Full text of The Employment of Women in the Pineapple Canneries of Hawaii : Women's Bureau Bulletin, No. 82

View original document

The full text on this page is automatically extracted from the file linked above and may contain errors and inconsistencies.

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
BULLETIN OF THE WOMEN’S BUREAU, NO. 82

THE EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN
IN THE PINEAPPLE CANNERIES
OF HAWAII

[Public—No. 259—66th Congress]
[H. K. 13229]
An Act To establish in the Department of Labor a bureau to be known as the
Women’s Bureau

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled, That there shall be
established in the Department of Labor a bureau to be known as the
Women’s Bureau.
Sec. 2. That the said bureau shall be in charge of a director, a
woman, to be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and
consent of the Senate, who shall receive an annual compensation of
$5,000. It shall be the duty of said bureau to formulate standards
and policies which shall promote the welfare of wage-earning women,
improve their working conditions, increase their efficiency, and ad
vance their opportunities for profitable employment. The said
bureau shall have authority to investigate and report to the said de
partment upon all matters pertaining to the welfare of women in
industry. The director of said bureau may from time to time pub
lish the results of these investigations in such a manner and to such
extent as the Secretary of Labor may prescribe.
Sec. 3. That there shall be in said bureau an assistant director, to
be appointed by the Secretary of Labor, who shall receive an annual
compensation of $3,500 and shall perform such duties as shall be
prescribed by the director and approved by the Secretary of Labor.
Sec. 4. That there is hereby authorized to be employed by said
buseau a chief clerk and such special agents, assistants, clerks, and
other employees at such rates of compensation and in such numbers
as Congress may from time to time provide by appropriations.
Sec. 5. That the Secretary of Labor is hereby directed to furnish
sufficient quarters, office furniture, and equipment for the work of this
bureau.
Sec. 6. That this act shall take effect and be in force from and
after its passage.
Approved, June 5, 1920.

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
JAMES J. DAVIS, SECRETARY

WOMEN’S BUREAU
MARY ANDERSON, Director

BULLETIN OF THE WOMEN’S BUREAU, NO. 82

THE EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN
IN THE PINEAPPLE CANNERIES
OF HAWAII
CAROLINE MANNING

UNITED STATES
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
WASHINGTON : 1930

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D. C.

Price 15 cents

CONTENTS
Page

Letter of transmittal___________________________
Introduction__________________________________
Development of the pineapple canning industry
Women in field work__________ ____ *_______
Sources and scope of information____________
Personal data about the women_________________
Race____________________________________
United States citizenship___________________
Age------------------------------------------------------- 1'
Marital status...___________ ______________
Schooling_________________________________
Seasonal character of the industry_______________
Irregularity in days operated per month______
Irregularity in length of day________________
Irregularity in numbers employed____________
Occupations and conditions of work______________
Cannery structures_________________________
Service facilities___________________________
First aid__________________________________
General welfare____ 1_______________ ;_______
Occupations and processes__________________
Uniforms..:_______________________________
Posture and seating________________________
Wages________________________________________
Hourly rates of pay________________________
Incentive payments________________________
Earnings not correlated with time worked_____
Earnings correlated with hours worked________
Earnings correlated with days worked________
Earnings for night work____________________
Earnings and cost of living__________________
Overtime__________________________________ _
Usual hours_______________________________
Extent of overtime in Honolulu______________
Extent of overtime in Maui____________

4
4
5
6
6

6
7
7
8
11
11

13
15
15
15
16
16
16
18
19

20
21

21
22

23
24
24
26
26
26
27

ILLUSTRATIONS
Plate 1. A typical canning room_______________
2. A trimming table__________
__ ___
3. Packing the best slices________________
4. Packing small or imperfect slices_____
5. Packing the sliced cores______________
6. Removing bits of shell from crushed fruit

Facing page
....

....
....
...
...
—

15
16
17
18
19

CHARTS
Page

Average days operated per month, five canneries, 1927
Number employed per month, four canneries, 1927 ...

LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL

United States Department of Labor,
Women’s Bureau,

Washington, August 28,1930.
Sir : I have the honor to submit the report of a survey this bureau
has made of the employment of women in the pineapple canneries of
Hawaii, covering the hours, wages, and working conditions of the
women at work in the peak season of the industry.
The importance of such a study is attested to by the fact that little
information is available on the conditions of the employment of
women in the Territory of Hawaii, and that canning, according to
figures of the Bureau of the Census, is one of the two industries that
employed the largest number of the women in Hawaii who were
engaged in manufacturing in 1920.
I wish to take this opportunity to acknowledge the courteous co
operation of the employers in showing their canneries and fields and
in furnishing plant records as to the workers and their wages and
hours and as to fluctuations in the number of days operated from
month to month throughout the year.
The survey was made and the report written by Miss Caroline
Manning, industrial supervisor of the bureau.
Mart Anderson, Director.
Hon. James J. Davis,
Secretary of Labor.
v

---------

IMP1P£
§y

I1**

iiiifi'iii

* *f! *1M .it* •w» *i
l !**!* Il l
:» *m i »i»
111 i«

*; *f. r

lijjjWjgipj$am?9

Plate

i.—a typical canning room

zi *3i -«*

* s.

•« 5

THE EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN IN THE
PINEAPPLE CANNERIES OF HAWAII
INTRODUCTION

With the exception of the reports of the United States Census
little information is available about the employment of women in
the Territory of Hawaii. This is not surprising, in view of the
fact that industry is not highly organized and that only some 14,000
women are wTage earners, a number exceeded in every State of the
Union but Nevada and Wyoming.
Briefly, the census shows 1 that of the 14,263 women employed in
Hawaii in 1920, almost half (45 per cent) were agricultural workers,
chiefly on sugar plantations. The domestic and personal service
group was next in size, followed by the professional group, largely
teachers and nurses. Only about 700 were classed in trade, fewer
than COO in clerical occupations, and about 1,000 in manufacturing
lines. Of the last named, the clothing trades, mainly dressmaking
and tailoring, accounted for about 450 women, and the preparation
of food products for 350 others.
Since the enumeration for this census was taken at a time when
work was very dull in the pineapple canneries, hundreds of women
who were seasonal workers in this industry were not included in
the count; and there is no doubt but that for a few months of the
year their number far exceeded the number in other manufacturing
lines.
The census shows further that of all the women in the islands who
were 10 years of age or more one-fifth were wage earners. More
than three-fifths of the wage earners were as much as 25 years old,
and three-fifths of those who were 15 or more were married. These
high rates of mature and married women were due in large measure
to the type found in agriculture and domestic service, the two kinds
of work in which most women were engaged.
The unusual racial distribution of the 14,263 wage-earning women
is particularly interesting. It is as follows:
Hawaiian 715
Tart Hawaiian
Caucasian2, 058

Chinese 493
Japanese----------------------------- 9,233
All others 429

735

Portuguese_:,______
Porto Bican_____________
Spanish_________________
Other Caucasian a1, 638

809
139
72

Filipino--------------------------Korean 103
Negro --------------------------Other-----------------------------

305
16
5

JtT. S. Bureau of the Census. Fourteenth Census: 1920, vol. 4, Population, Occupations,
pp. 1270-1275.
a Chiefly professional and clerical workers.

EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN IN PINEAPPLE CANNERIES OF HAWAII

In the absence of any published data, other than the figures
quoted, upon the extent and kind of employment among the women
in Hawaii, personal interviews with social workers and members of
the industrial accident board of Honolulu proved very helpful in
giving a background for this survey of the women in Hawaiian in
dustries. The industrial accident board had first-hand knowledge
of places of employment in the island of Oahu, on which Honolulu
is situated, since it had inspected them during the year with a view to
recommending to the management “ practical and reasonable safety
methods in connection with the employment, no safety legislation,
as yet, having been enacted in the Territory.” 2
The consensus of opinion seemed to be that scattered here and
there were a few factories, laundries, or stores managed in accordance
with good working standards, but that for the most part work was
disorganized and run on an exceedingly irregular basis. Although
the Territory has enacted a child labor law with many of the stand
ard provisions, there is no legislation regulating the employment
of women, so the individual employer may operate his plant on a
10-hour or 12-hour schedule, or even longer, and on seven days a
week if he thinks it desirable.
The arrival in port of a ship is likely to cause a mad rush in
some of the commercial laundries. On such days work on the boat’s
linen supply not infrequently continues until 11 p. m. and, although
the laundries have made an effort to organize a relief staff, may last
from 7 a. m. until late in the evening day after day, with no com
pensating shorter hours during the week. However, at other times
the girls frequently quit work before the end of the nine hours that
constitute the standard day. Approximately 200 women, for the
most part of Portuguese or Hawaiian descent, are employed in the
commercial laundries in Honolulu.
Another important industrial group is that of the telephone
operators, who are chiefly of Hawaiian or oriental extraction. The
company employs only about 125 girls and there is great demand
for these positions. From a list of some 200 eligible applicants on
file, only 4 new appointments were made during the two years 1926
to 1928. While the operators had a grievance in the demands made
by the company for excessive overtime, the standard 8-hour day
sometimes being lengthened to 12 hours, the management in turn
complained of the great irregularity of the workers, which made it
impossible to keep within the standard schedule.
As important numerically as the telephone operators are the
Japanese dressmakers. Small dressmaking shops dot almost every
section of Honolulu and depend largely upon the labor of young
apprentices, who work in crowded little rooms where no attention is
given to proper lighting or seating and where none of the machines
are motor driven. The apprenticeship continues for month after
month of endlessly long days, during which the only return made
by the employer is board, consisting chiefly of rice, dried fish or
cabbage, and tea. The managing dressmaker, though depending
2 City and County of Honolulu.
6, 1927.

