Ruby Ann Songahid, BSA 1 a

Jesus Christ: His Life and Teachings - ReEd 2a

Activity 1: Examine the situation that challenges the dignity of labor and workers
based on the given situation of SAKADA in a form of an analytical essay.

According to the video documentation I’ve watched earlier. Sakadas are

Filipino migrant workers who immigrated to Hawaii between 1906 and 1946 to
serve as laborers on Hawaii's sugar and pineapple plantations. The Sakadas became
engulfed in a mass movement of working-class people seeking dignity and justice.
Working people were on the verge of revolutionizing Hawaii's culture and
reforming long-standing social status and economic relationships in the Islands in
1946, thanks to a campaign that had been decades in the making.

The Sakadas became a part of the social upheaval, and their talents,
enthusiasm, and commitment aided the movement's success. The Sakadas got a
crash course in organisation, leadership, political economy, and civics by entering
the ILWU and participating in the Great Sugar Strike of 1946. This knowledge was
strong, and it would help them and their families live better lives.

The Sakadas took the lead in the struggle for labor freedom within the
plantation system; as the bedrock of the International Longshore and Warehouse
Union (ILWU), their numbers, courage, and stamina assured the success of union
strikes. Sugar and pineapple became large and lucrative enterprises, and the
demands of the factories began to dominate Hawaiian government and life.

Sugar was no longer developed by small farmers, but by 33 large-scale

plantation operations, each hiring hundreds of employees and occupying thousands
of acres of prime agricultural land. There was no other place in the world where
money was so abundant as in the Hawaiian Islands. The enormous wealth produced
by sugar and pineapple workers went to the descendants of only four families-
Alexander, Baldwin, Castle, and Cooke-direct descendants of the missionaries who
came to Hawaii between 1820 and 1830.

The Hawaii State Legislature recently passed a bill enacted into law
proclaiming December 20th of each year as “Sakada Day” in Hawaii. The bill
recognizes the historic significance of the Sakadas as great pioneers who, through
their sacrifices and struggles, paved the foundation for the establishment of the
Filipino community in Hawaii and helped to shape the diverse Hawaii we have today.

The Sakada achieved a degree of job and income protection that would
enable them to make a good life in Hawaii or return to the Philippines with dignity
and a comfortable amount of money by building their union. The Sakadas can be
proud of their contributions to the development of Hawaii.