Dags Hires Contractor To Build Hanapēpē Memorial

LĪHUʻE, KAUAʻI - The state of Hawaiʻi Department of Accounting and General Services (DAGS) is another step closer to erecting a monument to remember the 1924 Battle of Hanapēpē. It selected Pacific Blue Construction LLC to construct the memorial.

DAGS awarded the bid on June 22 for $125,000. Construction starts September 1. The DAGS Kauaʻi District Office (KDO) is overseeing the project. The memorial will be built at the front of Hanapēpē Chinese, Filipino and Portuguese Cemetery, where the strikers are buried in a mass grave.

The memorial will consist of two concrete columns with a gap between them, symbolizing two sides of the conflict. The columns are oriented so that no matter the time of day, they always cast a symbolic shadow, representing that dark chapter of labor history. DAGS designed the memorial.

The Battle of Hanapēpē occurred just over a century ago, when 16 Filipino strikers and four police officers died in a violent clash over a labor strike in Hanapēpē. It is considered by many a foundational and tragic episode in Hawai'i's labor rights history.

In September of 1924, Filipino workers - mostly Visayan - across all the territory's sugar plantations, went on strike. They were camped out in Hanapēpē, with demands of more money, from one dollar a day to two dollars; and fewer working hours, from 10 hours a day to eight hours.

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 over 100 arrests. In the end, 58 strikers pled guilty and received a four-year prison sentence.

Acting Lieutenant Governor and DAGS Director Keith Regan states, "This memorial ensures the sacrifices made during the Battle of Hanapēpē are never forgotten. It honors the workers who stood up for dignity, fair wages and safer working conditions, while acknowledging the lives lost on all sides of a tragic conflict."

KDO Program Manager Eric Agena adds, "By preserving this history, we recognize how those events helped shape the labor rights and workplace protections that benefit Hawaiʻi's workers today, and we remind future generations of the importance of learning from our past."