A support to the teachers' cause

HONOLULU, Hawaii (PIDP/CPIS) — Kini Tokailagi left her native Fiji to seek better teaching and education opportunities in the United States.

She received her undergraduate degree at the Brigham Young University-Hawaii and graduated with a master’s degree in education at the University of Hawaii.

She’s been teaching at Kaunakakai Elementary School on the Hawaiian island of Moloka’i for the past two years and says she loves her job.

But today, Tokailagi finds herself under the hot Hawaiian sun walking the picket lines along with 20 other teachers in her school as part of a statewide strike involving 13,000 public school teachers who are demanding better pay.

“I support the strike,” said the 42-year-old Tokailagi, who’s originally from Tailevu province. “We’re fighting for equity. We need to raise the pay to attract qualified teachers.”

Hawaii is in its 6th day of a statewide strike involving public school teachers and faculty at the University of Hawaii.

This is the first time Tokailagi, who teaches grades first through third, has been involved in a strike. She said it didn’t come as a surprise. Teachers have been working without a contract for the past three years.

Negotiations between the state government and teachers union, the Hawaii State Teachers Association (HSTA), reached an impasse last week Wednesday during negotiations when the union rejected the state’s latest offer for a 14 percent average pay raise for teachers.

The union wants a 21 percent pay raise.

“We’re fighting for a good cause,” said Tokailagi, who taught in Fiji schools for 10 years before coming to Hawaii.

Tokailagi rises before sunrise each morning in order to get to the school before 6:30 a.m. to hold signs on the picket line.

When teachers first went on strike last week, picketing began at 5:30 a.m.

“We get a lot of support from the community,” she said. “They toot their (car) horns and supply us with food and drinks. Many parents are joining us on the picket lines.”

Tokailagi admits the strike will be a financial hardship for teachers. Some have applied for unemployment and loans from the union.

But she said she’ll strike as long as she has to.

“I can hold on,” she said. “It will benefit the kids, teachers and entire state in the long term. I’ll go for it as long as I can.”

Tokailagi is married and has a 7-year-old daughter who also attends Kaunakakai School. Because there are no classes, her daughter stays with a neighbor in the afternoon while Tokailagi pickets.

Still, Tokailagi said she gets paid more for teaching in Hawaii than in Fiji.

“When I tell the teachers back home how much I get paid, they are surprised. They say I’m paid like a CEO,” she said.

Although it’s a difficult time for teachers, Tokailagi said they are making the best of the situation.

She said the strike has been a bonding experience for teachers.

“Picketing is tiring, but it’s good exercise for us,” she said. “The group stays together. We try to have fun and discuss things and try to get to know each other better.”

Like her colleagues, Tokailagi is hoping for a quick and fair settlement between the state and union so teachers can get off the picket lines and return to the classrooms.

Said Tokailagi: “I hope the governor (Benjamin Cayatano) will not just look at the money, but also the good cause – which is attracting qualified teachers and pay equity.”