Industrial Accident Board.

Report of Secretary, Aug.

INTRODUCTION

largely upon these young apprentices, also employs home workers,
who go back and forth daily between their homes and the shop with
the embroidered garments.
Eb e situation among the Chinese shirt makers, smaller in number
than the dressmakers, is slightly better, for after their equally
tedious apprenticeship they secure more lucrative positions, with
some assurance of independence.
Numerous little oriental stores furnish employment for another
representative group of girls who, like the others, know the meaning
ot long hours, in many cases beginning the day at 7 in the morning
and continuing until 5 or 6, and if busy, especially in the tourist
season, working until 9 at night. In rare instances they have been
known to work seven days a week.
In sharp contrast to conditions of work in many of these oriental
shops are department stores and various kinds of mercantile estab
lishments whose labor policies are progressive and whose ideals
compare favorably with many on the mainland. The 8-hour day
and 44-hour week are common and the wage of experienced sales
women is rarely below $12 a week.
Although restaurants are numerous, few women are employed in
them, and there are very limited opportunities for women in bind
eries and almost none in manufacturing lines other than clothing and
toocl products. There is, however, one outstanding case of a tin-can
factory that employs about 60 women, for the most part orientals
but all English-speaking. A few work on punch presses, cutting
oiit the ends of the cans, but many more are inspectors and packers’,
ilouriy rates of pay supplanted piecework with the introduction of
the automatic machine that sets the speed, and wage rates are said
to be a little higher than is customary in many other establishments.
2ltdm\rd in'?"1' day Prev.ails here except in the busy summer
months when 10 hours a day is customary. The factory manufac
tures all the tin cans for the Hawaiian canneries and is'practically
a part of two establishments preserving fruit, since the cans are
mediatedus™eChaniCalIy t0 ^ adi°’n'n" packing houses for imIn Honolulu, barbers are almost exclusively dainty little oriental
girls, who in many cases are on duty from 7 or 8 in the morning
until 8 m the evening, and even later on Saturdays. Like the dress
makers, their meals consist chiefly of rice, dried'fish, and tea, often
furnished by their employers. Tips play such a large part in the
mpensation of the barbers that it is impossible to estimate what
the girls make at their trade.
There are no authentic data by which to check the impressions of
those persons whose acquaintance with local conditions formed the
basis of this bird s-eye view of women wage earners in Honolulu,
but there seemed to be quite common agreement that in many cases
Pf? f°T?d ldtle incentive to effort. Extreme instances
ril in °f °Tntal g\rls earnmS no more than $3.50 a week, but
again the amount would be as much as $8.50. The range in the shops
probably was from $30 to $50 a month. The prevailing rate in some
ik i?eKafmdrie1SoWaS,1on Cents an hour and in telephone exchanges
it was between 19 and 20 cents.
12770°—30-----2

EMPLOYMENT OP WOMEN IN PINEAPPLE CANNERIES OF HAWAII

In consideration of the limited time in which this study had to be
made, it seemed best not to attempt to visit the small establishments,
which would have resulted only in a repetition of the findings of
the local group described here. Instead, since the pineapple can
neries, the industry second in importance in the islands, were employ
ing hundreds of women at the time of the proposed survey, it was
decided to make a more intensive study of this one specialized
industry.
DEVELOPMENT OF THE PINEAPPLE CANNING INDUSTRY

The first pineapple is said to have been planted in Hawaii by a
Spaniard as early as 1813, but not until 1892 was there any com
mercial canning of the fruit and the phenomenal development of the
industry has taken place entirely within the present century. Thirty
years ago, a total pack amounted to only about 2,000 cases. By 1928
the pack that began the century with 2,000 cases had reached almost
9,000,000 cases, produced in several most sanitary canneries, with
complete modern equipment and located on several of the islands.
In 1906 the American Can Co. established in Honolulu a
factory for the manufacture of tin cans, and in the same year the
Island Railroad completed a branch leading from that city into the
pineapple fields. Within 5 years the railroad hauled 27,000 tons of
pineapples in a season, and within 13 years the average haul of this
same little railroad was 2,400 tons a day. Illustrative of this expan
sion is the story of one firm, a pioneer in the industry. In the sea
son of 1903 its total output was less than 2,000 cases; by 1920 it was
over 1,750,000 cases.
By 1908 Hawaiian-canned pineapple was no longer a novelty in
the New York market and by 1910 it began to be popular in Euro
pean capitals. By 1914, when an advertising campaign wTas put on
to extend the market for the goods, the initial stages of development
were well past. Not only have the methods of canning changed, but
experiment has improved agricultural practices and ways have been
found of eliminating all the cannery waste except water. The outer
shell is dried and made into bran. Citric acid, alcohol, and vinegar
are other by-products.
WOMEN IN FIELD WORK

Women who work in the pineapple fields are predominantly Japa
nese and invariably work with the men of their families. During
the survey not more than a dozen were seen at work, and these few
were engaged here and there at the side of the field cutting off the
crowns of the pines that had just been harvested, and packing the
fruit in shipping crates for the canneries. At other seasons women
are engaged in comparatively small numbers trimming the suckers,
slips, and crowns preparatory to planting. The earnings for this
work rarely amount to over a dollar a day. But in addition to the
money wage, plantation workers benefit from free rent, fuel, water,
and sometimes light. Medical service is provided, garden space is
available, and merchandise can be purchased at cost at plantation
stores. Prof. Romanzo Adams, of the University of Hawaii, com
paring the sugar and pineapple plantations, states that “ the situation

INTRODUCTION"

on the pineapple plantations is more satisfactory. This may be ex
plained in part by differences inherent in the industry, but perhaps
of greater importance is the fact that pineapple production has not
taken over the whole early tradition of plantation management. Of
later development and coming after the abolition of indentured labor,
its traditions are more favorable to labor. Apparently there is less
race discrimination. They get along without a plantation policeman.
The discipline is less rigid. The opportunities for promotion are
better.”3
SOURCES AND SCOPE OF INFORMATION

Three canneries in Honolulu and four on the island of Maui, which
together canned about six-sevenths of the 1928 pack of Hawaiian
pineapples, were included in the survey. The total employment in
the seven canneries at the time of the visit was over 9,000, about half
men and half women. The canneries varied in size. Two had about
500 employees each, three had about 1,000 each, and two had well
over 2,000 each. Of the five other canneries operating that year, but
not visited, some worked very spasmodically and with a very limited
number of employees even during the peak season, and the others
were located on more remote islands.
At the time of the bureau’s survey, the canners extended courteous
cooperation in showing their canneries and fields, and in furnishing
plant records not only on the wages and working hours of about
4,000 women employed during the peak period but upon fluctuations
m the number of days operated and the numbers employed from
month to month throughout the year. The material so generously
furnished was illustrative also of the racial distribution, age, marital
status, and schooling of the women employees. In fact, the canners
left nothing undone that would help in the preparation of this re
port. Although the type of records kept was not always uniform
from plant to plant, sufficient data were at hand on every phase
studied to make the results representative of the pineapple-canning
industry as a whole.
3 Adams, Komanzo and Kai, Dan Kane Zo. The Education of the Boys of Hawaii and
Their Economic Outlook. University of Hawaii Research Publications' No. 4. January,
1928, pp. 43, 44.

