With their contract with the Sheraton Maui Resort & Spa set to end, union members from Unite Here! Local 5 are joined by retirees and supporters for a sign-waving event along Honoapiilani Highway in Lahaina near the Lahaina Cannery Mall on Wednesday afternoon. “We’re here because our union contract ends at the end of the month,” said union member and Sheraton employee Joyce Tihada, who has worked at the resort for 52 years, starting a year after the hotel opened. She and other sign wavers decried the fact that most workers need to have multiple jobs to survive in Maui’s economy. “We want solidarity, and we think that one job should be enough,” Tihada said. Union officials said about 100 people took part in the sign waving. The event also came on the day that the Supreme Court struck a blow against unions in Janus v. AFSCME, which said nonunion workers cannot be forced to pay union fees. A similar rally in Waikiki drew 1,500 members of Local 5, which represents hotel, health care and food service workers. “The Janus decision is another attack on working families,” said Gemma Weinstein, president of Local 5.

The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photo