HANAPEPE — When the Department of Accounting and General Services approved memorial is completed in late 2026, a monument to remember a key episode in Hawaii’s labor movement history will be set up at the front of Hanapepe Filipino Cemetery.
On Saturday, the State of Hawaii Department of Accounting and General Services (DAGS) announced it is another step closer to erecting a monument to remember the 1924 Battle of Hanapepe, or as residents call it, the Hanapepe Massacre.
DAGS identified the location at the front of the Hanapepe Filipino Cemetery as where the strikers are buried in a mass grave.
Just over a century ago, 16 Filipino strikers and four police officers died in a violent clash over a labor strike in Hanapepe. Many consider the incident a foundational and tragic episode in Hawaii’s labor rights history, DAGS said in the announcement.
“It is important to remember this key moment in our history,” said DAGS Director Keith Regan. “These workers fought and died for better pay and better working conditions. It is because of them we can enjoy an eight-hour day, safe working conditions and fair labor practices.”
In September 1924, Filipino workers, mostly Visayan, went on strike across the Territory of Hawaii’s sugar plantations. The strikers were camped out in Hanapepe with demands of more money — from $1 a day to $2 — and fewer working hours — from 10 hours a day to eight hours.
“This was one of a series of strikes over decades, but out of this pain came progress,” said Gov. Josh Green. “Because of these plantation workers’ sacrifices, powerful unions exist today to advocate for worker’s rights.”
On Sept. 8, 1924, a Visayan strike camp kidnapped two Ilocano strike breakers to prevent them from crossing the picket line.
On Sept. 9, when the sheriff and police tried to free the captured men, a deadly confrontation broke out, resulting in 20 deaths and more than 100 arrests. In the end, according to DAGS, 58 strikers pled guilty and received four-year prison sentences.
The memorial will consist of two concrete columns with a gap between them, symbolizing the two sides of the conflict.
DAGS Kauai District Office Program Manager Eric Agena said, “The way the columns are oriented is that no matter the time of day, there is always a shadow cast. The shadow represents that dark chapter of labor history.”
According to DAGS, the committee is in the planning stages with a target date of late 2026 to install the memorial.
Source: The Garden Island
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