Hawaii and International Workers DayThis handout is dedicated to Hawaii's first strike on

Hawaii's first sugar plantation atKoloa, Kauai in 1841.The all Kanaka Maoli workforce was only being paid

"pasteboard scrip"at the measley rate of12 and a halfcents a day. Unfortunately, the strikers were crushed,

but they laid the groundworkfor a rebellious labormovement that was soon to follow.

Also to be recognized are the 2,500 sugar workers thatheld Hawaii's first May Day parade on Maui on May 1st1937, marching four miles from Wailuku to Kahului with

signs that read, "We Want to Work-But We Want

Justice" and "Make This a Workers' Paradise." The lead

organizer of the event, Bill Bailey, left the islands facing adecade ofjail timefor violating the "Criminal Syndicalism

Act."

Included in this handout is "Blood in the fields: TheHanapepe Massacre and the 1924 Filipino Strike" by I

Dean Alegado former UH Ethnic Studies instructor.

*Also featured- Public

Worker battles against

layoffs 2009/2010 and

Kauai Sheraton Workers

take direct action on

"Go Green" initiative

and being treated

"second class" 2/2/2011. ]^AL Ha OLAAT^

International Workers Day

This past May 1st marked the yearly celebration of International WorkersDay, observed all over the world except Wall Street controlled America.

Workers take to the streets to fight for such human rights as livablewages, humane working conditions, free health care for all, affordable

housing for everyone, pensions for all retirees and the basic right to

organize unions that will defend our interests free of employer intimidation.

Here in Hawaii, public school teachers with the HSTA, governmentemployees represented by the HGEA and UPW and hotel workersrepresented by Local 5, have settled in, voted on, are in arbitration or are

ratifying contracts that will improve their living standards. Non-union

workers are denied this democratic right.

Wal-Mart happily does business in countries like Bangladesh where its

workers have no protections. Just recently, over 1,120 mostly women

workers in Dhaka, were crushed to death when their shoddily built factorycollapsed.

Wal-Mart has stood firmly against these workers quest to raise theirwages and to better their working conditions. The garment workers fight

for fairness runs counter to Wal-Mart's demanding attitude of paying for

these goods at the lowest cost possible.

On May 14th, six European clothing contractors signed on to anagreement monitored by independent human rights investigators that

would force the government of Bangladesh and its garment factory owners

to abide by stringent safety standards, and have these same contractors

not conspire with owners to keep costs so low, so that nothing is spent on

employee safety and economic welfare. Wal-Mart refused to sign the

agreement.

And all across the U.S., Wal-Mart is cutting its "associates" hours, trying

to reduce many employees to part-time help so that it doesn't have to pay

them needed benefits. Wal-Mart has set the worldwide template todowngrade the rights of labor.

Hawaii legislators shamed themselves by not voting to increase the

minimum wage. Hawaii's poorest workers long for an increase from thepresent $7.25 an hour to the little more decent $9.00 by January 1, 2017.New York City's workers got an increase because they were organized.

We don't hear the Hawaii Chamber of Commerce, who vigourslyopposed the increase, cry about the 28% jump in Hawaii's top CEOcompensation since 2011, as reported by the Star-Advertiser on 4/21/2013.Bank of Hawaii's Peter Ho got an outrageous 93% increase- he made morethan $3,390,000 in 2012. Working people shouldn't be reduced to beggars;it's time for organization and action.

Ray Catania, Puhi 634-2737 4212 Kole Place, Lihue Hawaii 96766

James Alalem, Wailua 635-0835

"An injury to one is an injury to all."

Mural by

Jean Chariot

on Hawaii

1946 Sugar

Strike led by

ILWU. 28

thousand

sugar

workers

were

involved in

this winning

strike. A year

later 20

thousand

pineapple

workers

joined the

union.

HOW LABOR DAY REPLACED INTERNATIONAL WORKERS DAY

International Workers Day actually had it's start in the U.S.A. On May

1st 1886 in Haymarket Square (Chicago, Illinois), the police fired into a

large and peaceful assembly of laborers, who were organizing forsomething that most of us take for granted, the eight hour day. The

demonstration was considered illegal. Police agents threw a bomb into

the crowd, used this as an excuse to break up the affair, then beat up and

arrested hundreds and killed four workers.

By the next year, "the Haymarket Affair", became an international

event remembered by working people all over the world with it's main

purpose of celebrating the power of workers unitingfor social justice and

world peace. The commemoration rapidly spread throughout the world

with over 80 countries eventally making it a national paid holiday and

many more taking to the streets every May 1st to fight for workers rights.

From the start, it was decried as a "communist inspired" holiday,

attacked viciously by the wealthy, their pals in government and especially

their conservative allies in organized labor thatfeared a revolutionary or

socialist workers movement that calledfor an end to most union's top

down leadership style, and the just redistribution ofsociety's wealth.

The Knights of Labor, and largely conservative craft unions that fought

for white males only, like the building trades, feared democratically run

organizations like the influential anarchists of the Industrial Workers of

the World (IWW), who were uncompromising in theirfight for all workers

no matter what race or nation of origin.

With the help of President GroverCleveland, the conservatives pushed

for the "Labor Day" holiday instead in September of 1887. It must be

mentioned that the powerful slogan, "Aninjury to one is an injury to all",

was first popularized by the IWW.

This history has been effectivelyhidden by our government, media and

the educational system. Instead, we have the trade-off of a tame "Labor

Day". What we now have is a smattering of events organized by unionscalling for "labor unity", where handshaking politicians canfreely roam,and the societal contributions made by organized labor are touted. This

holidayhas been successfully marketed by business as a three-dayweekend sales extravaganza.

This is a time when we can buy new pick-ups on sale at the local auto

dealer, purchase discounted propane barbecue grills at the nearby Wal-Mart, gorge on hot dogs, catch a ballgame, and are reminded by theNational Security Agency, that "freedom isn't free".

BASIC DAMAGE CONTROL

rom Garden Island Newspaper 6/12/2013 Op/ED section

GUEST COMMENTARY

Walmart is doing right byemployees, economy, environment

Ray Catania's and James Alalem's letter (5-28-13) shows they fail to understand somethingWalmart customers and associates already

know; entry-level jobs often lead to bigger jobs. Ouraverage hourly full-time wage for our 4,000 associatesin Hawaii is $14.70 as of January 2013.

As Kauai Walmart's store manager, I've seen firsthand how supportive our company is to associates.I've had the opportunity to build my career right herein Hawaii since starting 18 years ago as an hourly customer service manager in the Kailua-Kona store.

At Walmart, you can climb the ladder from astocker to a department manager to a store managerand beyond. About 75 percent of our store management teams started as hourly associates just like me,and they earn between $50,000 and $250,000 a year- similar to the earnings of firefighters, accountantsand even healthcare professionals.

Not only do our wages and benefits already meetor exceed most competitors, but in the past fiscal yearalone, Walmart associates received more than $1.5 billion in bonuses, $800 million in 401(k) contributionsand $550 million in savings via our 10 percent associate discount.

