The Strikes
On 4 February 1938, strikes began. The strikers demanded equal wages with workers on the West Coast and closed shop or union shop. Strikes continued well into July and August. The SS Waialeale, owned by the Inter-Island Steamship Company, which in turn was owned by the Big Five, was due to come in to port on 1 August. On that day, protesters from different unions arrived to protest the ship's docking. Witnesses estimated the crowd anywhere from 80 to 800, with the newspapers reports saying around 500 to 600. It is likely, however, that there were only around 200 protesters.
Read more about this topic: Hilo Massacre
Famous quotes containing the word strikes:
“You have heard that it was said, An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also; and if anyone wants to sue you and take your coat, give your cloak as well...”
—Bible: New Testament, Matthew 5:38-40.
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“As if paralyzed by the national fear of ideas, the democratic distrust of whatever strikes beneath the prevailing platitudes, it evades all resolute and honest dealing with what, after all, must be every healthy literature’s elementary materials.”
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