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Sorry. I should have said, for private companies. Blame your union.
It is no utopia for the average worker, because of that law. That law is the sole reason why so many employers hire people for part-time, 19 hour per week jobs.
You should blame your union for your wages,which are low because of the extra benefits they negotiated for you instead of better pay. In the real world, you would have had 10 days vacation and 5 days sick pay AFTER one year on the job and they are not cumulative and you don't get paid for unused days when you leave or retire. Please remind us, again, how many vacation and sick days you received, immediately upon being hired?
Those are unproductive days for the employer. That is why your pay is lower than what you want.
edit: I forgot that you also get an extra-ordinary amount of paid holidays each year,compared to the rest of the working population.
Why would insurance be any cheaper for employees of private companies?
They didn't negotiate low salaries in exchange for a decent amount of vacation time. It used to be low salaries AND standard crappy American vacation.
And btw, your vision of a utopia where people get crappy time off is the reason I got sick for almost a whole month. Your precious rich businessmen forced their Honolulu hotel employees to work sick.
Hi, all,
I will put this to rest straight from the horses mouth. We are not rich.
Back in 2007 we were young folks that were 8 months pregnant with child #5 living paycheck to paycheck, when God blessed us with a business opportunity to puchase the company my husband worked for. It just so happened we had refinanced our home and had some cash reserve (saving for maternity leave) and was able to jump on it. We make the same amount of net money but are able to work from home without the expense of daycare so that is great! We are middle class. Period. House needs a new roof, bills that need to be paid off, just like the rest of the country. We continue to tithe to our church and are continued to be taken care of with everything we need for us and our 6 children (not on the welfare system). Glory be to God.
Wink, we know the struggles of a middle class family. For example, make too much to enjoy the benefits of free health insurance so in turn pay hundreds of dollars per month in medical fees (for a healthy vegan family), which makes your bank account far worse than those that qualify and are considered "poverty-stricken" by the state's assistance standards. I'm not complaining, I don't want a handout, I am just sympathizing with the problems us middle class folks face.
I am a voter also. I care deeply for the local situation where I'm at and that will not change when my location changes! I am a business owner, every vote effects the number of jobs and payscale we can provide for employees. Every vote effects the education my children receive. Every vote effects my neighbors and friends. I do my homework when it comes to the issues.
The difference that I am richly blessed, by the grace of God we have grown this business opportunity and in 5 years when we are looking to make our move a reality, we will be able to sell our business for a boost in savings. Not to mention selling our vehicles (which will be paid off by then), selling all of our furniture etc. This is all part of our economic plan. I wouldn't say we are rich, rather resourceful. We have great resumes and aren't afraid to work outside of the business while we get it up and running. I may even have telecommuting opportunities from here so as not to take away any job opportunities from the locals.
If we were rich, we'd be there already! We aren't rich, so this is why we have a 5 year plan to get there.
Thank you all for your information. I would also love to hear more about the wedding industry!
We're right with you as the so called Middle Class that is getting smaller as we type/read, it seems.
My husband and I have discussed the very issues you wrote about and prepared ourselves for the move. We're just waiting to lock in our housing situation this weekend, getting the final quotes in to determine what to take/not take .... or heck just two suitcases each. (Not likely by the way!)
It can be done with planning!
Blessings to you and your family. May God shine upon you and have you arrive earlier than your 5 year plan.
I have been following this thread -- the OP's part, anyway -- for a couple of days. I don't know of any C-D posters that are wedding service people, especially here on Maui. (We do have several friends that are involved in various aspects of event management on Oahu, though. So we have a bit of insight on similar businesses.) That said, there are a TON of Maui wedding planners and related service providers. I Googled a little and found not only many pages of links to providers (without duplications), but also an association for the industry.
I do not -- at all -- mean to be discouraging, but one thing that the OP has not discussed is their current experience and familiarity with Maui. If there's one piece of advice I'd press on you, it's to come for a lengthy visit (and research trip) before you uproot and move to the middle of the Pacific.
Two lesser things that occur to me are somewhat related, but different. The first is that learning Japanese might be helpful if you're working with Japanese clients, but it will not necessarily expand your market. One of the first things you will observe about Maui is that things tend to be done in a certain way here. (For better or for worse, so to speak.) Part of it is legal, and part of it is cultural. There are a number of established firms that specialize in marketing to Japanese (and lately, Chinese and Korean) visitors for travel, for events, and for weddings. These providers will be a more likely potential market for you than the couples themselves.
In addition to these kinds of established firms, there is a tradition of "hui," or informal groups of people who work together often. I suspect that this is a very common way of providing full packages of wedding locations, photography, music, services, transportation, etc. Finding your way into one of these can be an extremely useful way of learning how Maui works, although it may mean doing only one part instead of getting paid for the whole pie.
I have been following this thread -- the OP's part, anyway -- for a couple of days. I don't know of any C-D posters that are wedding service people, especially here on Maui. (We do have several friends that are involved in various aspects of event management on Oahu, though. So we have a bit of insight on similar businesses.) That said, there are a TON of Maui wedding planners and related service providers. I Googled a little and found not only many pages of links to providers (without duplications), but also an association for the industry.
I do not -- at all -- mean to be discouraging, but one thing that the OP has not discussed is their current experience and familiarity with Maui. If there's one piece of advice I'd press on you, it's to come for a lengthy visit (and research trip) before you uproot and move to the middle of the Pacific.
Two lesser things that occur to me are somewhat related, but different. The first is that learning Japanese might be helpful if you're working with Japanese clients, but it will not necessarily expand your market. One of the first things you will observe about Maui is that things tend to be done in a certain way here. (For better or for worse, so to speak.) Part of it is legal, and part of it is cultural. There are a number of established firms that specialize in marketing to Japanese (and lately, Chinese and Korean) visitors for travel, for events, and for weddings. These providers will be a more likely potential market for you than the couples themselves.
In addition to these kinds of established firms, there is a tradition of "hui," or informal groups of people who work together often. I suspect that this is a very common way of providing full packages of wedding locations, photography, music, services, transportation, etc. Finding your way into one of these can be an extremely useful way of learning how Maui works, although it may mean doing only one part instead of getting paid for the whole pie.
Best of luck.
You give excellent advice.
The market sounds very similar to here in WA state then (minus the tourist clients of course). I mean it is similar in that it's all about the networking and referrals from other vendors. We are also a part of a wedding and event network (my husband is president of it) similar to the one I found in Maui, Maui Wedding Network. My husband has one of those personalities that makes networking super-easy - people just love him. We would like to continue to do what we do, but we will do anything to provide for our family, so if the market is overly-saturated with vendors already we will blow the dust off of our resumes!
Definitely, we will take several research trips before we uproot. My husband has lived here his whole life, whereas, I have moved as far as the Netherlands before as a kid. Just as we scoped out our current 'hood night and day before committing to buy this house 7 years ago - we will do our research for sure! I promise you that...I don't want to be another one of those tragic transplant stories of those that had on the rose-colored glasses and were disappointed when they came off.
Thanks again for the great tips!
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Financial Rumors ;)
Thank you.