For these reasons and others, we have more than aquarter-million associates that have been with the company for 10 years or more. Last year we received morethan 5 million applications to come work in our stores.Of those hired last year, 20 percent were rehires, meaning they worked for Walmart, left, but came back be

cause they wanted to work for us again.I am proud to work at Kauai Walmart. The com

pany has given me and the thousands of employeeshere in Hawaii the opportunity to build a career. Seefor yourself at www.therealwalmart.com

Mr. Catania and Alalem also fail to mention that

Walmart had no authorized production in any of thegovernment-closed factories in Bangladesh, includingat the site of the Rana Plaza tragedy.

Walmart believes that workers have the right towork in a safe environment, and companies and governments have a responsibility to help ensure appropriate factory working conditions.

We've taken a number of actions that meet or exceedother factory safety proposals. These include strengthening safety standards for factories, a zero-tolerancepolicy for unauthorized subcontracting, increasedtransparency, and requiring that in-depth safety auditsand remediations be made to every factory directlyproducing product for us in Bangladesh, reflected inthe cost of the goods that we buy.

We also believe there is a need to partner with otherstakeholders to improve the standards for workersacross the industry. Taking part in the development ofa broader safety plan with other brands, retailers andthe Bipartisan Policy Center, building upon our previously announced commitments, is part of that work.

• Crystal Fernandes is the store manager forWalmart in Lihue.

IS WAL-MART DOING ANYTHING RIGHT?

Sorry, Wal-Mart is not doing it's workers, the environment or the economy right.

The two letters below are responses to Wal-Mart's "boilerplate" mutterings in it's

guest commentary by manager Crystal Fernandez in the Garden Island Newspaper on

6/12/2013. They were both submitted but haven't made the paper yet. Nevertheless,

they raise some related counterpoints that need exposure. Both letters were quick

responses submitted on June 12, 2013. Mahalo to both of them.

BY KATY ROSE, formerly of Kauai now of San Francisco

The corporate boilerplate served up byWalmart's Crystal Fernandes doesn't impress me. $14 an hour is not enough to feed my family, even ifWalmartsays that's a decent wage. Butwho cares what Walmartsays? The onlythingthat matters is what we who have to work for a paychecksay. We have to ask ourselves ifwe are gettingwhat we deserve. Ifthe answer is "no,"then we have to ask what we are prepared to do about it.Garment workers in Bangladesh aren't waiting for their bosses to "do the right thing"- they take matters in their own hands and go on strike to winbetter conditions. Walmart warehouse workers in California and others along the supply chain have also taken strike actions to improve their lives.Working people inTurkeyhave recentlyjoinedthe fight. These battles are picking up steam because we understand that multi-billion-dollar profitsfor companies likeWalmart come from one source: the underpaid labor of everyone from the factory worker in Asia to the stocker at the localstore. One of myfavorite historical figures, Big Bill Haywood,said itbest a century ago: "For every dollar the boss has and didn'tworkfor, one ofus worked for a dollar and didn't get it." But Haywood also said that ifwe all "put our hands in our pockets" at once, we would have the bosseswhipped, and that is just as true today as it was back then.

BY KIP GOODWIN, of Kapaa

In response toWalmart store manager Femandes' mea culpa regarding her employer's shortcomiongs ( Walmart doing right by employees, economy,environment, TGI 6/12/13); WhatMs.Femandes fails to understand is thatmost employees of Walmart or anyotherplacedon't aspire to be manager.They simply want toput inanhonest day of dignified work for a living wage, andgo home at theendoftheday free of the cares andstress ofmanagement. Walmart's policy ofpart time instead offull time jobs and unpredictable hours isaninsult to its workers and its miserly entry level pay isawell known scandal.

Worse, companies down thesupply chain, all the way to Bangladesh garment makers, are forced toadhere to theWalmart draconian, survival of thefittest economic template. This says nothing of the carbon dioxide loading up the atmosphere from all the global transportation ofthevast array of stuffyou see at Walmart.

Since Ms. Femandes supports her thesis with big numbers re: bonuses and 401(k) contributions, here's another one. The four heirs to the Walmartfounder are richer than the bottom 40% of Americans. That means the economic vitalityof communitiesall over the U.S., like Kauai, is vacuumed upmaking us poorerand the alreadyridiculously wealthy even richer.

The answer is to define whether youreally need it orjust want it, to buyit locally made if at all possible, anddon't shop Walmart.

. .

cvf low price

SHAPE UP WALMART

Walmart is the richest company in America. It has topped the Fortune 500 list seven times this past decade. Itstotal revenues average S421 billion yearly. IfWalmart were a country itwould have the 25th largest economy inbetween prosperous Taiwan and modern Norway.

Let's get beyond Walmart's phony patriotism and "yankee doodle dandy." CEO MikeDukes pulls down an averageof S35 million a year. Compare this to the nationwide average of its "associates" who only make S10toS12perhour. Yet these bosses have the audacity to cut full-time worker's hours from 40 down to 33, 34 hours a week andstill label it full time.

Walmart can do this because they have working class communities by the throat. Because there is no nationalorganization behind them, the workers are rightfully afraid. For speaking up they can be disciplined or fired. Ifunion organizing goes on, Walmart pulls up and leaves.

They want every associate to just accept it and sigh, "At least I have a job." Well, the slaves had jobs too. Everyworker deserves a decent wage and needed benefits like medical, especially if their employer can afford it Wealso should be able to speak up against any injustice that happens on the job. It's a simple human right

Come on, Kaua'i's politicians, how about calling Walmart and telling them not to cut anyone's hours. Shoppers cando the same. Also, check out online "Walmart workers speak out."

Ray Catania, Puhi James Alalem, Wailua

Graphicfrom DVD "Wal-Mart- the high cost of low price"

from www.walmartmovie.com

Protesters hold upa signcommemorating thosekilled inrecent clothing factory tragedies inBangladesh outside Walmart Stores Inc. headquarters in Benton\Alle, Arkansas, June 5, 2013(Reuters/Rick Wilking)

HUFF

POST

August 13.2013

BUSINESS

OUR Walmart members and others sat in outside Yahoo's annualshareholder meeting on June 24. The workers are targeting Yahoo CEOMarissa Mayer, who is also a Walmart board member, demanding andend to illegal firings. Photo:OURWalmart.

Walmart's War Against Unions -- and the U.S. Laws That MakeIt PossiblePosted: 06/05/2013 3:02 pm

For several years, Walmart's annual shareholders meeting has been the staging ground for high-profile protests against theretailgiants treatment of its employees. As Walmartworkers from across the country - many of whom are on strike - onceagain converge this week on the corporation's headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas, one startling fact stands out: none ofthem, or any of the retail giant's 1.4 millionworkers, are represented by a union.

Walmart's success in keeping its Americanworkforce entirelynonunion is, of course, welldocumented - so much so thatobservers of the company's chronic labor strife almost take it for granted. But even in the context of a long national decline inunion membership among American workers, it is staggering that the country'slargest employer, and one of its stingiest, hasremained union free.

While Walmart contends that its employees have no use for union representation, it stretches credulity beyond the breakingpointto thinkthat no group ofworkersat any ofthe company's morethan 4,000 U.S. stores would choose to organizethemselves into a bargaining unit Afterall, Walmart has become almost as famous for its lowwages and paltry health benefitsas it is for its low prices. And despite the weakened position of unions in the U.S. economy, unionized workersstill enjoywagesthat are 13.6 percent higher on average than those of their nonunion counterparts. Likewise, unionized workers are 28.2percent more likely to be covered by employer-provided health insurance and 53.9 percent more likely to have employer-provided pensions.

