Increasing awareness and growing pride in Hawaiʻi’s labor movement was the goal for this year’s Ea Hawaiʻi Field School - a week-long Maui-based 3-credit class with students from Oʻahu, Maui, and this year, Lānaʻi. The 2025 field school was a collaboration between UH Mānoa, UH Maui College, and for the first time in the program’s ten year history, the Lānaʻi Education Center and the ILWU Local 142. 

The program kicked off on Maui, exposing participants to the development of modern industry in Hawaiʻi through 3 major homegrown workforces in the Hawaiian Kingdom: paniolo (cowboys), poʻolā (stevedores), and holokahiki or selamoku (sailors). 

It then shifted focus to the economic transition from a subsistence and small export economy into a plantation economy, bringing waves of immigrant workers to Hawaiʻi and drastically changing the environmental landscape. Students learned about the harsh working conditions on the plantations and how the plantation bosses kept workers divided. 

Students met with Walker Kawika Crichton, former Unit Chair for the Ritz Carlton Kapalua, and Doris Kaleo Kalawaiʻa, a Unit Vice Chair for Unit 2520 Grand Wailea to learn about organizing to build worker power, both historically and through current efforts. These ILWU member leaders discussed the tourism industry, mobilizing members, and winning campaigns. They were joined by Pāʻele Kiakona, a leader in the community organization Lahaina Strong . Kiakona discussed the power to confront serious community issues, such as housing, when coalition is built with labor. Panelists answered student questions, which largley focused on visions for a just future for tourism. 

The students were then off to Lānaʻi to learn the incredible story of the 1951 pineapple strike and explore what life is like in what largely remains a “company town”. Approximately 41% of employed residents on Lānaʻi are members of the ILWU, (nearly double the entire union density rate of the state of Hawaiʻi). Four of the participating Lānaʻi students were children of ILWU members.

The Lānaʻi program began with a history of the 1951 Pineapple Strike, led by Lānaʻi Elementary and High School teacher Simon Tajiri and Local 142 Education Coordinator, ʻIlima Long.

Students met with ILWU Unit Chairs, Jeoffrey Baltero and Jimmy Fernandez, who shared their own stories of the island’s past and how they are leading their Units today.

After hearing from union leaders all week and analyzing historic campaigns, the students put themselves in union members' shoes for their final project, preparing for hypothetical contract negotiations. They were required to research a Hawai’i corporation, draft a five-point contract proposal including justifications, and prepare a mobilizing plan. The groups presented on the sixth and final day of the field school. 

Students completed the field school with a newfound appreciation for the proud labor history of their islands, as well as the role the union continues to play in the economic well-being of their families and community.