Strikes

Hawai`i has to be one of the most unionized states in the nation. In my life I've lived through 3 hotel workers strikes (which affected me because both my parents are/were part of the hotel industry), the 2001 University of Hawaii professors & Hawaii State Teachers strike, one longshoremen/stevedore strike, and most recently, about a month ago--the Bus workers strike.

The 2001 UH professors strike went on for about two weeks, and the public school teachers went on strike for about three, so Hawaii literally had no public education for that whole time as both strikes were going on at the same time. Yes, it was "cool" not having to go to class, but it was a bitch and a half trying to catch up at the end of the semester by going to Saturday and Sunday classes.

The Bus strike went on for a month. It was hell at first to deal with extra cars on the road and carpooling, but after the first week, we all got used to it.

We're a strike-happy state if you want to call it that. Once you hear about an impending longshoreman/stevedore strike, we all know what to do -- we all flock to the stores and stock up on toilet paper and rice.