So whats the secret to Walmart's "success" in remaining 100 percent nonunion? In short, it's the corporation's thoroughexploitation of our nation's anemic labor laws.

Ina blistering 2007 reportthat sadly still holds true, Human Rights Watchmeticulously analyzed howWalmarthas takenadvantage of the gaping holes in U.S. labor lawto turn back every effort at unionization. For example, because Americanemployers are allowed to activelyoppose union organizingcampaigns, Walmart"bombards workers withthe message thatdisastrous results will ensue ifthey organize, while largely denying them access to contrary views."

Similarly, since national labor law allows employers to permanently replace workers who strike for economic reasons, "Wal-Martuses this threat of permanent replacement as part of its strategy to scare workers into rejecting union formation at its U.S.stores." This message is drummed home not onlyduringorganizing efforts, but also in trainings for new workers, which are partof Walmart's coordinated, pro-active approach to stopping organizing campaigns in their tracks.

Perhaps Walmart's most powerful tool in resisting unionization efforts is the incredibly weak penalties for employers that violatelabor law. There are no punitive awards for labor law infractions, which means that employers - particularly those with theenormous resources that Walmart enjoys —have little economic incentive to obey the law.

Even on the rare occasions when efforts to organize Walmart workers have overcome all these obstacles, the company hasstill managed to prevail. In 2000, for instance, when butchers at a Texas Walmart voted to join the United Food andCommerical Workers Union, Walmart announced two weeks later that it was closing all 180 of its meat counters. In 2004, thecompany went so far as to close an entire store after its employees voted to unionize.

Its not surprising that, given Walmarts determination to remain nonunion and the complicityof U.S. labor law in supporting thisgoal, Walmart workers and their supporters have turned to non-traditional alternatives. The caravans transporting strikingWalmart employees to Bentonville this week are part of this growing movement, which has succeeded in keeping the companyon the defensive about its labor practices. These workers will need every ounce of creative strength they can muster to prevailagainst a system that is stacked against them, and a corporation that has mastered that system.

Real Labor Internationalism

Pacific Beach Hotel workers win 10-yearstruggle for union rights and ILWU contractThe ILWU has called an end to the boycott of

the Pacific Beach Hotel with the signing of the

union contract with Highgate Hotels.It took over ten years, but the workers of

the Pacific Beach Hotel have finally won .union representation and a fair contract. Ittook tremendous courage, dedication andsolidarity from the workers of the hotel,and it took the support and determinationof the ILWU to stand with the workers.

On the afternoon of December 29,

2012 at the Pacific Beach Hotel, instead

of chants and slogans of countless ralliesand demonstrations led by the ILWU,there were cheers, hugs, and high-fives.After more than ten years of struggle, anagreement was reachedon a firstunioncontract for Pacific Beach workers.

For more than a decade, showingup for workat the Pacific Beach Hotelmeant facing eight hours of intimidationand disrespect from management. Theintimidation peaked in 2007 when 31union supporters were fired—includingseven of the ten negotiating committeemembers.

The fight intensifiedA local boycott of the hotel was called

by Hawaii unions, community groups,

and elected officials. At the request of theILWU International, the AFL-CIO placedthe Pacific Beach Hotel on its nationalboycott list. Theboycott wentinternationalwhen union federations in the Philippines,Canada, and Japan also came forward tosupport thePacific Beachworkers. Thesolidarityof unions in Japan—led byZenkowan, the All-Japan DockworkersUnion—was especially critical becausemost of the hotel's guests came fromJapan.

"This fight could not have been wonwithout the strength and determinationof the Pac Beach workers. These workersfaced firings, harassment, and intimidationfor over ten years—but they still stuckwith the ILWU and the ILWU stuck withthem," stated International Vice President-HawaiiWesley Furtado. "But the workersweren't alone. Global solidarity was alsokey to this victory."

Pacific Beach Hotel workers voted to

approve their ILWU contract by nearly aunanimous vote. The new contract givesworkers in non-tipped jobs a five percentraise in the first year and a total increase

of 13 percent over four years. Tippingcategory workers improved and securedtheir tips, and all workers will see majorimprovements in their benefits and jobsecurity.

But Pacific Beach workers did more

than just improve their standard of living.They also built the foundation of a strongunit organization in the hotel to take onthe struggles that lie ahead and negotiatemore improvements in future contractnegotiations.

Virginia Recaido, a 20-year housekeeperand union negotiating committee member,was fired in 2007. She found another better

paying job, but wentback to thehotel aftera judge ordered her reinstated. Why didshe return? "I had to show the company

they didn't win. I don't want peoplewhocome after me to suffer like I did."

Kapena Kanaiaupuni, a bellman withnearly 30 years seniority, is also a memberof the union negotiating committee whowas fired and reinstated. After the contract

was approved,he was approached byimmigrant Korean and Chinese workersexcited about their first union contract.

Differences in languages and cultures hadkept them apart, but the workers' victorychanged that. Kanaiaupuni told them:"Never mind about nationality—we're allone now!"

The article above showcases a real act of labor internationalism from the

ILWU's "Voiceof the ILWU" January/February 2013 issue. ILWU standing

for the International Longshore and Warehouse Union which reflectsgender equity.

Hawaii's local workers not passiveOne often hears in Hawaii from well-meaning transplants, that local

working class folks, especially those of us from plantation history heritage,

are afraid to organize against authority, that we're somehow living in the

passive stupor of a "plantation mentality."

I can still remember one muggy morning as a 16 year old summer hire

picking pineapples in Wahiawa, Oahu, how the truck drivers that took us

to the fields, refused to drive their vehicles that morning. All of us student

hires were told to go home and to waitfor a call to come back to work.

Most of us were very confused as to what was going on, but I can recall,

even though I didn't comprehend it then, the angry verbal exchanges that

the drivers were leveling at their supervisor. Not everyone received calls

that afternoon telling us to report back to work the next morning.

Upon returning, we "lucky ones" learned the work refusal had to do

with not all of the union seasonal hires being called back. The drivers

wouldn't work until they were. The minimum wage back in 1966 was $1.40

an hour and we student hires from Leilehua and Wailua High School were

a big time bargain. I workedfor Dole Pineapple for a summer and a spring

break. Almost every kid in the neighborhood picked pine during the

summers if he was old enough. The town kids packed sliced pineapples at

the Dole Cannery. Igot used to it after the first week, but for a lazy kid likemyself who was full excuses, it felt like torture, and I couldn 't understand

how people worked like this their whole lives.

My parents took most ofmy pay, but left me enough to buy school

supplies, a concert ticket to see the Rolling Stones and those goofy bell

bottomed jeans from LibertyHouse that I was crazy about. Today, the

mighty plantation system no longer exists.

Not till the early 1970's did Ifinally figure the refusal incident out.

studying Hawaii's labor history in the University of Hawaii's (UH) Ethnic

Studies Department.

At the time, there were veryfew Filipinos and Polynesians going to UH, I

was one of the few Filipinos going to college, and I was only half. The onlyFilipino college instructor Iever had was some brooding and sarcastic

assistant named "Omar"in the Hawaii Labor History class, being taught

by some fiery Indonesian named Ahmad, who had witnessed the massacre

of ethnic Chinese and the violent attacks on the student and worker

movements in his country of Indonesia during the 1960's.