PERSONAL DATA ABOUT THE WOMEN

Some knowledge of the women who composed the working force
of the canneries was obtained from the office employment records.
In 5 canneries, facts about the race and age of the workers were
obtained; in 4; their marital status; in 2, their schooling; and in 1,
their citizenship.
Race.
The influx of foreign races into Hawaii began with the largescale development of the sugar industry about 1870. So necessary
was outside labor at that time that immigration was encouraged by
legislative act and later by the Planters’ Association. For more
than 50 years immigration has been practically the only source of
labor for the growing industries. By 1920, native Hawaiians and
Americans constituted only 19.8 per cent of the female population.4
In view of these facts it is not surprising that half the cannery
women reported upon were of Japanese or Chinese ancestry.5 But
whether born in Hawaii or in China or any other Pacific country,
the effect upon a mainland visitor of the rank and file of cannery
employees is that of a decidedly foreign group. The following dis
tribution of the women in five plants visited indicates how very prev
alent are the foreign races and how dependent upon them are the
canners for labor in the industry:
Women reported
Racial descent
Number

3, 883
1, 248
810 |
221
723
358
192
148
55
56
72

Per cent

100. 0
32. 1
26. 6
18. 6
9. 2
4. 9
3. 8
1. 4
1. 4
1. 9

United States citizenship.
Although one cannery kept a record of the citizenship of the
various races in its employ, any analysis of data on this point is
offered with hesitancy for the reason that the child born in Hawaii
4U. S. Bureau of the Census. Fourteenth Census: 1920. vol. 3, Population, p. 1172.
5 The reason for using the phrase “ racial descent ” or “ ancestry ” instead of the word
“ race ” is explained in the annual report of the Governor of the Territory of Hawaii:
“ Tables showing race proportions in the Territory are apt to be misleading in that they
class under the various racial groups a large number of persons born in Hawaii and who
are therefore entitled to all the rights of American citizenship.”—U. S. Department of the
Interior. Annual report of the Governor of Hawaii for fiscal year ending June 30, 1929,
p. 46.
6

PERSONAL DATA ABOUT THE WOMEN

of Japanese parents is still called Japanese by Caucasians as well as
by the orientals themselves. The following summary, showing to
what extent the women in a few of the numerically most important
races in this cannery were citizens of the United States, is included
here because it emphasizes further the extent to which labor of
foreign descent prevails in the canneries.
Number of
women
reported

Racial descent

Hawaiian and part Hawaiian____ ____ ________ __
Portuguese. _
_
_
_
Chinese
_ _ _
__
_
_ _
Japanese _ __ _
_
_____ __
Korean _ _
Filipino
_
_
Other1_____ ___
__
_

480
91
426
419
110
62
53

Per cent who
were citizens
of the United
States

C1)

99.
86.
67.
53.
52.
11.

2
8
6
2
8
3

1 Too scattering to be representative. Includes 14 Americans.

These data showing the extent of “ citizenship ” may well be re
garded as a very close indication of the proportion who, although
Hawaiian born, are the children of foreign parents. Lost in the
miscellaneous group of “ other races ” are 14 Americans, in striking
contrast to the hundreds of orientals and other foreigners and typi
cal of the racial distribution of American and foreign labor through
out the islands.
Age.
That the women surveyed were a decidedly young group is evident
in the following distribution from the records of live plants, which
shows that half the women were under 20 years of age, a condition
explained in the section on vacation work that follows. (See p. 9.)
Women reported
Age
Number
Total _
14
16
20
30
40
50

___

and under 16 years_____ ____ ____ _
and under 20 years
__ _
__
and under 30 years. _ __ _
___ ...
and under 40 years__ __
______
and under 50 years
_ _
years and over- _ _ _

___
__
,
__ _
__ _

Per cent

3, 219

100. 0

113
1, 501
608
456
383
158

3.
46.
18.
14.
11.
4.

5
6
9
2
9
9

Marital status.
According to the records of four plants, the group was fairly
evenly divided between single women and those who were or had
been married: 52.5 per cent of the 2,657 women reporting marital
status were single and 47.5 per cent were married, widowed, sepa
rated, or divorced.

EMPLOYMENT OP WOMEN IN PINEAPPLE CANNERIES OP HAWAII

In one cannery remote from a population center and therefore
dependent upon plantation labor, the proportion of older women
was greater than usual. In this case only about one-fourth of them
(27.2 per cent) were under 20 years of age and over one-third (35.3
per cent) were 30 or more. Quite naturally the proportion of
married women also was larger than usual in this cannery, where
not much more than one-fourth (28.7 per cent) were single girls.
This company found it necessary to maintain a day nursery adjoin
ing the cannery grounds for the accommodation or the many small
children that the mothers could not leave at home.
Schooling.
Two plants furnished interesting data upon the amount of school
ing the women had had and what kinds of schools they had attended
or were attending, cannery work being a vacation job for many
who planned to return to school.
Per cent of wom
en in 1928 who
last attended
the school
specified

School last attended

Total number of women__ _ _ _ ____
None_ _ _
_ . _
___
_
Foreign
_
First to eighth grades, inclusive
____________
High school
_
_
_ _____ ____ ____ __
University. _.__ __________ _____ __

1, 073

_ _

12.
7.
60.
18.
1.

_
_ __ _

0
2
6
6
6

Over one-half of the entire group had attended at least the sev
enth grade; one-fifth were high-school or university students. The
high-school students were evenly distributed among the first, second,
third, and fourth years, and fully half of those who were last en
rolled in grade schools came from the seventh or eighth grades,
only a negligible number having gone no further than the first,
second, or third grades.
Proof that the standard of schooling among the cannery em
ployees has been raised in these plants in recent years is shown by
comparison of the ranking of all women wdiose names were on the
books in 1927 with that of three years earlier.
Per cent of women who last
attended the school specified
School last attended
1924

Total number of women____

_ _

None_______________ .. .____ _______
Foreign
_
...
First to sixth grades
_
Seventh and eighth grades
_
_______ . _
High school __
___________ _ _
University.. _ . _____________ _
_
_

1927

1, 256

1, 007

32.
17.
19.
20.
10.

22.
10.
22.
22.
21.

3
2
4
9
1

0
7
0
4
6

1. 1

PERSONAL DATA ABOUT THE WOMEN

The most striking changes were the decrease in the number who
had never attended school or else had been in foreign schools only
and the increase in high-school and university students. A compari
son with the eni'ollment in 1928 shown in the previous list indicates
that in 1928 the proportion who had never attended school had de
creased to a remarkable degree since 1927.
An idea of the extent to which the canners rely upon the help
of young people still in school may be gained from the comment of
one employer to the effect that if the peak season for cannery work
and the summer vacation in the schools did not coincide, as happily
they do at present, it would be necessary to rearrange the school pro
gram so that vacation would fall when the help of pupils was most
needed in the cannery. An outstanding example of the dependence
upon school students was a cannery that maintained dormitories for
the young people who were brought from a neighboring island. The
dormitories were well-constructed buildings supplied with adequate
modern plumbing conveniences and with comfortable accommoda
tions, usually housing only one or two girls to a room. Teachers had
general supervision of the groups and it was considered a great
opportunity to go to the cannery for a few weeks. Besides the
matrons for the dormitories, a nurse and a doctor were within call.
Board, consisting of the kinds of food to which the young people
were accustomed, was furnished for $2.10 a week.
A complete and authoritative analysis of vacation work is found
in the report of the Department of Public Instruction of the Terri
tory of Hawaii for 1927-28. This analysis of the summer employ
ment of students in 1928 is based upon a census taken after the schools
reopened. In this inquiry “ Only regular employment for a period
of one month or more was considered, and figures were secured only
for work other than ordinary home duties.”6 A summary from this
report, showing the ages of the students and the types of work in
which they had engaged, follows:
Ages of 12,015 children, employed during the school vacation, 1928 T
Per cent

Under 12 years25.0
12 and under 14 years27.4
14 and under 13 years25.5
16 years and over22.1

The numbers fall into four comparatively equal groups. That the
class “ 16 years and over ” was the smallest undoubtedly is due to the
fact that fewer employees as old as this were in school.
0 Territory of Hawaii.
p. 127.
1 Ibid., p. 128.

Department of Public Instruction.

Biennial Report, 1927-1928,

EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN IN PINEAPPLE CANNERIES OF HAWAII

Summer employment of school students, 1928 1
Boys

Girls

Per cent distribu
tion of those—

Kind of work
Total
number

Under 14 14 years
and over
years
All kinds___________________ ____
Pineapple production:
Field work__ __
_______ _
Cannery or mechanical work
Sugar production:
Field work__
Mill or mechanical work_______ . _
Other occupation away from home.
Regular employment at home other than
house or yard work_____________ _____

Per cent distribu
tion of those—
Total
number
Under 14 14 years
and over
years

7,764

100. 0

100.0

4, 251

100.0

631
1,299

6.9
3.5

9.4
30.9

205
1,211

5.4
12.0

4. 2
47.5

2,966
146
1,298

52.0
.6
12.4

23.5
3.2
21.3

943
14
751

33.3
(2)
13.6

9.4
.7
22.3

1,424

24.5

11.7

1,127

35.7

15.9

1 Territory of Hawaii. Department of Public Instruction. Biennial Report, 1927-1928, p. 128.
2 Less than 0.05 per cent.

Of the 12,000 young people who found lucrative employment dur
ing the summer, it is natural that the leading industries of the island,
sugar and pineapple production, engaged more than one-half—
almost two-thirds of the boys and well over one-half of the girls.
Very many more were employed in the sugar fields than in the
pineapple fields, but in the case of the mills and canneries the oppo
site is true, since only about 150 young people were employed in
the sugar mills, though as many as 2,500 worked in the pineapple
canneries.
The outstanding occupations affecting almost one-lialf of the girls
14 or more years old were in the pineapple canneries, and while
canning was also the most important industry in the case of the
older boys, the sugar fields offered them extensive opportunities
for work.
That this school record shows as many as 400 children under 14
working a month or more in the canneries seems a contradiction to
the employment records secured in the survey, which showed no
employees under 14. However, this may be accounted for by the
fact that the figures previously quoted (see p. 1) were based upon
age reports from only five canneries, in some of which an effort
had been made to eliminate children under 16. Certain managers
realized that observance of the child labor law, which limits employ
ment of children under 16 to 8 hours a day and 48 hours a week,
would complicate the organization of the plant and prevent the
maximum operation of the cannery for a 9-hour or 10-hour day. The
inference is, then, that the canneries that did not furnish age records
were less strict in their observance of the child-labor regulations.

