1949 Work Strike Essay
1949 Work Strike
The 1949 longshore strike was a very important event in the development of the ILWU in Hawai‘i and also in the development of labor unity necessary for a modern labor movement. The 171 day strike changed the colonial wage pattern for Hawai‘i workers received lower pay than their West Coast co-workers, even though they worked for the same company and did the same work. While pay equality was the major bargaining issue, the strike marked a last ditch attempt by the Big 5, a group of five companies that dominated Hawai‘i, to break the strength of organized labor. The strike had major consequences beyond Hawai'i and had an impact on Congressional thoughts regarding statehood. In the years after World War II, the United States waged an undeclared "Cold War" against the Soviet Union and their socialist allies. U.S. capitalism even attacked unions and any form of solidarity as un-American and a mortal threat to private profit. Militant unions like the ILWU were singled out for attack and union leaders were branded as members of a communist conspiracy. This "Red Baiting" reached a fever pitch with both Hawai'i and national papers accusing the ILWU of working for Joe Stalin of the Soviet Union. Hawai‘i's Legislature passed the Dock Seizure Act. Wives of company executives and managers, marching as the …show more content…
The reality of the times will be captured through the stories of the people who made this history. Interviews with dozens of people were conducted on O‘ahu, Maui and the Big Island as the CLEAR Researchers collected film, photos and visual images. Scripts from Bob McElrath's radio broadcasts will be dramatized to convey the issues and capture an authentic feel. Authentic voices from the other side of the strike will also be utilized to convey the sense of drama and conflict which were part of the
The 1949 longshore strike was a very important event in the development of the ILWU in Hawai‘i and also in the development of labor unity necessary for a modern labor movement. The 171 day strike changed the colonial wage pattern for Hawai‘i workers received lower pay than their West Coast co-workers, even though they worked for the same company and did the same work. While pay equality was the major bargaining issue, the strike marked a last ditch attempt by the Big 5, a group of five companies that dominated Hawai‘i, to break the strength of organized labor. The strike had major consequences beyond Hawai'i and had an impact on Congressional thoughts regarding statehood. In the years after World War II, the United States waged an undeclared "Cold War" against the Soviet Union and their socialist allies. U.S. capitalism even attacked unions and any form of solidarity as un-American and a mortal threat to private profit. Militant unions like the ILWU were singled out for attack and union leaders were branded as members of a communist conspiracy. This "Red Baiting" reached a fever pitch with both Hawai'i and national papers accusing the ILWU of working for Joe Stalin of the Soviet Union. Hawai‘i's Legislature passed the Dock Seizure Act. Wives of company executives and managers, marching as the …show more content…
The reality of the times will be captured through the stories of the people who made this history. Interviews with dozens of people were conducted on O‘ahu, Maui and the Big Island as the CLEAR Researchers collected film, photos and visual images. Scripts from Bob McElrath's radio broadcasts will be dramatized to convey the issues and capture an authentic feel. Authentic voices from the other side of the strike will also be utilized to convey the sense of drama and conflict which were part of the