looks like a mainland Whole Foods, with the attendant insanely inflated prices to go with it, exponentially increased.

[offgridguy]

Good luck to them. I called CEO Wall but I bet my time would be better spent talking to an actual wall.

[kalianna]

Unofficial good news. I read on a social media site that Malama Market workers got their raise. I haven't found any sites that verify this but I'm hopeful.

[HiloJulie]

I wonder if the meat and fish workers did better on an overall wage package than this one:

Hawai‘i County’s top leadership to get pay raises for first time in 5 years : Big Island Now

[leilanidude]

Unofficial good news. I read on a social media site that Malama Market workers got their raise.
----------
Another reason to raise prices I suppose.

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

Another reason to raise prices I suppose.

If they had high prices while they underpaid their workers, do they need a reason to raise prices?