1949 DOCK STRIKE. 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. Company managers’ wives held pickets against workers and were known as the “broom brigade.” The woman’s sign reads “Don’t make your Hawaii a ghost town,” in line with company predictions that the strike would ruin Hawaii’s economy.
