WHEREAS, the State of Hawaii is a place that fosters a unique work environment, which offers our residents an opportunity to work in a variety of different fields; and

WHEREAS, the cleaning and maintenance fields employ many different people, who come from a variety of social and ethnic backgrounds and represent Hawaii's diverse population; and

WHEREAS, the Legislature recognizes the hard and physically demanding work that our office cleaners and custodians do, day in and day out, throughout our island State, with pay that is barely above the minimum wage; and

WHEREAS, these individuals carry out a number of arduous tasks and perform duties such as facilities maintenance, cleaning, and custodial services, which affect the everyday lives of the thousands of individuals using public and private services, facilities, buildings, and historic landmarks on a daily basis; and

WHEREAS, the United States Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the nation's custodians and office cleaners earn an average wage of $8.77 per hour, with Hawaii's custodians and office cleaners faring only slightly better at $9.73 per hour, with the same kind of workers in Honolulu earning less at $9.39 per hour; and

WHEREAS, the State of Hawaii has more than thirteen thousand of these workers, who are part of the twenty million custodial and office cleaning workers nationwide; and

WHEREAS, these dedicated and hard-working individuals contribute more to society than is shown in statistics published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics and are too often taken for granted by the average person; and

WHEREAS, the hard work of these individuals can be seen first hand at the State Capitol, day after day, as they help keep our building clean and beautiful, by doing things from polishing our floors to cleaning our offices and emptying our trash receptacles; and

WHEREAS, residents and visitors alike often comment on the cleanliness, tidiness, and attractiveness of our State Capitol, with many visiting legislators professing that this is one of the country's most beautiful capitols; and

WHEREAS, without these hard-working individuals providing legislators and their staff with a clean and healthy environment in which to work, the legislators would not be able to serve our constituents in the efficient and timely manner that they deserve; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2005, that the State of Hawaii declares May 5, 2005, as Cleaners' Appreciation Day to recognize these hard workers and honor their efforts; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that all legislators and staff are requested to begin demonstrating their gratitude and appreciation for the hard work these individuals perform by saying "thank you" to these quiet workers who clean up after us and recognizing them with gratitude and aloha to let them know that we do notice and appreciate their efforts in keeping our buildings beautiful for themselves, those who work in the building, and all of our people; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, Director of Labor and Industrial Relations, the Comptroller, the Executive Director of Hawaii Government Employees Association, State Director of United Public Workers, President of the Hawaii State AFL-CIO, President of the ILWU, and Director of Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Union Local 5.

Report Title:

Cleaners Appreciation Day;