The Filipino Piecemeal Sugar Strike of 1924–1925

4. The Course of the Strike

30 4 The Course of the Strike THE AVAILABLE MATERIAL on the course of the strike is a jigsaw puzzle with many pieces missing. Even the dates on which a few plantations were struck are in doubt. Table 1 gives the present writer’s best estimate—or guess—as to the maximum number of strikers on each plantation. Sometimes one has to choose between the childish exaggeration of Manlapit and the bland untruthfulness of Butler.1 For a few plantations exact information is given in the annual reports; for some others estimates by the police or the local press appear to be reasonably accurate. But, since workers kept joining the strikers’ ranks from time to time while others were returning to work on their own or other plantations , it is hard to say how many men were out on a given plantation on a given date. Since the number of laborers on each plantation, either total or Filipino, is seldom known, it is hard to tell how effective each individual strike was. Few figures are available as to the replacement of strikers by newly imported Filipinos or otherwise. Toward the end of 1924 Manlapit estimated about 3,000 strikers on Oahu, joined by 1,000 more in the course of the strike, 1,200 each on Maui and Kauai, and 6,000 on Hawaii, a total of 12,400.2 His figures appear conservative for Maui, exaggerated for Kauai and grossly exaggerated for Oahu, somewhere near the truth for Hawaii—if one adds together the highest probable number of strikers on each plantation at the height of its walkout. At the most, perhaps three out of every five Filipino sugar laborers were on strike for widely varying lengths of time. Production figures show that the plantations generally took The Course of the Strike 31 the strike in their stride. A few annual reports admit some temporary loss of production.3 (Editor’s note: Compare these calculations with the report of the Strike Claims Committee. Their calculation of the number of strikers on each plantation and the replacements furnished was the basis for payments of losses, and, accordingly, the assessment levied on the plantations. See Postscript, p. 132). Scope of the 1924–1925 Strike Plantation and Location Sugar Prod. Work Force Date Strike Began Strikers/Fil. wkrs. Oahu Ewa Plantation Co. and Apokaa Sugar Co. 47,225 1090 5.1.24 155/1037 Honolulu Plantation Co. (Aiea) 21,315 1058 no strike Kahuku Plantation Co. 29,037 1546 4.1.24 500/525 Koolau Agricultural Co. (Hauula) 21,399 1596 no strike Laie Plantation 21,870 1580 no strike Oahu Sugar Co. (Waipahu) 58,917 1566 4.1.24 500/1275 Waialua Agricultural Co. 36,001 1037 4.1.24 300/1000 Waianae Plantation 35,704 1193 3.16.25 200/200? Waimanalo Sugar Co. 37,067 1420 no strike Kauai Gay and Robinson 24,256 ? no strike Grove Farm Co. (Puhi) 25,897 1262 no strike Hawaiian Sugar Co. (Makaweli) 24,541 1009 8.12.24 75+? Kekaha Sugar Co. 18,495 1673 no strike Kilauea Sugar Plantation Co. 15,219 1337 no strike Kipu Plantation (Lihue) 11,455 ? no strike Koloa Sugar Co. 19,550 1783 7.22.24 100?/? Lihue Plantation Co. 18,531 1157 7.22.24 Makee Sugar Co. (Kealia) 16,641 1699 8.9.24 400? McBryde Sugar Co. (Wahiawa) 15,186 1591 no strike Waimea Sugar Mill Co. 12,198 1165 no strike Plantation and Location Sugar Prod. Work Force Date Strike Began Strikers/Fil. wkrs. Maui Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Co. (Puunene) 63,258 1678 2.2.25 600/? Kaeleku Sugar Co. (Hana) 64,558 1312 no strike Maui Agricultural Co. (Paia) 32,249 1160 2.2.25 150/1150 Olowalu Co. 32,289 1127 no strike Pioneer Mill Co. (Lahaina) 34,981 1007 7.11.24 650/? Wailuku Sugar Co. 18,029 1591 7.11.24 250/450 Hawaii Hakalau Plantation Co. 16,023 1300 8.28.24 80/? Halawa Sugar Co. (Kohala District) 12,860 1141 6.19.24 325?/? Hamakua Mill Co. (Paauilo) 14,533 1509 7.25.24 205/280 Hawi Mill & Plantation Co. (Kohala) 18,656 1335 6.19.24 790?/? Hawaiian Agricultural Co. (Pahala) 17,001 1790 10.20.24 400/? Hilo Sugar Co. 21,729 1320 1.20.25 (?) 100/? Honokaa Sugar Co. 28,565 1419 7.22.24 150–300/? Honomu Sugar Co. 19,383...