SEASONAL CHARACTER OF THE INDUSTRY

Although the big harvest of the pineapple crop falls in midsum
mer, there is no season when pines are not maturing, which means,
of course, that there is some cannery employment throughout the
year. Various kinds of data furnished by the employers gave the
number of days operated in a month, or the number of hours operated
in a day, or the average employment from month to month, all of
these emphasizing the seasonal character of an industry that cans
but one product.
Irregularity in days operated per month.
Days operated in jive canneries in 1927,l by cannery and month
Total
for Jan.
year

Cannery

No.
No.
No.
No.
No.

Feb. Mar. Apr. May June July Aug. Sept. Oet. Nov. Dec.

Average for all
plants

139

1
2_________ ____
3
4___ .
..
5

106
147
131
148
165

5
11
10
12
12

4
13
7
10
12

2
5
4
7
8

2
1
2
4
5

3
2
4
2
9

20
14
22
11
20

26
29
28
26
27

17
24
20
27
27

10
17
13
12
12

5
6
2
10
7

5
12
7
14
12

7
13
12
13
14

1 In plant No. 3 the year reported is from August, 1927, to July, 1928.

AVERAGE DAYS OPERATED PER MONTH,
FIVE CANNERIES,I9271
DAYS
OPERATED

^ For one planTThe LjCar reported is from August IT27 To July 1A28

12770°—30---- 3

EMPLOYMENT OP WOMEN IN PINEAPPLE CANNERIES OP HAWAII

From the figures given in the foregoing summary it is evident
that June, July, and August are the peak months and that the low
points fall in April and October. During the winter the canneries
customarily operate two or three days a week, while in April and
May work may be limited to one day a week or even less, depending
somewhat upon the extent of the fields that supply the pines. But
by the middle of June the harvest is in full swing and six days a
Aveek is the rule, with occasionally seven days. The accompanying
chart illustrates the fluctuation in days operated in the five canneries
reporting.
Irregularity in length of day.
Not only does the number of days of operation vary from month
to month but there is great irregularity in the number of hours
operated per day. For example, a cannery that operated on only
five days in April, 1927, reported the hours as \rarying from 3y2 on
one day to 5, 5y2, and 6 on the other four. In August, however,
this plant was in operation on 27 days. Twenty-one days were of
10 hours each, and the other six varied from 5 hours on two days
to 9, 9%, and 10*4 hours on the remaining four. For another firm
the 1927 record showed a total of Sy2 hours operated in April as
against 283 hours in July.
Further emphasis on the variation from day to day may be found
in the 1927 records of two firms, the distribution of Avhose workdays
according to length was as follows:
Number of days of length
specified
Length of workday
Cannery A

Cannery

165

106

9
17
44
33
28
33
1

7
13
35
23
8
6
14

From this it appears that in these two representative canneries
work lasted not more than half a day—that is, less than 5 hours—
on about one-sixth of the workdays of the year; and it lasted less
than 8 hours on more than one-third of the remaining days. Only
slightly more than one-half of the workdays of the two canneries
could have been considered full time, that is, in operation 8 or more
hours.

SEASONAL CHARACTER OF THE INDUSTRY

Irregularity in numbers employed.
Even more important than the number of days or hours of opera
tion is the number of men and women employed at various seasons
of the year. Four representative canneries furnished data upon
average employment from month to month, and these form the basis
of the following summary, typical of conditions in the industry:
Numbers employed in four canneries in 1927,1 by sex and month
Sex

Jan.

Both sexes... 1,670
Men
Women

1,139
531

Feb.

Mar.

Apr.

May

June

July

Aug.

Sept.

Oct.

Nov.

1,809

1,733

1,621

1,749

3,437

4,812

4,139

2,300

1,615

1,599

1,649

1,213
596

1,189
544

1,142
479

1,181
568

1,452
1, 985

2. 640
2,172

2,214
1, 925

1, 396
904

1,014
601

988
611

1,012
637

Both
sexes
Maximum employment........................................
Minimum employment.—_________________
difference between maximum and minimum.
Per cent minimum is of maximum_________

4,812
3 1,599
3,213
33.2
2

Men

2, 640
3 988
1, 652
37.4

Dec.

Women

2,172
4 479
1,693
22.1

1 For 1 plant the year reported is from August, 1927, to July, 1928.
2 July.
3 November.
4 April.
^

Extremes are so great between the highest and lowest points of
employment that it is impossible to discuss average or normal num
bers in this industry. It is apparent, however, that the minimum pre
vailed for almost one-half the year, during which the canneries
operated with only about one-third of the employees required at the
peak. From October to January only enough labor was needed to
man possibly one or two canning lines that took care of the grad
ually ripening crop, together with some warehouse and shipping
labor. This was followed by an increase in numbers, with a tem
porary drop in April. Then suddenly, almost over night, the can
neries were put on full capacity and the number of employees was
doubled, even trebled, in order to operate the dozen or so canning
lines through the summer months.
At best, operations are intermittent in the off seasons. In one
large cannery, for example, after the busy season is over the force
of casual and extra help is reduced from 1,000 to the approximately
400 key men who are steadily employed throughout the year. The
standard 10-hour day of the peak is reduced to an 8-hour day. In
stead of operating 20 canning lines, as in summer, 5 lines or even
fewer take care of the spasmodic runs of ripened fruit, and for this
intermittent work there is always enough casual labor available and
glad to get work for two or three days a week.
In most canneries it is customary to employ as many women as
men during the busiest summer months—occasionally more women
than men—but during the rest of the year every cannery employs
more men than women, sometimes twice as many.

EMPLOYMENT OP WOMEN IN PINEAPPLE CANNERIES OP HAWAII

The accompanying graph, illustrating the fluctuation in employ
ment from month to month of the four canneries reporting, makes
clear the suddenness of the changes and the extent to which men pre
dominate in the work force. For a complete picture of the seasonal
fluctuation, this graph should be considered in conjunction with
that showing number of days operated and with the figures on daily
hours.

NUMBERS EMPLOYED PER MONTH,
FOUR CANNERIES,I9271
NUMBERS
EMPLOYED

^ For one pant the year reported Is from August 1127 to July 1128

ii..:l If®

2: f >■;

•*

SSIS
Plate 2.—A

trimming table

OCCUPATIONS AND CONDITIONS OF WORK
Cannery structures.
Not one of the canneries visited was in an old building, and in this
they had a distinct advantage. Those built most recently were of
steel and concrete, the older ones having more wTood in their con
struction. Many of the workrooms were high, light and airy, and
spotlessly clean. The one or two which, though not insanitary,
seemed dark and drab, would have been improved by a more gen
erous use of white or light paint or by a rerouting of the work to
eliminate the impression of confusion and overcrowding.
Drainage always presents a difficult problem in a cannery, but it
was the exception to find a floor that was not adequately provided
with easy grades to branch and main gutters. In only one cannery
was water seen standing in pools, and it was in another part of the
same cannery that the only sticky floor was noted. In one good lay
out the dimensions of the securely covered gutters increased gradually
from 3 or 4 inches to 18 inches at the end of the drainage system.
In a plant where the gutters were lengthwise under the packing-line
tables, there were concrete curbs on either side of the gutters as
precaution against an unusual overflow at the place where the girls
were working.
Quite generally no effort was spared to keep the concrete floors
dry and clean. Rarely was there even a scrap of fruit on the floor,
and when there was a sudden overflow of sirup or fruit on the sealing
machine, as must happen occasionally, a janitor appeared almost
immediately to clean it up.
Service facilities.
Although all the canneries had such equipment as was necessary
in the way of washbowls, toilets, and places to hang wraps, the
standards varied greatly from plant to plant and nothing can be
described as average or typical. A small, dark wash room in an outof-the-way corner, crowded with three bowls having only cold water,
and cleaned “ when necessary,” could not be compared with a large,
airy wash room with a line of porcelain bowls, supplied with hot
and cold water, soap, and individual towels, and with a matron in
constant attendance. In the more completely equipped canneries
wash sinks also were placed at convenient intervals through the can
ning rooms. Occasionally shower baths were included in the sani
tary equipment, and these were reported to be particularly popular
when supplied with warm water as well as cold. There was no lack
of bubbler drinking fountains. In the majority of the plants toilet
facilities measured up to the best of mainland standards.
As the wash and toilet rooms differed from plant to plant, so
did other facilities. Some cloakrooms were furnished with metal
lockers in large number; in others there was a limited number of

EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN IN PINEAPPLE CANNERIES OF HAWAII

lockers; in still others wall hooks and racks sufficed. In a few
canneries there were pleasant rest rooms that could properly be
called such, while in other canneries there seemed to be nothing to
answer this purpose. Even in the matter of lunch rooms the type
varied from bare table and benches, with no hot food or drinks
available, to modern cafeterias in shining white rooms, furnished for
comfort instead of with the barest essentials, and where hot tea
flowed from a large central urn as freely as water. In these cafe
terias, 5, 10, and 15 cent meals, consisting largely of the customary
diet of the orientals, were in great demand and served to hundreds
daily.
First aid.
Reference to service facilities would be incomplete without men
tion of the first-aid rooms found in a majority of the canneries
visited. Some of these were so complete as to be like emergency
hospitals. The nurses in charge did much more than care for minor
cuts or illnesses. They were personnel workers in every sense of
the word, mingling with the employees in the plant and keeping a
watchful eye on general health conditions and sanitation.
General welfare.
Besides rest rooms, cafeterias, and first-aid departments, some in
dividual feature, such as housing for employees, either in dormi
tories or in camps, bus transportation, playgrounds, or day nurseries,
characterized each firm. In one of the day nurseries efficient maids
cared for the young children, following a regular program of baths,
naps, and meals, the last named being supplied by the firm.
Occupations and processes.
The distribution of the male and female employees throughout the
chief departments was quite uniform in all the canneries, and the
following groupings in one plant on a day in July, 1928, are typical
of all.

