From 1906 to 1946, approximately 125,000 Filipinos were recruited by the Hawaii Sugar Planters Association to work in the sugar cane and pineapple fields of the Hawaiian Islands. Less than 25 statewide remain, with four still living on my home island of Hawaii. All in their 90s, soon they will be all gone, but should be remembered and never forgotten.

They were called Sakadas, a word of Spanish origin, meaning lower-paid workers recruited out of the area. In Hawaii the word is synonymous with these pioneers who came to seek their fate or “gasat” in Ilocano for a better life for themselves and their families.

The first 15 arrived Dec. 20, 1906, on the SS Doric and were assigned to Olaa Sugar in Keaau. With gratitude for the last five years, the Filipino community throughout the state celebrated Dec. 20 as Sakada Day — but this year, the coronavirus pandemic put a temporary stop to it.

Early on, the Sakadas agitated against poor working conditions that consisted of $1/10-hour workday/six days per week. Acting almost singlehandedly, they conducted strikes and paid a great price: loss of employment, housing, prosecution and even death when 16 Filipinos were killed in 1924 in a confrontation with police in Kauai known as the Hanapepe Massacre. It resulted in the jailing and relocation of leader Pablo Manlapit to California and finally deportation to the Philippines in 1933.

The Sakadas instigated three major strikes (1920, 1924 and 1937), all ending in failure — but in 1946 success finally came under the leadership of the International Longshoremen & Warehouse Union (ILWU). On Sept. 1, 1946, the ILWU called a strike and approximately 30,000 workers responded, consisting of 60% Filipinos, 30% Japanese and 10% others.

Six thousand of the strikers were recent Sakadas transported on the SS Maunawili in four voyages on January, February, April and May of 1946, departing from Port Salomague in Cabugao, Ilocos Sur, Philippines. They were recruited as strikebreakers but some signed on as union members while on board the ship or upon arrival in Hawaii by ILWU organizers.

History relates that the Strike of 1946 was a sentinel event in Hawaii. The ILWU succeeded in forcing the sugar and pineapple industries to bargain collectively for agricultural workers, which was a first in the islands and the nation — and catapulted the union not only as a labor force but as a driver for economic, social and political reforms of the islands.

A turning point was the November 1954 election victory of the Democratic Party over the Republican Party and plantation owners who controlled the levers of power since the early 1900s. With ILWU support, political leaders such as Daniel Inouye, John Burns, Patsy Mink, Yoshito Takamine and many others were elected — and shared governance resulted in statehood and adoption of health care, unemployment and industrial accident laws favoring all of Hawaii’s working class.

Although the Sakadas were not in key leadership positions, it was their massive numbers in the workforce that ensured the success of the strike. Without their participation, it is doubtful that the strike would have succeeded — and if not, we need to ponder what living in Hawaii would be like today.

The Sakadas’ participation in the labor movement in Hawaii, and in particular, the role they played in the ILWU-led Strike of 1946 is their legacy to a grateful Filipino community.

And though there was no public celebration this year due to the pandemic, we remembered and marked Sakada Day this month. Agbiag/Mabuhay/long live the Sakadas.

Big Island resident Romel Dela Cruz is the son and grandson of Filipino immigrants recruited to work in the plantations of Hawaii from 1906-1946.