Whenever these guys ranted, they had the nerve to call it "lectures",

one could vividly imagine the slave master's mansion going up in flames.

With all respects to movie producer Quentin Tarantino, their class was the

original version of "Django Unchained", with Ahmad being the abolisionist

Dr. King Shultz and Omar unleashed as the avenging Django Freeman.

On several occasions, Omar would mention the only time one would see

"brown folks" at UH was at night cleaning the toilets. Ihung out with him

one night verifying his claim.

The following 2 articles showcase how workers on Kauai have

challenged the so-called "plantation mentality" misconception and won.

^syftiHThis photo as well as

front cover from

ILWU led sugar strike

of 1946 covering 33 of

34 sugar plantations.

This parade shows

"union guards" to

protect strikers from

any potential

violence. Both

photos from Anne

Rand Library,ILWU

San Francisco.

Graphic on top page

of this essay done bymuralist Jean Chariot

from University of

Hawaii collection.

Mural depicts the all

important power of

labor connected and

united, from the

intellectual to the

physical.

THURSDAY- FEBRUARY 3.2011 • ONLINE: WWW.THEGARDENISLAND.COM

Employees picket Poipu resort overbenefits

Photos by Dennis Fujimoto/The Garden Island

Above: WhenLocal 5 employees at the Sheraton Kaua'i.showed up to work withthese two buttons Wednesday, they weresent home, sparking a rescheduling ofpicketing plans at the Po'ipu resort.Top: Angela Prigge, a housekeeping clerk at the Sheraton Kaua'i, leadsMgroup ofpicketers on the sidewalk fronting the Ocean~Lobby, Wednesday. r

Labor dispute includesright towear buttons

Dennis FujimotoTHE GARDEN ISLAND

PO'IPU —Buttons, benefits and green initiativeswere at the heart of a labor dispute involving about 230workers Wednesday morning at the Sheraton Kaua'i.

"We went to work and wore our unionbuttons that

we're allowed to in our contract, but were sent home,"said Angela Prigge, a housekeeping clerk. "Every otherSheraton employee is allowed to wear the buttons under the contract, but on Kaua'i they changed the policyin the last two months."

Chip Bahouth, the Sheraton Kaua'i general manager,collected his department heads and made offers of coldwater to the picketers, although the offer was refused.

"Our ability to provide a world class experience forour guests is made possible by the hard work and spiritof aloha of our associates, who are an essential part ofour 'ohana and the lifeblood of our business," Bahouthsaid in a statement. "We intend to work directly withthe union to resolve this issue as quickly as possible to

See Picket, A5

Continued from Al

minimize any impact on ourassociates, our guests and

•our community.''Prigge said the workers'

are tired of being treated as''second-class citizens."

"I'm here because of our

treatment on Kaua'i as sec-.

ond-class people," she said."They have a green programthat made housekeepingpeople lose benefits andhours of work. That wasstopped on the other islands, except Kaua'i."

Cade Watanabe, repre- .senting Local 5, said in aphone interview that thegreen initiative involvedguests being able to optout of having their roomsserviced in lieu of cash options. That program wasstopped at all the Starwoodproperties except onKaua'i.. . "The rooms get dirty,"said Isaac Silva of the

Sheraton Kaua'i culinarydepartment. "The contractis not over and yet they'recutting everything." .

According to several ofthe Sheraton Kaua'i work-

ers, when they reported to

work with two union but

tons, they were sent homeby the general manager.

Workers in the houskee-ping, food and beverage,culinary, bell, front desk,-and engineering were involved in the directive.

"That's about 95 percent of the Sheraton Kaua'i

workers," said Justin Jansen,a Local 5 representativewho met with the workers

at Anne Knudsen Park inKoloa after they were senthome.

During the renovationwork at the Sheraton Kaua'iwhich started recently, oneof the areas involved is thecustomizing of food services and the hotel menu.

"This involves between

40 to 50 people in food.and beverage," Watanabesaid. "Some of these peoplewill find other jobs duringthe renovation period, butthere will be about 15 to 20

people who won't be able-tofind jobs and will be leftwithout medical coverage."

Watanabe said Starwood,a management company,was faced with a similarsituation during the redevelopment of the PrincessKa'iulani hotel on O'ahu. In

that case, Starwood coveredthe employees' benefitsduring the work.

Watanabe added thatStarwood should cover the

anticipated seven-monthlayoff period for SheratonKaua'i workers.

Kerwin said he feels the

issue of the buttons is amisinterpretation of the'language in the contractbecause other Starwoodproperties are allowing itsemployees to wear morethan one union button.

Watanabe said the Sheraton Kaua'i workers' contract expired June 30, 2010,and Local 5 is in the midstof negotiations for a newcontract.

He said there was an

informational picketscheduled for 4:30 p.m.,Wednesday, but after theworkers were sent home,the schedule for picketingwas moved up to 1p.m. andwas set to run until 5 p.m.

"We've already had employees who have had theirhours cut," Silva said. "Theykeep changing things.We understand about therenovations, and we all like

.move forward, but I don'tknow what to do already."

«"«*A

The

Garden island

"You really forgot your workforce," said

Priscilla Badua, a state employee for 39

years. "I cannot believe you're supporting

this plan. Give me a break."•

820 Scattered Clouds

DHS workers brace for another

round of layoffsClients launch protest strategy

Photos by Paul C. CurtisfThe Garden Island

Protest signs line a fence outside the Kaua'i WarMemorial Convention Hall in Lihu'e Thursday at ameeting of the Governor's Council of NeighborIsland Advisers.

Photos by Paul C. Curtis/The Garden Island

Anne Punohu of Kalaheo, standing left, one ofseveral dozen clients Gf the state Department ofHuman Services attending a public meeting at the

Kaua'i War Memorial Convention Hall in Lihu'e

Thursday night, has organized other DHS clients onKaua'i and said a federal lawsuit is beingconsidered should DHS go ahead with a plannedreorganization that willsee workers lose jobs andsome Kaua'i offices closed. She said the state 'war

on the poor" penalizes beneficiaries with little or nomeans to Tight back.

Posted: Friday, February 25, 2010 11:45 pm

Paul C. Curtis - The Garden Island

LIHU'E — Not long ago, state workers experiencedoffice-shuffling when some of their colleagues lost jobsthrough reductions in force late last year.

Now, some of those same state Department of HumanServices employees on Kaua'i are readying for evenmore cuts that seem likely to also include closure ofcertain Kaua'i DHS offices.

Penny Rubio, an income maintenance worker in theDHS Kapa'a (East) office of the Benefit, Employmentand Support Services Division, is at the same timeworried that her job and office are targeted for closurewhile also concerned for low-income clients who

depend on the face-to-face contact to start or keepnecessary financial benefits flowing.

How is a person who signs her name with an "X"because she can't read or write supposed to navigate amechanized system that may soon require her to dealwith state DHS workers via fax, phone, or computer,Rubio asked Thursday night at a public meeting todiscuss the planned DHS reorganization.

"Those people are going to fall through the cracks." saidRubio, who said she has been told by a supervisor thather position willbe eliminated, and her office closed, inthe DHS reorganization.