Number of employees
Department
Male
563
105
8
61
79
5
19
27
24
3.
36
26
136
34

Female
450
182
201
9
1
19
5

29
4

• i

PLATE 3.—PACKING THE BEST SLICES

■..., m

■

*mmm *3

I'Mif* :ii
* IMj.

mt i ■
I %a%;t n. ■
! '*.■.■**-■»' 4U
•
I , T
MTi
*;
I! I-I >

:4dfe*i'-

n« m s j

Plate 4—packing
16—2

small or imperfect slices

OCCUPATIONS AND CONDITIONS OP AVORK

The work of the women is limited almost exclusively to the prepa
ration of the fruit—cleaning, sorting or sizing, and packing in the
cans. The men employed in departments devoted to these prepara
tory processes are chiefly helpers, who remove trays of cans or in
other ways keep up a smooth and steady flow of work. No women
are engaged in the processing or actual cooking of the fruit, and
men predominate also in the heavier jobs in the can loft, on load
ing platforms, in the cooling rooms, the machine shop, and the
warehouse.
. Machines have eliminated much of the heavy and sticky handwork
in connection with the preparation of the fruit, so that nothing but
the simplest kind of labor is now required of the women.
One of the most ingenious of these machines is the ginaca, which
peels, cores, and cuts off the ends of the fruit; another machine,
ktted with a series of parallel knives, slices the fruit; and a third,
called the eradicator, salvages what bits of edible pineapple are left
on the shell that is discarded by the ginaca.
. -^-s the ripe fruit comes from the field the crates are emptied
into hoppers that feed the ginacas. From these one pine at a time
is forced against a rapidly revolving knife that cuts off the shell
deep enough to remove the eyes. At the same time a plunger re
moves the core and the ends are cut off, all at the rate of 40 to 50
pmes a minute. The cylinder of fruit then slides onto an endless
belt that keeps it in continuous movement from the ginaca through
to the packing of the can.
It is along this conveyor that most of the women are employed,
the first group, known as trimmers, remove with sharp knives any
parts of the shell that the ginaca may have missed on pines that not
infrequently weigh 2 or 3 pounds. A gang of 16 to 18 trim
mers is necessary to keep up with the speed of one machine. This
is as skilled and heavy a job as any done by the women. In one
canneiy, if a trimming gang consisted of as few as 14 experienced
women, they received what would have been the pav for the stand
ard gang of 16.
The next is a machine operation. The conveyor carries the pro
cession of pines through a box fitted with automatic washing sprays
into the multiple slicing machine.
The sliced fruit then is ready to be packed by hand. At this
table about 18 women pack the fruit in cans, selecting the slices
as they are carried by on the moving belt. At the packing table
m one cannery the first five girls were selecting the best of the fruit
lor the fancy ” pack, the next six were selecting the next best
grade, or standard ” pack, while the girls at the far end of the
conveyor were filling the cans with the imperfect or broken slices.
-Beyond this point no women are employed in strictly canning
operations. _ Men transfer the filled containers to the canning line5,
where the sirup is added and the cans are automatically exhausted*
sealed, and put into the steam cookers. The time required for all
the processes, from the ginaca machine to the cooking, is about 20
minutes.
The types of work done by the women are shown clearly in the
accompanying illustrations.

EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN IN PINEAPPLE CANNERIES OF HAWAII

No. 1 (see frontispiece) is a view, unobstructed by overhead shaft
ing, of a typical canning room, the department in which most of
the girls work. The 20 or more parallel worktables, known as
packing lines, disappear in the background. To the right and
immediately on the other side of the partition, which is made partly
of glass, are the ginaca machines, each supplying a packing line or
table. When topped, peeled, and cored by the machine, the pines
slide one at a time onto a belt that carries a procession of fruit
through a small opening in the wall directly onto the trimming
table. In the middle of the picture, between the girls at the trim
ming table on the right and those at the packing table on the left,
may be seen the slicing machine.
.
Illustration No. 2 is a close-up of a trimming table, the girls
being seated on both sides of the table, which is so constructed that
the waste is easily disposed of without spattering or smearing the
workers.
Illustrations 3 and 4 are close-ups of sorting or packing tables,
No. 3 showing the positions nearest the slicing machine and No. 4
being taken from the end of the belt. The girls nearest the slicer
select the better grades, and therefore have the most desirable places,
while at the far end there are only small or imperfect slices. To
equalize the work, one superintendent interviewed had arranged for
the girls to rotate positions at the packing tables, thus giving each
an opportunity to pack from the first position. The reach from
the belt to the can was longer in some canneries than in others, due
to differences in the table arrangement. For some of the shorter
girls the constant stretching to fill the cans was a real strain.
When pineapples are not picked until ripe, the cores are edible,
and they are used to a great extent by confectioners. Illustration
No. 5 pictures a unit of girls filling and weighing cans that contain
the sliced cores. Here, too, the routing of the work is economical.
From the sharp plunger that cuts the long core out of the pineapple
in the ginaca machine, the cores drop down a chute and pass through
a slicer, and a conveyor belt carries the fruit directly to the core
packing table such as is pictured.
Every bit of the edible fruit left in the shell by the knives in the
first peeling is scraped off by the eradicator. Illustration No. 6
shows a slowly moving conveyor of crushed pineapple as it comes
from this machine. In this case the eradicator, like the ginaca, is
on the other side of the partition and not seen in the picture. It is
the business of the women at the eradicator table to remove dark
fibers and bits of shell so that the crushed fruit will present an
absolutely clean appearance. Undoubtedly this is the most monot
onous of all the jobs in the cannery, sitting in one position with eyes
constantly scrutinizing the moving mass. In two plants, disregard
of comfortable seating and inadequate protection from the juicy
pulp made the job doubly hard. In this illustration especially good
artificial light is provided for the work.
Uniforms.
Conspicuous in these illustrations are the uniforms worn by the
girls at work, which in many cases were furnished and laundered
by the firm. The method of checking uniforms was systematic

..?

■SHI8 <s'

v -Sir

■
wl
Hk-i-n
PLATE 5.—PACKING THE SLICED CORES
18—1

,, i

iH2»
■

Plate 6—Removing

bits of shell from crushed fruit

It®!

OCCUPATIONS AND CONDITIONS OF WORK

and convenient for all concerned. Upon the deposit of a soiled
apron the matron in charge gave out a clean one, the exchange being
made at any hour of the day and as often as necessary, but girls
generally wore their aprons a day or so without the necessity of
change. They may not have been more sanitary, but white uni
forms throughout a plant created a better impression than did the
multicolored ginghams and prints worn in canneries where the
employees furnished their own aprons.
Everywhere the employees wore rubber gloves, no small item of
expense to the companies. An initial deposit of 25 cents was cus
tomary for gloves, but thereafter the firm kept them in repair or
replaced them with new ones when needed. The gloves added to
the general sanitary effect, but the main reason for wearing them
was because without their protection the acid in the juice of the
pineapple eats into the cuticle and the hands become miserably sore,
a condition painful for the worker and interfering with efficient
operation in the plant.
Posture and seating.
The pictures also illustrate very clearly the women’s posture at
work. In photograph No. 2 the trimmers are sitting on double
slab seats attached to the table, but in actual practice they stand at
work more than they sit. To obviate standing on hard floors, firm
wooden platforms quite generally are provided. This arrangement
shows best in illustration No. 5. Scattered through one plant wore
adjustable chairs with backs, but in all canneries the nonadjustable
stool or slab seat predominated. Occasionally the slab seats were
inclined slightly toward the table, an arrangement approved by the
California Industrial Commission, but they looked uncomfortable,
especially when the foot rails were not conveniently placed. Quite
as important as the provision of seats was the usually convenient
height of the worktables, which made it possible for the workers to
change at pleasure from a standing to a sitting position. Measure
ments of packing tables in one new cannery showed that the average
reach from the conveyor belt to the cans ranged from 12 to 20 inches,
which did not seem excessive.
In the more recently constructed canneries the aisles between the
tables were generous in width, frequently measuring from 5 to 7
feet from back to back of the chairs. In one plant the standard
allowance of table space per worker was 2 feet, but even in the best
of the canneries there was a tendency here and there to crowd in
extra girls at the tables, so that in spite of a prevailing sense of
space and roominess, the girls were packed in quite closely and
barely had elbow room.

