In this episode, we talk to Angela Prigge, who has been a hospitality worker in Hawaii, on the island of Kauai, for 18 years. Angela has lived in Hawaii her whole life, and we talk about her love for her home and her deep family roots there. We talk about how Angela’s grandparents moved to Hawaii from the Philippines, how her father and grandfather worked and lived on sugar plantations. We talk about Angela’s memories of the bakery her mom worked at in Kauai, and we talk about how her parents instilled in her, from a young age, an appreciation for the necessity and power of unions. We also discuss what it was like to witness firsthand the major changes that have happened to Hawaii’s economy, as farming and small businesses gave way to a tourism and hospitality industry that has come to dominate life on the islands. We talk about the ongoing struggles for workers who can hardly afford to live in Hawaii, which has the highest cost of living out of any state in the U.S. And we talk about how Angela, who is on the executive board of her union, UNITE HERE Local 5, and her coworkers are banding together to fight not only for better wages and fair treatment, but for a more dignified and enjoyable life—one that doesn’t completely revolve around work and bills.

Additional links/info below...

• UNITE HERE Local 5’s website
• Hawaii News Now ongoing series, “Priced Out of Paradise”
• Jed Smith, Stab Magazine, “Priced Out of Paradise: The Reality of Gentrification on the North Shore”
• Cultural Survival Quarterly, Issue 24-1, “Problems in Paradise: Sovereignty in the Pacific”

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive)

- Lobo Loco, "Malte Junior - Hall"

- Ayla Nereo, “Waves”

- We Is Shore Dedicated, “Home”

- Monplaisir, “First”