Star-Bulletin file photo
After the violence of the 1938 strike, strikers seek
aid for a downed colleague.

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Territory of Hawaii
rife with labor strife

Star-Bulletin

Contract laborers who came here from the 1850s through 1900, when Hawaii became a U.S. territory, were governed by the Masters and Servants Act.

But with annexation came the ability to strike for better pay and conditions. Indeed, friction between the monied sugar planters and the laborers under their control sparked dozens of disturbances from 1890 through the turn of the century. A look at some key strikes, according to "A History of Hawaii":

1909: First major strike, lasting three months, it was organized by a Japanese union but involved 7,000 workers from five plantations. Strike broken.
1920: Strike by Japanese and Filipino workers affected all but two of Oahu's plantations. Strike ended without demands met, though some changes occurred.
1924: Involving 23 of the 45 plantations, the nearly yearlong High Wages Movement Strike was violent, culminating with the battle at Hanapepe that left 16 strikers and four policemen dead, and 64 rioters imprisoned, then deported. No demands won.
1937: Maui strike by Filipino workers, the last big strike by a single ethnic group.
1938: Nine unions banded in Hilo in Inter-Island Steamship Company strike; 51 people went to the hospital.
1940: Kauai longshoremen struck in the first inter-ethnic effort; demands lost.
1946: Under ILWU, all sugar workers struck. Wage increases won, and ILWU national chief Harry Bridges declared Hawaii a feudal colony no more.
1949: Six-month dock strike by ILWU devastated isles, causing small-business bankruptcies and food shortages.

Star-Bulletin file photo
Resentment against the "Big Five" emerged in 1949's
dock strike: ILWU President Harry Bridges, left, and
then-AFL official Art Rutledge, right, find humor over
a restraining order -- being read by Deputy High Sheriff
John Young -- against their picket line at Pier 9.

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About this Series The Honolulu Star-Bulletin is counting down to year 2000 with this special series. Each month through December, we'll chronicle important eras in Hawaii's history, featuring a timeline of that particular period. Next month's installment: September 13. Series Archive Project Editor: Lucy Young-Oda Chief Photographer: Dean Sensui