WAGES

Pay-roll data were furnished by three canners in Honolulu for
2,452 women (excluding those in the warehouse and on night shifts)
and by four canners on the island of Maui for 1,805 women. It is
difficult to make any comparison of earnings in these localities, for
in the city the women were paid on a weekly basis and in Maui they
were paid on a monthly basis. In every case the pay rolls repre
sented a period of peak employment, in regard both to number
employed and to number of hours operating.
Hourly rates of pay.
Practically all women employed in the canneries were paid an
hourly rate, although occasionally piecework rates were found on
some few warehouse jobs and in one instance a special incentive in
the form of piece rate was given to the girls in the end positions at
the canning tables.
In Honolulu the most common hourly rates of pay for the women
were 16, 16%, 17, and 17% cents. Occasionally relief workers or
warehouse employees had slightly higher rates, while in other in
stances the rates were as low as 15% cents an hour. In Maui the
usual rates ranged from 12 to 14 cents an hour, and sometimes
a daily rate of 80 or 85 cents was paid.
That there has been an improvement in rates in the past few years,
at least so far as one cannery is concerned, is apparent from figures
furnished by this firm, which show the distribution of their rates of
pay in 1927 as compared with 1923.
Per cent of female employees
receiving specified rates in—
Hourly rate
1923 (1,565
women)

12K cents______ ________
_ _
_____
14 cents____ ____ _ __
_ _
15 cents_________ ____ __
_
.
16 cents__
_ _ _ _
_
16J4 cents.
_ ._
17 cents___
__ ________ _____ _____
17)4 cents.
_ _
18 cents and over___________________ _
_

__
__
_
__

1.1
13. 8
42. 9
28 1
.2
3. 3
9. 7
1. 0

1927 (1,007
women)

44 1
28. 8
11. 2
12. 4
3. 5

While in 1923 about 15 per cent of the women were paid 14 cents
an hour, or even less, none received so little as this in 1927; and
while in 1923 not quite 15 per cent of the women were paid as much
as 17 cents an hour, almost double that proportion were receiving
these higher rates in 1927.
20

WAGES

Incentive payments.
Bonus payments as special awards for steady attendance were
made in two canneries on the island of Maui, probably an inheri
tance from the system in vogue in the sugar plantations of paying
the “ turn-out ” and “ busy-season ” bonus. In one cannery an at
tendance bonus amounting to 10 per cent of the straight earnings was
paid to the women who lost not more than 10 hours of operating time
from the middle of July to the middle of August, when help is most
needed and therefore is most scarce. In another plant an extra pay
ment of iy2 cents for each hour worked was given at the end of the
month to the workers who had “ turned out ” to work on at least 20
of the working days. Other systems were more involved, consisting
of bonus payments based on the season’s as well as the month’s
attendance.
In all cases in this study, bonus payments have been included in
the general discussion of earnings. The median of the wage was
higher in those plants in which the monthly bonus was paid than
where it was not. For example, in two canneries the medians of the
monthly wages were about $30 and $25, which included bonus pay
ments whose medians were $4.25 and $2.50, respectively. But in
one of these plants there was a very large amount of overtime. The
medians of the monthly wage in the two canneries not using any in
centive-payment system were respectively a little over $14 and $22
for the month.
Earnings not correlated with time worked.
The following summary shows the general trend in the distribution
of wages irrespective of the amount of time each woman worked dur
ing the pay period. Because wages were paid weekly in Honolulu
and monthly on the island of Maui, figures for the two localities are
shown separately.

Amount of earnings

Total___________________________ _____________

$9 and under $12............... ........................................ .................

$50 and over____

_____

_______

_______________________

Women in three
canneries having
weekly pay rolls
(Honolulu)

Women in four
canneries having
monthly payrolls
(Maui)

Number

Per cent

Number

Per cent

2,452
$9.90

100.0

1,805
$20. 75

100.0

120
159
435
1,114
497
83
33
4
5

4.9
6.5
17.7
45.4
20.3
3.4
1.3
.2
.2

56
73
80
120
201
335
356
368
129
41
26
20

3.1
4.0
4.4
6.6
11.1
18.6
19.7
20.4
7.1
2.3
1.4
1.1

Regardless of the time actually worked, whether it was less or
more than a full-pay period, this summary shows that the median
of the weekly wage for the women employed in the Honolulu can
neries during a peak week in July, 1928, was $9.90, one-half the
women earning more and one-half earning less than this amount.
The median varied somewhat from plant to plant, the one with

EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN IN PINEAPPLE CANNERIES OF HAWAII

extreme overtime naturally being the highest, since wages quite
generally were governed by an hourly rate and were not based
upon the amount of work done.
In Maui the median of the monthly wage for the women employed
in July, the busiest time of the year, was $20.75, irrespective of the
number of days actually worked. There were striking variations
in the medians of the different canneries in this group; for one can
nery it was as low as $14.35 and in another—the one with the most
overtime—it was as high as $29.95.
Although in Honolulu almost one-half of the women earned from
$9 to $12, there was a wide range between the minimum and maxi
mum of the others. During this week, which was one of peak em
ployment, over one-fourth earned less than $9, some having extremely
low earnings. On the other hand, one-fifth earned $12 and under
$15, and above this point were more than a hundred women who
earned $15 to $25 and a very few who earned even more than $25.
In Maui the numbers of women were about equal for those earn
ing $15 to' $20, $20 to $25, and $25 to $30 during the month. The
most common wage reported, that for 213 women, was $25 and under
$26. Only about one-third of the women earned as much as $25 in
the month, although a few had exceptionally high wages, in rare
instances as high as $35, $55, $75, and even more.
Earnings correlated with hours worked.
A correlation of earnings with the time worked is a much more
accurate basis for an interpretation of wages than are the earnings
figures alone, and the next two summaries, one for Honolulu and
one for Maui, reveal a steady increase in the amount of earnings as
the hours lengthen, since the vast majority of the employees, as stated
before, were paid on a straight hourly rate.
Medim of the week’s earnings in three canneries, hy hours worked (Honolulu)
Hours worked during the week

Women reported
Number

Total___
Under 12............
12 and under 18.
18 and under 24.
24 and under 30.
30 and under 36.
3G and under 42.
42 and under 48.
48 and under 54.
54 and under 60.
60 and under 66.
66 and under 72.
72 and under 78.
78 and under 84.
84 and under 96.
96 and over____

Per cent

Median of
the week’s
earnings

2,452

100.0

J9.90

89
22
60
42
80
110
91
229
944
220
153
324
34
32
22

3.6
.9
2.4
1.7
3.3
4.5
3.7
9.3
38.5
9.0
6.2
13.2
1.4
1.3
.9

1.50
2.65
3.40
4.70
5. 60
6. 65
7.80
8. 55
9. 80
10.85
12. 50
14.20
15.70
18.40
22.55

Tt is apparent that in Honolulu the great bulking of numbers, with
almost two-fifths of the women, fell in the 54-to-60-hour week that
represents roughly the full-time cannery hours. The median of the
earnings for this group was practically the same as that for all the
women reported. About one-third of the women worked longer than
this, and earnings of $11, $12, and $14, judged by the best mainland

WAGES

standards, seem decidedly low for weeks of 60, 66, and 72 hours, the
last named being equivalent to 6 days of 12 hours each. Fortunately
the women who worked the excessively long weeks of 80 to 96 or
more hours were a small minority. About one-fifth of the total
number had worked less than the 48 hours that for industry in gen
eral are considered a normal full-time week.
The next correlation of earnings with hours worked is for the
women employed in three canneries in Maui that paid on a monthly
basis. In the fourth cannery supplying wage data hours worked
were not reported.
Median of the month's earnings in three canneries, by hours vxirked (Maui)
Women reported
Hours worked during the month
Number
Total___________ _______ ________________
20 and under____________________ ____ ________ _ _ _ .
Over 20 and including 40________ __________ .
Over 40 and including 60-___ __________ ______ ______________
Over 60 and including 80._________________________ _________
Over 100 and including 120.......................... ...................
Over 140 and including 160____ _________________ _________________
Over 160 and including 180______________________ _ , _ _ _
Over 180 and including 200___________ _ _ .
Over 200 and including 220_________ ____
Over 220 and including 240_______ ____
Over 240 (up to and including 384)______________

Median of
the month’s
earnings
Per cent

1,551

100.0

$18.65

43
74
47
82
117
191
212
114
366
99
150
40
16

2.8
4.8
3.0
5.3
7.5
12.3
13.7
7.4
23.6
6.4
9.7
2.6
1.0

1. 55
4.05
6.65
9.15
11.60
14. 35
16.50
19.90
25.10
25. 25
28. 00
32.15
52. 50

It is not possible to judge what constituted full time for the month,
hut it is apparent that here again earnings increased with the num
ber of hours worked. Most representative, with not far from onefourth of the women, was the group “ over 160 and including 180 ”
hours, with $25.10 as the median of the earnings. That earnings
were proportionately higher for the women who worked more than
60 hours undoubtedly was due to bonus and overtime payments.
Maximum earnings, like the minimum, affected so few women that
they were far from being typical.
Earnings correlated with days worked.
Two canneries in Maui reported for their 743 women employees
the number of days worked as well as the number of hours. A
summary of the month’s earnings of 623 of these women who had
worked at least one-half of the month of July, which for some
included Sundays and the Fourth, is presented here:
Days worked
Number of women in
the month
12
7
13
15
33_________
21______ ______
21
16
23

13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21

Median of the
earnings
(!)
(i)
(!)
$17.15
17. 70
20. 65
20. 25
22. 75
21. 90

Days worked
Number of women in
the month
29______ ________
37.............
50............ .
80
140,__
28............ .........
38
43............................
17......................... .

