Federal workers in Hawaii are facing an unprecedented period of uncertainty following a federal appeals court ruling that allows agencies to terminate collective bargaining agreements under executive orders issued by President Donald Trump.
The Aug. 1 ruling directly affects unionized staff at the Hale Koa Hotel in Waikiki, as well as federal employees across multiple agencies including the Transportation Security Administration, the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Defense Health Agency.
Earlaina Samson, 69, has spent more than half a century in federal service. She started her career in 1974 at the Armed Forces dining room at Fort DeRussy before moving to the Hale Koa when it opened in 1975. The hotel is an Armed Forces Recreation Center resort that serves members of the U.S. military, their families and other authorized users. It is totally self- supporting with revenue generated by hotel operations.
Over the decades, Samson, a server at the hotel, became a shop steward and a liaison between management and UNITE HERE Local 5, the union representing hotel staff.
“The changes … I don’t think I can take four more years of not knowing what’s going to happen with the union. It’s scary every day,” she said.
Samson plans to retire next month, citing the uncertainty surrounding union protections as a major factor.
Union representation has long played a critical role at the Hale Koa. Before Local 5 began representing employees there in 2008, scheduling often reflected management favoritism and employees had little input in workplace decisions, according to Samson. Today, she said, departments bid schedules by seniority and employee feedback is incorporated into decisions affecting their roles.
“With Local 5, now every department gets to bid their schedule by seniority. If you’re nonunion, it doesn’t matter. That’s a big difference,” she said. “The union is an important asset to the workers and management. It makes their job easier. Without it, you lose your dignity, you lose your rights, because management can do what they want.”
Nationally, federal employees have expressed similar concerns.
The Hawaii Government Employees Association also has spoken out on the issue, and Executive Director Randy Perreira said the union is actively fighting back against Trump administration labor policies.
In April, HGEA condemned the anti-collective bargaining executive order, warning that it threatened to strip millions of federal workers of their right to organize. A union statement called the order a “blatant abuse of power” by “billionaires and anti-worker extremists running this administration,” and highlighted its potential impacts beyond the federal level.
Lisa Marie Akau, 60, a former TSA officer and national organizer for the American Federation of Government Employees, was laid off from her job in Hawaii on Aug. 1 after 15 years of service. She helped lead a historic 2010 campaign in Hawaii that unionized 45,000 TSA officers across the nation, one of the largest union victories in recent labor history.
“It was the best thing of my life, becoming a union organizer,” Akau said. “It’s about empowering workers, giving them a voice, strength in numbers.”
Akau said the court ruling is already affecting employee morale and daily operations.
“People are frustrated. People are leaving. They’ve lost faith in the union, because … we have a legally binding contract, and we have a government that’s not recognizing it,” she said.
If agencies don’t have enough staff, essential services such as health care and airport security could suffer, according to Akau. Without a contract, she said employees lose basic workplace protections.
The appeals court decision allows federal agencies, including the Department of Defense, which oversees the Hale Koa, to restrict union negotiations. At the hotel, this has temporarily halted payroll deductions for union dues because federal payroll offices have been instructed not to process them.
However, Samson said the collective bargaining agreement continues to be honored on the ground.
“I was supposed to retire earlier, but because of this I’m trying to make sure I’m organizing the employees. In case the day comes we have no union, we will still be strong,” she said.
Samson has been training worker committees to ensure employees can self-organize if union protections are removed.
Beyond Hawaii, the ruling has sparked concern among federal unions nationwide. Akau described a growing sense of fear and uncertainty among AFGE members.
“They’ve done something similar with the TSA. The union was not recognized, even though there’s a legally binding contract. People are scared,” she said.
Union advocates warn that the court ruling, combined with Trump-era directives such as the “Patriotic Hiring Plan,” could politicize federal hiring and workforce decisions. The plan allows political loyalty to play a larger role in staffing decisions, raising concerns that federal employees could become “at-will” workers with diminished protections and recourse in disputes over workplace safety, staffing or pay.
The AFGE issued a statement in April expressing concern that recent developments could undermine the merit-based civil service system and lead to the replacement of skilled professionals with political allies.
U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, has sided with federal workers, saying they “deserve to be able to organize, negotiate fair wages and advocate for better working conditions.”
“While this ruling is a setback, we will continue to do everything we can — in the courts and in Congress — to protect federal workers in Hawaii and across the country,” Schatz said in a statement to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.
For Samson, the uncertainty is a daily reality. While the Hale Koa continues to operate under its existing contract, she said workers are in limbo about future negotiations and union rights.
She also warned that the effects of the appeals court ruling could ripple through all federal agencies, particularly those providing critical public services. Staffing shortages, disrupted grievance procedures and weakened worker protections could affect everything from airport security to veterans’ health care.
Despite the challenges, both Samson and Akau emphasized the need for resilience and solidarity among workers.
“Stay united. Stay strong and never give up on the union, because the union is still there. It’s only when people believe that the union’s gone that it’s actually gone,” Akau said.
Source: The Garden Island
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