PARADISE PAGE
Amado I. Yoro

Honolulu-Hawaii—Laborers’ International Union of North America, Local 368 endorsed Ron Menor’s candidacy to become the next congressman from Hawaii Second District. With the endorsement of the Laborers’ Union, Menor becomes one of the first candidates in the race to pick up a union endorsement.

“Senator Menor has been a friend to the working people of our state throughout the 22 years in our state legislature”, said laborers’ business manager and secretary/treasurer Benjamin Saguibo. “When he was growing up Ron Menor worked in the pineapple fields and in the hotels in Waikiki. He has a good understanding of the challenges facing Hawaii’s workers, and he has stood up to corporations and government official who would undermine the gains we have made. As the next congressman from our state, Ron will continue to champion the cause of labor for working men and women in Hawaii and across the nation.”

Menor stated: “this is an extremely important endorsement for me and serves as a foundation on which my campaign will build. For too long, the unions that built our great nation have been subject to hostile forces in our nation’s capitol. Our country and way of life depend on a strong middle class and unions are the bedrock of the middle class”

Menor added: “Since President Bush has been in office, the average hourly wage for rank-in-file workers—who make up roughly 80 percent of the work force—has fallen be 5 cents in the last four years to $16.49, after inflation is taken into account. Attacks on the Davis-Bacon Act by the Bush Administration and similar anti-worker efforts cannot be allowed to continue, and the health, safety and retirement benefits that American workers deserve must be protected”

The Second Congressional District of Hawaii includes the islands of Hawaii, Maui, Kaho’olawe, Molokai, Lanai, Kauai, Niihau, the Windward, North Shore, Central and Leeward parts of Oahu and the Northern Hawaiian Islands.