1 Not computed, owing- to tlie small number involved.

22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30

Median of the
earnings

23. 95
26. 50
28. 80
29.15
32. 50
33. 45
34.65
43.75

EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN IN PINEAPPLE CANNERIES OF HAWAII

The 120 women not included in this list, having worked on fewer
than 13 days, were distributed in groups too scattering for the com
putation of medians. It may be said that in the case of women
who worked no longer than 5 days the usual earnings were less than
a dollar a day, while for those who worked from 6 to 15 days, inclu
sive, the earnings averaged approximately a dollar a day, sometimes
a few cents more.
For the 623 women in the foregoing summary who had worked at
least half the time, the median in each case is equivalent to more
than a dollar for each day worked. The largest groups of women
were those who had worked 25 and 26 days, and for these full
time workers, including excessive overtime in the case of one
cannery, the median of the month’s earnings was roughly $29. For
those who had worked as many as 27, 28, 29, or 30 days the median
was proportionately higher, as might be expected in a group that
must have received much overtime pay as well as an attendance
bonus. But even for those who worked on all or practically all the
days in the month the equivalent of the median rarely approximated
as much as $1.25 a day.
Earnings for night work.
Up to this point the discussion has been limited to the earnings
of women employed on,Jay shifts, but over 1,000 women were work
ing at night in Honolulu during the peak week in 1928 for which
wage data were submitted. As hourly rates were about one-fourth
higher for night workers than for day workers, their week’s earnings
naturally were higher also.
While the median of the wage for all day workers was $9.90, that
of all the night workers regardless of time worked was $11.40. One
of the most striking points to be noted is that three-fifths of the
women worked approximately the entire week, and for these full
time workers the median was about $12.
Earnings and cost of living.
In the absence of cost-of-living budgets for the working woman
in the islands, it is impossible for strangers to form any judgment
of how adequately the usual wages cover living expenses. In some
respects prices are as high if not higher in Honolulu than on the
mainland, but on the other hand certain items such as fuel for heating
purposes have no place in the Hawaiian budget.
An idea of a possible standard of men’s wages in Hawaii may be
obtained from the fact that in 1929 the Territorial legislature raised
the wages of laborers on public works from $2.80 to $3 a day.8
In discussing plantation wages, which range from $1 a day, plus
a possible bonus, to $1.50 or $1.80, depending upon seasonal factors,
Professor Adams, of the University of Hawaii, says “ wages may be
described as adequate for the single men. They are able to supply
their necessities and to save some money. But many married men
find it increasingly difficult to provide for their growing fami
lies * *
9 Moreover, the fact must not be overlooked that
8 Laws of Hawaii. Act 165, effective July, 1925; and Act 86, effective July, 1929.
Adams, Romanzo and Kai, Dan Kane-Zo. The Education of the Boys of Hawaii and
Their Economic Outlook. University of Hawaii Research Publications No. 4, January,
1928, pp. 9 and 44.

WAGES

cannery labor rarely benefits as does plantation labor from free rent,
fuel, water, or other conveniences.
The manager of a cannery in Maui, in discussing rates of pay,
said that board cost unskilled Japanese men about $17 to $18 a
month and that the customary charge for a room for single men was
$5 to $6 a month, irrespective of the number who occupied it.
The department of public instruction in Honolulu is authority
for the statement that oriental girls can live in a boarding house or
institution for as low as $15 to $20 a month. If the oriental girl
rents a room or lives with a family, she can reduce her expenses
further. It may be interesting to note that in the case of a number
of oriental teachers living in a cottage, a group of three and four
together, the food bills are as low as $10 a month and very rarely
over $20.
These comments give only a slight indication of living costs, but
they form the only available basis for practical interpretation of
the earnings quoted in this section for women employed in canneries.

OVERTIME
Usual hours.
In Honolulu work in the cannery normally began at 7 a. m. and
continued until 5.30 p. m., with an intermission of half an hour
at midday, making a 10-hour day in all. The usual schedule for a
night shift was from 7 in the evening until 5 or 5.30 in the morning.
In Maui the day started at 6 or 6.30, closed somewhat earlier than
in Honolulu, and had a longer recess for lunch.
As stated before, there is no legislation in the Territory that
limits the hours of work for women, and the 10-hour day was the
customary standard in the canneries. All work done in excess of
10 hours daily, or on Sunday, was reckoned as overtime according
to cannery standards and was paid at the rate of time and one-half.
Consequently the pay rolls indicated very clearly how much over
time as well as straight time was credited to each employee.
Extent of overtime in Honolulu.
During the peak week for which the pay rolls were copied, only
about 1 in 10 of the women in the three Honolulu plants worked
no overtime, as the following statement indicates.
Plant 1

Total number of women reported__
Number with no overtime. _
Number with overtime _ . _ Per cent with overtime-_ -

.
-

Plant 2

Plant 3

985

516

951

168
817
82. 9

48
468
90. 7

24
927
97. 5

To what extent the women worked more than 60 hours during the
pay-roll week is shown in the next summary. Although compara
tively few worked so much as 5 hours of overtime, even 5 such hours
spread evenly through a week would mean about 11 hours a day in the
cannery, while 20 or 30 overtime hours might be a week of 6 days,
each 13 to 15 hours long, or work on Sunday as well as lengthened
days.
26

OVERTIME

Overtime hours in one week in three canneries (Honolulu)
Women with overtime as specified inNumber of overtime hours in one pay-roll
week
•

Number
Total

Plant 3

Plant 2

Plant 1

Per cent Number Per cent Number

Per cent

817

100.0

468

100.0

927

100.0

i 782
32

95.7
3.9

2 433
28
7

92.5
6.0
1.5

2
1

.2
.1

128
354
376
18
3 25
a 15
3 11

13.8
38.2
40.6
1.9
2.7
1.6
1.2

1 Unpublished data show that 779 worked between four and five hours overtime, which in most cases was
a Sunday morning.
2 Unpublished data show that 416 worked less than two hours overtime.
3 Since such prolonged overtime was unusual, a check on these data was made by correspondence, which
verified the figures.

Each of the three firms in this summary pursued a different policy
in providing labor sufficient to carry it over the peak of the harvest
period. While the day shift in Plant No. 1 rarely worked as long
as 10 hours and never worked longer, an unpublished record shows
that for six weeks an extra night shift, averaging about 1,500 men
and women—a somewhat smaller number than were employed on the
day shift—worked regularly five or six nights a week on a definite
9% or 10 hour schedule, and this enabled the firm to take care of its
peak production. Plant No. 2 was organized to meet the emergency
with practically no overtime and no night shift, for the mechanical
equipment of the cannery was large enough to carry the load from
the acreage controlled by the firm; in other words, a balance was
maintained between the agricultural and manufacturing divisions.
Cannery No. 3 operated extremely long and irregular hours with but
one shift of employees. While most of the overtime in No. 1 was
due to employment on Sunday morning, and most of that in No. 2
was less than two hours per woman, the overtime in No. 3 accumulated
from day to day, week days and Sunday, until three-fourths of the
women had put in from 5 to 15 hours of overtime during the week
and more than 50 women had worked as much as 20, 30, or 40 or more
hours in addition to the standard 60-hour week. And the manage
ment explained that “ work continued like this for five or six weeks
before the worst was over.”
Extent of overtime in Maui.
Three of the pay rolls kept on a monthly basis in Maui also itemized
overtime hours. "The data are summarized here, but they give no
idea of the length of the weeks or individual days, since the overtime
may have been spread evenly throughout the month or concentrated
within a short period.

EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN IN PINEAPPLE CANNERIES OF HAWAII

Plant 1

Total number of women reported____
Number with no overtime.
Number with overtime
Per cent with overtime_________

Plant 2

Plant 3

581

490

253

134
447
76. 9

60
430
87. 8

2
251
99. 2

The proportion of women affected by overtime was large in this
group also, for there were comparatively few who had not worked
longer than the standard day at some time during the month. Not
only did the percentage who worked overtime differ from plant to
plant, but the extent to which overtime accumulated throughout the
month varied greatly. This is shown in the tabulation following:
Overtime hours in one month in three canneries (Maui)
Women with overtime as specified in—
Number of overtime hours in one pay-roll
month

Plant 1
Number

Total____________ ______ ______

Plant 2

Per cent Number

Plant 3

Per cent

Number

Per cent

447

100.0

430

100.0

251

100.0

Under 5___________________ ____ _______
5 and under 10________ ____ ____________
10 and under 20.-- ___ _
20 and under 30_______ _____ ______ ____
30 and under 40__ ____ _________

437
4
5
1

97.8
.9
1.1
.2

412
12
3

95.8
2.8
.7

2
1
6

.8
.4
2 4

50 and under 60____ _____ _____________
60 and under 70________________ _
70 and under 80____ _________________
80 and over _________ _____

Two of the Maui canneries were able to limit their overtime to
less than 5 hours in the month for more than 95 per cent of the
women employees, so it would seem that the work in the third cannery—-only a short distance away and subject to the same seasonal
conditions—could have been so arranged that the employment of
more than 90 per cent of its women from 30 to 80 or more hours
overtime during the same month would not have been necessary.
In conclusion it may be said that although the standard work
day quite generally was long, overtime was excessive only here and
there in a few individual canneries and was not characteristic of
the industry as a whole.

PUBLICATIONS OF THE WOMEN’S BUREAU
[Any of these bulletins still available will be sent free of charge upon request!

*No.
No.
No.
No.
*No.
No.
No.
*No.
*No.
*No.
No.
*No.
No.
*No.
No.
No.
No.
*No.
No.
*No.
No.
*No.
No.
No.
No.

1. Proposed Employment of Women During the War in the Industries
of Niagara Falls, N. Y. 16 pp. 1918.
2. Labor Laws for Women in Industry in Indiana. 29 pp. 1919.
3. Standards for the Employment of Women in Industry. 8 pp. Third
ed., 1921.
4. Wages of Candy Makers in Philadelphia in 1919. 46 jip. 1919.
5. The Eight-IIour Day in Federal and State Legislation. 19 pp. 1919.
C. The Employment of Women in Hazardous Industries in the United
States. 8 pp. 1921.
7. Night-Work Laws in the United States. (1919.) 4 pp. 1920.
8. Women in the Government Service. 37 pp. 1920.
9. Home Work in Bridgeport, Conn. 33 pp. 1920.
10. Hours and Conditions of Work for Women in Industry in Virginia
32 pp. 1920.
11. Women Street Car Conductors and Ticket Agents. 90 pp. 1921.
12. The New Position of Women in American Industry. 158 pp. 1920.
13. Industrial Opportunities and training for Women and Girls. 48 pp
1921.
14. A Physiological Basis for the Shorter Working Day for Women.
20 pp. 1921.
15. Some Effects of Legislation Limiting Hours of Work for Women
26 pp. 1921.
16. (See Bulletin 63.)
17. Women’s Wages in Kansas. 104 pp. 1921.
18. Health Problems of Women in Industry. 11 pp. 1921.
19. Iowa Women in Industry. 73 pp. 1922
20. Negro Women in Industry. 65 pp. 1922.
21. Women in Rhode Island Industries. 73 pp. 1922.
22. Women in Georgia Industries. 89 pp. 1922.
23. The Family Status of Breadwinning Women. 43 pp. 1922.
24. Women in Maryland Industries. 96 pp. 1922.
25. Women in the Candy Industry in Chicago and St. Louis. 72 pp.

No.
No.
No.
No.
No.

26.
27.
28.
29.
30.

No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.

31.
32.
33.
34.
35.
36.
37.
38.
39.
40.
41.

Women in Arkansas Industries. 86 pp. 1923.
The Occupational Progress of Women. 37 pp. 1922.
Women’s Contributions in the Field of Invention. 51 pp. 1923.
Women in Kentucky Industries. 114 pp. 1923.
The Share of Wage-Earning Women in Family Support. 170 pp.

What Industry Means to Women Workers. 10 pp. 1923.
Women in South Carolina Industries. 128 pp. 1923.
Proceedings of the Women’s Industrial Conference. 190 pp 1923
Women in Alabama Industries. 86 pp. 1924.
Women in Missouri Industries. 127 pp. 1924.
Radio Talks on Women in Industry. 34 pp. 1924.
Women in New Jersey Industries. 99 pp. 1924.
Married Women in Industry. 8 pp. 1924.
Domestic Workers and Their Employment Relations. 87 pp 1924
(See Bulletin 63.)
Family Status of Breadwinning Women in Four Selected Cities.
145 pp. 1925.
No. 42. List of References on Minimum Wage for Women in the United States
and Canada. 42 pp. 1925.
No. 43. Standard and Scheduled Hours of Work for Women in Industry
68 pp. 1925.*
* Supply exhausted.

EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN IN PINEAPPLE CANNEEIES OF HAWAII

No. 44. Women in Ohio Industries. 137 pp. 1925.
No. 45. Home Environment and Employment Opportunities of Women in
Coal-Mine Workers’ Families. 61 pp. 1925.
No. 46. Facts about Working Women—A Graphic Presentation Eased on Cen
sus Statistics. 64 pp. 1925.
No. 47. Women in the Fruit-Growing and Canning Industries in the States of
Washington. 223 pp. 1926.
*No. 48. Women in Oklahoma Industries. 118 pp. 1926.
No. 49. Women Workers and Family Support. 10 pp. 1925.
No. 50. Effects of Applied Research Upon the Employment Opportunities of
American Women. 54 pp. 1926.
No. 51. Women in Illinois Industries. 108 pp. 1926.
No. 52. Lost Time and Labor Turnover in Cotton Mills. 203 pp. 1926.
No. 53. The Status of Women in the Government Service in 1925. 103 pp.
1926.
No. 54. Changing Jobs. 12 pp. 1926.
No. 55. Women in Mississippi Industries. 89 pp. 1926.
No. 56. Women in Tennessee Industries. 120 pp. 1927.
No. 57. Women Workers and Industrial Poisons. 5 pp. 1926.
No. 58. Women in Delaware Industries. 156 pp. 1927.
No. 59. Short Talks About Working Women. 24 pp. 1927.
No. 60. Industrial Accidents to Women in New Jersey, Ohio, and Wisconsin.
316 pp. 1927.
No. 61. The Development of Minimum-Wage Laws in the United States,' 1912
to 1927. 635 pp. 1928. Price 90 cents.
No. 62. Women's Employment in Vegetable Canneries in Delaware. 47 pp.
1927.
No. 63. State Laws Affecting Working Women. 51 pp. 1927. (Revision of
Bulletins 16 and 40.)
No. 64. The Employment of Women at Night. 86 pp. 1928.
*No. 65. The Effects of Labor Legislation on the Employment Opportunities of
Women. 498 pp. 1928.
No. 66. History of Labor Legislation for Women in Three States; Chronological
Development of Labor Legislation for Women in the United States.
288 pp. 1929.
No. 67. Women Workers in Flint, Mich. 80 pp. 1929.
No. 68. Summary: The Effects of Labor Legislation on the Employment Op
portunities of Women. (Reprint of Chapter 2 of bulletin 65.) 22
pp. 1928.
No. 69. Causes of Absence for Men and for Women in Four Cotton Mills.
24 pp. 1928.
No. 70. Negro Women in Industry in Fifteen States. 74 pp. 1929.
No. 71. Selected References on the Health of Women in Industry. 8 pp. 1929.
No. 72. Conditions of Work in Spin Rooms. 41 pp. 1929.
No. 73. Variations in Employment Trends of Women and Men. 143 pp. 1930.
No. 74. The Immigrant Woman and Her Job. 179 pp. 1930.
No. 75. What the Wage-Earning Woman Contributes to Family Support. 20 pp.
1929.
No. 76. Women in 5-and-10-cent Stores and Limitcd-rrice Chain Department
Stores. 58 pp. 1930.
No. 77. A Study of Two Groups of Denver Married Women Applying for Jobs.
10 pp. 1929.
No. 78. A Survey of Laundries and Their Women Workers in 23 Cities. 166 pp.
1930.
No. 79. Industrial Home Work. 18 pp. 1930.
No. 80. Women in Florida Industries. 115 pp. 1930.
No. 81. Industrial Accidents to Men and Women. 48 pp. 1930.
No. 82. The Employment of Women in the Pineapple Canneries of Hawaii.
30 pp. 1930.
No. 83. Fluctuations of Employment in the Radio Industry. (In press.)
Annual Reports of the Director, 1919*, 1920*, 1921*, 1922, 1923, 1924*, 1925,
1926, 1927*, 1928*, 1929, 1930.
Supply exhausted.

Full text of The Employment of Women in the Pineapple Canneries of Hawaii : Women's Bureau Bulletin, No. 82

FRASER