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Item type: Item , Filipinos Fight for Justice : Case of the Filipino Laborers in the Big Strike of 1924(1924) Manlapit, PabloFilipinos in the Territory of Hawaiʻi advocated for higher wages and 8 hour days of work, according to the National Industrial Recovery Act, and recognition of the principle of collective bargaining and the right of employees to organize. It also exposed the the differences in perspective of the Hawaii Sugar Plantersʻ Association and the Philippine Government labor recruiters from the Filipino and other citizen laborers. It is in this context that Pablo Manlapit makes the case for workers to organize for their rights.Item type: Item , Report of Elwyn J. Eagen on the Hawaiian Islands.(1940) Eagen, ElwynElwyn J. Eagen provides a U.S. congressional hearing report about Hawaiʻi's industrial set up during the Territory period. The "Big 5" oligarchy exerted total corporate control over the islands' land, government, and judicial systems to manage and suppress the laboring classes. Plantation conditions were defined by the manipulation of racial divisions and a "pre-requisite system" for housing and medical services that often increased worker debt despite low earnings and free housing. Filipino labor organizers such as Pablo Manlapit, Antonio Fagel, and Epifanio Taok faced systemic repression, including surveillance, beatings, and exile, to prevent the formation of the Filipino Labor Union. These exploitative conditions and the high cost of food eventually triggered major strikes across the islands. Driven by these struggles, workers began to question the oligarchy's control and flock toward organizations like the Hilo Longshoremen's Association to secure collective bargaining rights.