In the 1890’s, plantation owners devised a plan to use and maintain their cheap labor. Early laborers consisted of mainly Japanese and Chinese origin. Fear of strikes from Japanese laborers occurring and running their plan to continue the cheap labor to the ground caused managers to recruit other workers from other countries. When the contract labor system was terminated, the Hawaiian Sugar Planters’ Association organized ways to keep wages low. One way they constituted their …showed first 75 words of 1056 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1056 total…that they are in, working on the plantations. They wanted to be treated right and to be paid sufficiently and not to be thought as just inferior laborer. These workers retaliated by striking, vandalizing, and using displays of clever actions including faking illness and pretending to work. All in all, it was a struggle in both directions. In one direction, trying to keep low wages and the other, to raise wages and quality of life.