State DHS Director Lillian Koller, Deputy Director HenryOliva and consultant Sandie Hoback said at least one

Kaua'i office will remain open for face-to-faceinterviews, though most of the other initial claimsprocessing workers will all be in either Honoluluor Hiloon the Big Island at proposed new Eligibility ProcessingOperations Division centers.

Few specific details of the plan were available at theGovernor's Council of Neighbor Island Advisorsmeeting at the Kaua'i War MemorialConvention Hallin

Lihu'e Thursday night, but Friday Kollersaid 31 DHSoffices statewide would close, and 230 DHS positionswould be eliminated, in the reorganization she says willincrease efficiencies for all involved, save the statemillions of dollars, and move the DHS system into thepresent century.

"We cannot get out of this hole by cutting," said stateRep. JimmyTokioka, D-Wailua-Lihu'e-Koloa, addingthat the reorganization is'not a good idea."

Clients and employees of DHS on Kaua'i Thursdaynight saw things differentlyfrom the DHS leaders and

"I think that takes the 'human' out of 'human services,'" said Linda Shigeta, a DHS worker for 18 years who addedthat she doesn't think the planned DHS reorganization will comply with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act.

"This is not being accessible."

Around 60 people attended the meeting.

Hoback and Oliva said the reorganization should "create enormous efficiencies," and that the current system issimply not fiscally sustainable.

The new system planned to be patterned after a similar Florida reorganization would be "very efficient, veryaccurate, and allow the whole system to become very efficient," said Hoback.

Itwould also provide more options (fax, e-mail, computer, telephone) to enter into the system, she said.

"I'm not somebody that doesn't understand bottom line,' said Lihu'e attorney Michael Ratcliffe, acknowledging thata one-hour, face-to-face interview is inefficient, "but for some that's all that works."

"No more layoffs, no more furloughs, and no more client suffering,"said Raymond Catania, a DHS worker whosurvived the first reduction in force.

"Without face-to-face (interviews), you're asking for fraud," said Anne Punohu, of the Kaua'i DHS Clients Coalition,adding that clients without access to telephone, fax or computer will have a difficult time communicating with DHSworkers.

"It's definitely not client-friendly," said Punohu, like other clients also concerned about the loss of "terrific"DHSworkers.

The DHS recently announced consolidation of offices and positions involving determination of eligibilityfor certainstate financial and medical benefits to low-income and otherwise challenged residents.

The DHS fact sheet on the proposed establishment of the EPOD indicates two centers, in Honolulu and Hilo on theBig Island, where centralized processing of applications would take place.

Details of the plan indicate that several current DHS offices on Kaua'i might end up closing, with several positionseliminated or moved off-island as a result, leaving just a "south" office to serve the entire island's client baserequiring face-to-face contact.

The plan so far has not been warmly received by the workers' union, the Hawai'i Government EmployeesAssociation, nor affected employees or clients.

Rubio, who works in the first-to-work and child care unit's East income maintenance unit in Kapa'a, which may beclosed in the reorganization, worries both about her job and her clients, she said.

"Of course I'm concerned about losing my job," said Rubio, who with five years of stale employment might nothave enough seniority to supplant or "bump" another state worker witti fewer years of service.

"I'mconcerned about my clients," includingone elderly woman who comes in every year to have Rubio help fill outher paperwork necessary to keep her benefits flowing or the homeless person who has no access to a phone, faxor computer.

"We offer them a kind face, a kind voice."human "contact. They're used to the old way"of face-to-face interaction,said Rubio.

"They're not used to change," or leaving a telephone message with a call center and not knowing when the call willbe returned.

Rubio said she has been told by supervisors that her otfice could be closed as early as July 1, and that she wouldlikely lose her job in the process. "I'm kind of lower on the totem pole," said Rubio.

Judy Lenthall, executivedirectorof the Kaua'i Food Bank, said she has twofears: the new system won't beimplemented, leaving the existing, broken status quo; or the new system will be implemented but not correctly.

"Both of them scare me to death. That's not good enough for Hawai'i."

A DHS client said someone who applies for food stamps appears before a DHS interviewer, and through theprocess of the face-to-face interview it becomes clear the client is eligible for services in addition to food stampsand the appropriate referrals are made, under the current system.

"It's a very personal issue" that can't be totallyaccomplished via computers or other electronic means, she said.

When you get it right it helps. "When you get it wrong a lot of people suffer,"said another client.

"Youfolks are taking away the human element." said Janice Shitanaka, a DHS worker for 26 years. "It's so sadbecause clients are powerless. It's an injustice.

"I pray that this does not go through because you're going to be hurting thousands of people in Hawai'i."

"Youreally forgot your workforce."said Priscilla Badua. a state employee for 39 years. "Icannot believe you'resupporting this plan. Give me a break."

UBLIC UMPLOYEES

WORK FOR YOUEVERYDAY

NO LAYOFFS!!

State workers brace for uncertain

future

Story

Posted: Thursday, July 9, 2009 12:00 am

By Coco Zickos - The Garden Island

KAPA'A — Still faced with the possibility of layoffs, state employees on Kaua'i are nervous about the future of theiremploymenL

Raymond Catania of the state Department of Human Services, along with co-workers, have been glued to everymedia outlet, concerned with how they will make ends meet if they lose their jobs.

"Workers are very worried," he said. "They're scared because where are they going to find work?"

With the island's unemployment rate reaching 10.3 percent in May. finding jobs has become a difficult feat It tookHawai'i job seekers an average of 22.7 weeks to find a new job, according to May data from the federal CurrentPopulation Survey.

"I really feel it's important for state and public workers to make their plight known to the rest of the community — tolet them know that what happens to us. happens to a lot of working people. It's not an isolated thing," Catania said,explaining that, economically speaking, layoffs would have a negative trickle-down effect

After calling last week's announcement that Gov. Linda Lingle's furlough plan was blocked in court a "victory,"Catania said she is now "threatening" employees with potential job losses in order to help relieve budget deficitsand has not offered much room for negotiation in the meantime.

"The state has a take-it-or-leave-it kind of an attitude," Catania said.

Unions are blaming Lingle and her chief labor negotiator of "bad faith bargaining," the Associated Press reportedWednesday

United Public Workers reportedly submitted a prohibited practices complaint Tuesday with the Hawai'i LaborRelations Board, contending that state Human Resources Development Director Marie Laderta engaged in unfairbargaining on Monday by abruptly leaving negotiations on new contracts with four state worker unions.

The complaint also apparently asserts that Laderta canceled talks on June 25 and refused to meet last Friday.

Laderta argued Tuesday the state did not cancel the June 25 meeting and the talks last Friday were neverconfirmed.

In addition, Laderta and Lingle have said they will not participate in talks until the unions submit their own formalproposal.

"Lingle is not serious about negotiating with our unions," Catania said. "We want to discuss more. We want thestate to be serious and sit down with us and help alleviate this crisis."

He said his ideal situation would be finding other ways to cut government spending rather than employee furloughsor layoffs.

An estimated 2,500 individuals or more could potentially lose their jobs statewide and it's hard to say at this pointwho or what offices would be affected, though Catania said it will likely be based on seniority (duration ofemployment).

