Our special hour-long Rice & Roses documentary includes interviews with surviving strikers and their relatives and friends from all the islands who organized the support committees and an array of never-before-seen photos and artifacts from a two-year research project conducted by the Center for Labor Education and Research.

    With compelling first-hand accounts and dramatizations the program depicts how Hawaii's dock workers suffered "red-baiting" and unrelenting attacks by a powerful alliance between the local media and corporate powers of the day brought back to life in photographs, film footage and the the storied accounts of those who lived through it like Ah Quon McElrath, Bud Smyser, Henry Walker, Jr., Mamoru Yamasaki Senator Inouye and many of the striking longshoremen, including Joe Kahapea, Joe Kahee, Herman Kila, Levi Kealoha.

To view this program online visit our eLibrary page, or purchase copies of this and other Rice & Roses programs.

Why was the 1949 Dock Strike so important?

    The 1949 longshore strike was a pivotal 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 challenged the colonial wage pattern whereby Hawai‘i longshore workers received significantly lower pay than their West Coast counterparts, even though they worked for the same company and did the same work.

    While wage parity 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 ramifications beyond Hawai'i and had an impact on Congressional deliberations 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 "Broom Brigade," demonstrated against the ILWU pickets and management propaganda projected starvation for Hawai‘i.

    With steadfast rank and file members, brilliant leadership, and superb organization, the ILWU was able to prevail against this formidable array. To achieve victory, the ILWU attracted solid community support and a unified labor movement. Images of Jack Hall and Arthur Rutledge on the same picket line convey this sense of shared commitment. The ILWU made effective use of its own media weapons with both English language and Filipino radio programs as well as the labor and ethnic press.

    The story of the 1949 dock strike will be anchored by the faces and voices of the rank and file longshoremen who were the heroes of 1949. 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 era.

    In a very real way, Hawai‘i's labor movement confronted the phenomenon now known as globalization, long before the word began being applied to current events. These labor pioneers showed that unity was a real weapon in the fight for dignity and fair treatment. The telling of this story can point to answers for present problems and as it showcases the ordinary men and women who were able to muster extraordinary resources to achieve victory.

We gratefully acknowledge the generous support of this and other research projects by the following CLEAR donors:

Mr. Stephen T. Sawyer The late Ms. Harriet Bouslog Unity House, Inc. -Anthony Rutledge, President Local 142 (Hawai‘i) of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and Unit 4201 of ILWU Local 142 Local 4 (Vancouver, WA) of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 7 (Bellingham, WA) of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 8 (Portland, OR) of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 9 (Seattle, WA) of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 12 (North Bend, OR) of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 13 (Wilmington, CA), of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 18 (West Sacramento, CA) of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 21 (Longview, WA) of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 23 (Tacoma, WA) of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 34 (San Francisco, CA) the Ships Clerks of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 40 (Portland, OR) Supercargoes & Clerks Union, International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 50 (Astoria, OR) of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 63 (Wilmington, CA) Marine Clerks Association of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Kamehameha Schools Faculty Association Allen Shiroma Prof. Dan Boylan, University of Hawai‘i - West O‘ahu Brenda Ching, Screen Actors Guild Renee Ing Jim Storm, Seafarers International Union Michael Nauyokas, Attorney At Law & Arbitrator Dr. Edward Beechert, Professor Emeritus UHM Former UH Regent Ah Quon McElrath

Without the various contributions of their financial, material and/or moral support, our Center could not maintain Rice & Roses, this Web Site, or any of the Labor Educational programs or Research projects that we are dedicated to offering. Mahalo Nui!