March 2, 2021 The state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations works for the people of Hawaii, but it does not want to see them. Subscribe That's especially true for people who have lost their jobs and want to come to offices to file unemployment insurance or resolve payment issues in person. DLIR director Anne Perreira-Eustaquio is keeping state unemployment offices closed to the public not because of concerns about coronavirus contagion but rather her worry that multitudes of angry claimants might burst in to take out their frustrations on her staff members. Subscribe "You know we would have thousands of people coming down to these very small offices, individuals who are not very happy. They need to be paid," she said in an interview earlier this month with the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. "They are anxious, understandably. They are upset because they have not received their unemployment insurance benefits and it is the safety of the staff because of the crowds. We wouldn't be able to handle those crowds."