Union workers are typically required to get 90 days notice, he added.

"Employers have to make an attempt to find work for those employees," Catania said, noting his experience withsimilar situations in the past.

"We dont really know how her system willwork," he said, but hopefully Lingle will "sit down at the table and do theright thing."

• Coco Zickos, business and environmental writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 251) orczickosrSkauaipubcp corn

• 2013 Thegardenisland.com. AJI rights reserved This material m3y not be published, broadcast, rewnllen of redistributed.

State workers protestlayoffs

Posted: Wednesday, July 22, 2009 12:00 am

feMLE

V

People, several of whom were recipientsof the state layoff notices, take theirdispleasure to the streets with a lunch-hour sign-waving campaign outside theKapa'a Library. Paula Schultz, a stateemployee of 15 years, right, is one of thestate workers who received a layoffnotice. Next to her, Iwalani Kaauwai-Herrod, a supervisor, said herdepartment received seven notices.Photos by Dennis Fujimoto/The GardenIsland

m

(Correction: Original photo by

Dennis Fujimoto, but it mistakenly

identifies Paula Schultz, a nurse and

Family Support Worker, and a state

employee at that time of 15 years,

for retired DHS Social Worker

Janice Askenazy. Both of them were

very passionate fighters in this

struggle.)

In late 2009 the Gov. Lingle Administration began layoffs of public workers, with the Department

of Human Services (DHS) taking the brunt of the attacks. Unfortunately, determined and

outspoken resistance by the Hawaii Government Employees Union (HGEA) was not able to stop

the elimination of over 900 HGEA positions. Republican Lingle and her business supporters

successfully turned large sections of the community against the workers. Eventually, the public

began to turn against Lingle when she started enforcing public school closures or "furlough

fridays." She could conduct austerity measures on public workers, but ignited an outrage when

she picked on our children.

In early 2010, her next attack ended in failure. Although a number of DHS service centers were

closed, we were able to beat off any more layoffs. Unfortunately today, the workload has

increased for the hard pressed clerical staff that is left.

What helped the workers the second time, was more community support from DHS clients

themselves, led by recipients like Ann Punohu of the DHS Clients Coalition and homeless

activists like John Zapalla that leafleted the homeless on the beaches encouraging them to call

Gov. Lingle and get involved.

Other community supporters like the Kauai Alliance for Peace and Social Justice did sign

holdings and put up huge wooden signs around key intersections in the Kapaa and Lihue areas

declaring how important public employees are to the overall community. We also had critical

support from Democratic Party legislators like John Mizuno who understood how the economic

stability of the community would be severely disrupted with the lost of decent paying jobs. It

should be remembered that his political support and the support from any politician can only

happen when people are organized and direct the struggle themselves.

UBLIC EMPLOYEES

WORK FOR rOUEVERYDAY

NO LAYOFFSI

V

r ibiooci in ie rieias: i ne

Hanapepe MassacreAnd The 1924 FilipinoStrikeNovember 26, 2012 / Dean Alegado

Pablo Manlapit, labor leader and self-made lawyer, couldn't be stopped byarrests, intimidation and exile.

(Courtesyof Filipinas Magazine)

n Sept. 9,1924, striking Filipino workers from

the Makaweli plantation in Hanapepe, on the

Hawaiian island of Kauai, armed themselves with

guns, knives, rocks and clubs and plunged headlong

into a bloody confrontation with the police. What

came to be alternately known as the Battle of

Hanapepe and the Hanapepe Massacre was only one

of several dramatic battles that shaped the

relationship between labor and capital in the state of

Hawaii. And Filipinos figured centrally in almost all

of them.

Between 1920 and 1940, Filipinos, making the greatest

sacrifices, led the struggle of Hawaii's working class

for the democratic right to belong to a union and for

an end to racial discrimination and the feudal

practices of plantation bosses.

When Filipinos first arrived in Hawaii at the turn of

the century, they found a colonial backwater

dominated by a small elite of (white) businessmen

whose corporations were known as the BigFive—

Castle & Cooke, Theo H. Davies, Alexander &

Baldwin, C. Brewer and Amfac.

The Big Five controlled the islands' economy andpolitics, following the overthrowof the HawaiianKingdom and annexation by the UnitedStates in1898. At the bottom of society were the masses of

immigrants andHawaiian laborers who produced thewealth of the islands.

Theplantationsystemwas sharply divided notonlyalong class lines, but also along race and nationality.TheHawaii Sugar Planters Association (HSPA)skillfully practiced divide-and-rule by deliberatelyrecruiting workers of different nationalities and races,and abettingcultural and linguistic differences byhousing workers in segregated camps: Pake (Chinese),Japanese, Podagee (Portuguese), Spanish and Filipino.Work assignments and wageswere often determinedby race.

By the 1920s, the Chinese, Japanese and Koreans —who had suffered bitter defeats in earlier strikes —

were leaving plantations for better jobs and payinHonolulu and other big towns, or migrating to theU.S. mainland. To make up for the loss of workers,

the HSPAencouraged the immigration of more than100,000 Filipinos to Hawaii between 1910 and 1932.

Oncethe Filipinos arrived, they were distributedamong40HSPA-affuiated plantations on the islandsof Kauai, Oahu, Maui, Molokai, Lanai and the Big

Island of Hawaii, drastically changing the ethnic

composition of the plantations. In 1915,Filipinosconstituted only 19 percent of the work force, the

Japanese, 54 percent. By 1932,only 19 percent of the

plantation workers were Japanese and nearly 70percent were Filipino.

Most Filipino workers were from the Ilocos provincesand the Visayan islands. Between 1916 and 1928,

HSPA labor recruiters brought 66,436 FiUpinos to theislands. Of this number, 37,114 (about 60 percent)came from the four Ilocano provinces of IlocosSur,IlocosNorte, Abra and La Union; 17,799 (or about 27percent) originated from Cebu, Bohol,Leyte and

Negros. About 8,525 reported that they came from

Pangasinan and Tarlac. The rest came from 35 other

provinces.

"The Hanapepe Massacre was only

one of several dramatic battles that

shaped the relationship between

labor and capital in the State of

Hawaii."

HSPA labor recruitersin the Philippinesconsciouslyselecteduneducated workers of peasant origins. Aslate as 1930, seven out of ten Filipino plantationworkers could neither read nor write. Recruits

suspected ofhaving even slight schooling were

systematically screened out by the HSPA as potentialtroublemakers.

Most of theearly Filipino immigrantswereyoungmen who came without parents, wives or children.

From1920 to 1930, the HSPA brought in 65,618Filipino laborers, while allowing 5,286 women and3,091 childrento accompany the men. The Filipinomale to female ratio was almost 14 to 1.

The social handicaps of the early Filipino immigrantsmade them ideal candidates for the most arduous and

monotonoustasks,such as hoeing, planting andweeding duringcaneplanting and cutting,hauling,loading and flurning during harvest. Their livesrevolvedaround the 10-12 hour work day and thefactory mill whistle.

It didn't takelong beforethe first wave of Filipinoimmigrants, like the other nationalities before them,

began to rebel against the social and economic

conditions they found in paradise.

