◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇ From the time the US came to dominate Hawai’i, the sugar industry dominated the islands’ economy. By 1900, the economy was controlled by the “Big Five” sugar companies: Castle & Cooke, Alexander & Baldwin, C. Brown & Co., American Factors (now Amfac), and Theo J. Davies & Co. There had been prior efforts to unionize. In 1889, Japanese union organizers were lynched. Workers went on strike in 1909 and again in 1920, winning some gains, but leaving the fundamental structure intact. In 1946, sugar workers began to organize through…
