In 1949, Hawai'i longshoremen were being paid 42 cents an hour less than their West Coast counterparts. Confident after the successful 1946 sugar strike, ILWU leaders in Hawai'i suggested arbitration but settled for a militant solution after management proposed an 8-cent raise.
More than 2,000 dockworkers walked off the job on May 1, the start of a bitter chapter in Island history.
Because so much of the economy depended on shipping, the port shutdown forced small businesses to close. By June, the ranks of the unemployed exceeded 20,000 workers.
Wages were being reduced at Honolulu businesses, and there were food shortages to contend with.
Poultry farmers slaughtered thousands of chicks because they ran out of feed. Hospitals ran short of anesthetics and also reported shortages of baby food.
About 300 Island woman had their own, anti-strike picket line. Dubbed "the broom brigade," they carried brooms with signs attached to them urging workers to return to their jobs.
The resulting tension on the waterfront exploded in July, when strikers armed with clubs clashed with police, who were escorting strike breakers. Twenty-nine people were hurt.
An agreement was reached after six months, and the ILWU claimed victory. But the cost was huge, from reduced public support for union members to an estimated $100 million in lost revenue in the territory.