BLOOD-UNIONISM

HSPA's divide-and-rulepolicy resulted in ''bloodunionism" amongthe various ethnic groups. Eachgroup—the Chinese, Japanese, Portuguese,Hawaiians and Filipinos—fought the plantationbosses separately and without coordination. All

strikes prior to the establishment of the International

Longshore and WarehouseUnion (ILWU) in the

1940s ended in tragic and costly defeat for the

workers. The exception was the strike of Filipinos onMaui in 1937led by Vibora Luviminda, the last of the

racially-based unions in Hawaii.

Between1920 and 1940,Filipinos organized 12 strikesagainst the sugar barons. The most dramatic and

bloodiest of these occurred in 1920,1924 and 1937.

The most important historical figure in Hawaii's

Filipino community before World War II was Pablo

Manlapit, the founder of the early Filipino labormovement.

Unlike most Filipino workers, who were Ilocanos or

Visayan, Pablo Manlapit was a Tagalog. Born in Lipa,Batangas, Manlapit was five years old when Jose

Rizal, the Philippine national hero, was executed by

the Spanish in 1896and eight years old when the

Philippine-American War began in February 1898.

Manlapit came to Hawaii as a 19-year-old in 1910. He

had completed grade school in the Philippines but

was somehow able to convince labor recruiters that he

was a suitable worker. He was assigned to a

plantation on the island of Hawaii but was soon

dismissed. He moved to the town of Hilo, where he

started two newspapers and ran a pool hall. Later, he

moved to Honolulu and worked as a salesman and

stevedore.

Manlapit becamean interpreter and janitor in a legaloffice, where he studied law. In 1918, he qualified as a

DistrictCourt Practitioner, becoming the first Filipino

lawyer in Hawaii.

A labor historian wrote that Manlapit was "aneloquent agitator, but an incapable administrator."For all his faults, Manlapit hadcharisma, and elderlyFilipinos still speak of him with awe and respect.

A plantation-era house

Mestizo-looking and tall for a Filipino-he was sixfeet tall-Manlapit tirelessly represented Filipinoworkers intheir grievances against their employers,becoming enormously popular among Filipinosthroughout the territory. He also drew the attentionand hatred of the HSPA.

In1919, Manlapit traveled from island to islandrecruiting members into the Filipino Labor Union(FLU). In 1920, Manlapit and Japanese labor leadersformed the Higher Wage Movement. Following theHSPA's rejection oftheir demands for better wages,improved working conditions and equal pay for thesame work regardless of race and sex, Manlapit and

the Japanese labor leaders asked their respectiveunions to strike. It was the first time unions

representing different nationalities united in a jointstrike with a common demand.

Filipinos and Japanese workers left the fields and keptthe millsidle in Waipahu, Waialua, Ewa,Kahuku andWaimanalo. At the height of the strike, the HSPA'shired goons evicted more than 12,000workers fromtheir plantation housing.

But the strike was broken when Manlapit suddenlypulled the Filipinos outofit due to an apparentdispute with the Japanese leaders. The HSPA took

' advantage ofthesplitby spreading rumors andintrigues to demoralize the strikers.

The first interracial strike in thehistory ofHawaiilasted three months, with the HSPA spending severalmillion dollars to crush it. The defeat dealt a severe

blow to the Japanese union, and it would be another

20 yearsbefore it would again play a centralroleinHawaii's labor movement.

THE HIGHER WAGE MOVEMENT

After, the defeat of the 1920 strike, Manlapit started anew labor organization with the help ofGeorgeWright, later to become the English editor of theHawaii Hochi, the Japanese community newspaper.The HSPA had Manlapit thrown in jail twice andmadeit difficult for him to practice law.Undaunted,

Manlapit continued visiting various plantations toforge the Filipino Higher Wage Movement.

The Movement petitioned the HSPA in1923 for a $2-a-day, 40-hour work week and an end to abuses. TheHSPA ignored these demands. Manlapit appealed tothe colonial Philippine government tosend a laborcommissioner to investigate the working conditionsinHawaii and to mediate between the planters andtheFilipino workers. Governor General LeonardWood appointed former Ilocos Norte governorCayetano Ligot as special investigator.

Escorted by HSPA officials, Ligot paid token visits toseveralplantations. In an authoritativestatementonthe situation of Filipino laborers in Hawaii, Ligotblamed theFilipinos themselves for their troubles.They were too unstable, said Ligot, and had fallenprey to parasitic gamblers and con men who snuck

into theplantations todisrupttheir otherwisepleasant situation. Management, he said, was doingits best to provide wholesome working conditionsand decent wages. He urged his compatriots to givetheir services wholeheartedly to the plantations tobring honor to the Filipino people. Ligot concludedhis report by attacking the activities of Filipino laborleaders, especially Manlapit.

Ligot was only one ofmany labor cornmissioners sentby the colonial government in Manila who wouldwork hand in glove with the HSPA against theinterest of Filipino workers. While Ligot was

discouraging Filipino workers from fighting to getmore than their $20 a month wage, his reportincluded arequest to increase his monthly salary to$250. Ligot's subservience earned him notorietyamong Filipinos in Hawaii. Filipino old-timers stillspeak jokingly of "mistake Ligot" when somethinggoes wrong over matters which they have little or nocontrol.

THE 1924 HANAPEPE MASSACRE

In April 1924, one month after Ligot's report wasmade public, Manlapit called on all Filipino workersto walk out and strike. Twelve thousand Filipinosfrom 23 of the 45 plantations went on along, violentand tragic strike that would last eight months.

Thestrikewasdoomed from the start. TheHSPAagain employed its time-tested weapon ofdivide-and-rule. This time they pitted Filipinos againstFilipinos-Ilocanos against Visayans. Ilocano laborerswererecruited fromthe Philippines as strikebreakers.The tragic scene ofstriking Filipino workers and theirfamilies being evicted from their plantation-ownedhouses and replaced with newly arrived workersfrom the Philippines was repeated throughout theislands.

Thousands ofstrikers pitched tents nearbeaches andsugarcane fields. HSPA agents set up an elaborate spynetwork to infiltrate strike meetings, sow dissensionand break up rallies. The plantation bosses adeptly

used bribes as well as actual physical beatings.

What became the bloodiest incident in the history of

labor in Hawaii occurred in Hanapepe on the island

of Kauai on Sept. 9,1924. Strikers at the Makaweli

plantation armed themselves with guns, cane knives,

rocks and clubs and captured two Ilocano

strikebreakers. Kauai Sheriff William Rice led a posse

to this camp on the banks of a small river just above

the town of Hanapepe to demand the release of the

captured scabs.

The strikers resisted, and a battle ensued lasting

several days. When the smoke cleared, 16 Filipinosand four policemen were dead and scores wounded.

At Sheriff Rice's request, Gov. Farrington sent two

machine-gunsquads and rifle companies of theNational Guard to Kauai. The National Guard

restored order, arresting more than 100 strikers.

Seventy-six Filipinos were brought to trial, and 60were given four-year sentences.

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The marker commemorating the sacrifice of Filipino workers in the history of

Manlapit and Cecil Basan, another prominent Filipinolabor leader, were sentenced to ten years, eventhough the two men weren't even present in Kauaiduring the massacre. Years later, one elderly Filipinowoman, then a nurse at the immigration station inHonolulu, stated that several witnesses, who hadbeen promised $10,000 each and a ticket back to thePhilippines, testified falsely against Manlapit andBasan.

The Hawaii Hochi wrote that Manlapit had beenrailroaded into prison, avictim of made-up evidence,perjured testimony, racial prejudice and class hatred.Manlapit was exiled from Hawaii and left forCalifornia where he stayed until 1932. With Filipinoleaders jailed or exiled and their organizationshattered, the strike of 1924 continued ineffectively,albeit heroically, for another three months.

THE 1937 MAUI STRIKE

Labor activity on the plantations declined until theheight of the Great Depression in 1933, whenManlapit returned from his exile. Together withAntonio Fagel and Epifanio Taok, Manlapit formed anew Filipino Labor Union. To avoid arepeat of 1924,the HSPA made apreemptive move by jailing Taokand banishing Manlapit permanently to thePhilippines in 1935.

Fagel took the union underground and renamed itVibora Luviminda. Vibora was the nom de guerre ofthe Filipino patriot Artemio Ricarte, who fought inthe Philippine revolution against Spain and refused tosignan oathofloyalty to the UnitedStates.Luviminda stood for Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao-signifying the unity of the Filipinos. In 1936, Fagelbrought Vibora Luviminda out into the open andlaunched astrike atPuunene plantation on Maui.Three thousand Filipinos joined the strike.

With the Depression still atits height, the HSPA hiredscabs from the massive ranks of the unemployed. ThePhilippine Commissioner in Washington sent awire,as did President Manuel Quezon, to the strikingFilipinos calling on themto return towork. Afterthree months, the HSPA negotiated with the union toend the strike, afirst in Hawaii's history. The strikingworkers won a15-percent wage increase.

In the midst of the negotiations, however, Fagel wasarrested on trumped-up charges of kidnapping aFilipino strikebreaker. Fagel and seven other strikeleaders were brought to trial, which dragged on formonths. They were found guilty and sent to jail. TheVibora Luviminda, the last of Hawaii's racial union,then fell into disarray, making the Puunene strike thelast racial strike in Hawaii.

The Vibora Luviminda strike of1937 also marked thefirst time that haole labor leaders extended strikesupport to plantationworkers. Jack Hall,the founder

of the ILWU, who was sent to organize Hawaii'swaterfront workers by the left-wing Congress ofIndustrial Organizations (CIO), played a central rolein building support for the strike. So did WilliamBailey, the editor ofThe Voice ofLabor, who was alsoan organizer ofthe American Communist Party inHawaii.

ONE BIG UNION

After 1937, the idea ofan industry-wide, interracialunion began to take hold among plantation andwaterfront workers. The plantation-based Filipinocommunity was drawninto thekeysocial dramaunfolding in Hawaii-the struggle to build one bigunion. Takingthe lessons from the bitter labor warswagedbyFilipinos between 1920 and 1940, theILWUstarted its drive tounite Hawaii's ethnically diverseworking class under the slogan, "An injury to one isan injury to all."

The years following World War II saw epic battlesbetween Hawaii's workers-ledby the ILWU-andthe Big Five: the three-month-long 1946 Sugar Strike,the 1947 Pineapple Strike; the bitter six-month-long1949 Long-Shore Strike and the four-month-long 1958Sugar Strike.The ILWU won each time.

As the largest ethnic group onthe plantations,Filipinos played a crucial role in the outcome of thesehistoric events. The question of victory ordefeathinged on theirunity and determination to stand

behind their left-wing unions, which often cameunder intense anti-communist attacks. With the ILWUfirmly established as a political and economic force inHawaii, those in powerhavehad to listen withbegrudging respect to the voice of the Filipinoplantation workers. Hawaii's sugar and pineappleworkers would emerge as the highest-paidagricultural workers in the world. The lowest paidsugar and pineapple workers in the field earn morethan nine dollars an hour. They have comprehensivemedical plans, paidholidays andvacation andreceivesick and severance pay. They're entitled toworkmen's compensation ifthey get injured on thejob, andarecovered by the state's collectivebargaining law. Hawaii is the only state inwhich allworkers inlarge-scale agricultural enterprises areorganized in alabor union and have been for nearly50 years.

But the captains of Hawaii's agribusiness never fullyreconciled themselves with labor's gains. Firms suchas Castle &Cooke, Dole and Del Monte have shiftedpractically all of their sugar and pineapple operationsto countries suchas the Philippines, Thailand andCosta Rica, where they can pay workers one-tenth ofthe wages earnedby Hawaii's workers. After WorldWar II, there were 36 sugar and nearly adozenpineapple plantations employing more than 35,000workers. Today, there are only four sugar and twopineapple plantations operating inHawaii,employing fewer than 2,000 people. The decline helpsmask the islands' history of epic labor struggles, a

tumultuous past in which Filipinos played a heroicrole.

Dean Alegado was a -professor inethnic studies and director ofthe Centerfor Philippines Studies in the School forHawaiian, Asian and Pacific Studies atthe University ofHawaii in Honolulu.He currently lives in Suhic, Philippines.

Reprintedfrom Filipinas Magazine, October 1997.

DEBUNKING THE DEMEANING "PLANTATION

MENTALITY" MYTH

With the help of close friend and a very effective activist, Jimbo Alalem,the essay and

letter to the Garden Island on International Workers Day(IWD) was written. Lihue Wal-Mart manager, Crystal Femandes, wrote a typical corporate response. The interesting

thing about her op/ed piece was that only a few of her workers actually read the letter

on IWD, which not only focused on Wal-Mart, but the benefits of union contracts and

most importantly the struggle to increase the minimum wage for our poorest workers,

points she never refered to at all.

Over the past couple of years there have been a number of letters to the Garden Island

Newspaper very critical of Walmart, with their Lihue "associates" avidly reading them. In

this case, because the letter was entitled as an international worker observance, manyof her workers missed it. Wal-Mart's response shows how worried they are of the

worldwide critisism they are getting daily and the twisted arguments they will use to

keep their huge profits rolling in. At this point, our local letters on Wal-Mart are like afew annoying mosquito bites on a very big, but very thin-skinned and nervous elephant,

trying it's best to hide from a major swarm.

As of today, 6-20-2013, letters responding to Wal-Mart's half truths and outright lies,

written by union organizer and former Kauai resident Katy Rose and David Carr of

Honolulu's "Labor Fest" have not been printed in the Garden Island. I patiently wait forit to make the paper.

Ifone gets a chance, check out the books by Gerald Home, "Fighting in Paradise" on theinfluential role played by radical labor in Hawaii's history and, "Wal-Martthe face ofTwenty-First-Century Capitalism", edited by Nelson Lichenstien." I would also like to

thank the ILWU and the workersof the Pacific Beach Hotel in Waikiki in their ten-yearstruggle to win union recognition and garnering needed international support. Also a big

mahalo to Mike Miranda for turning me on to Dean Alegado's excellent account of thelittle known "Hanapepe Massacre", required reading forall Kauai social justice fighters.

Hawaii, and in particular Kauai's "local" or multi-racial working class has a long history offighting back against injustice, both in the community and in the workplace, were notbrainwashedwith the so-called "plantation mentality" or the inability to stand up to

authority. If you hear anyone mouthing that crap, please correct them.

Ray Catania (808 634-2737) mayllnineteen71@gmail.com