click on cover for the online version

Aupuni i Lā'au (1993) is the history of Local 745 of the Carpenters Union, the sixth largest union in the State of Hawai'i, and the largest local of its international. The title comes from the Hawaiian translation of Robert A. Christie's classic history of the International Carpenters Union, Empire in Wood.

Solidly rooted in the local community, Local 745 has played an important role in the democratization of Hawaiʻi's politics first led by the late Jack Burns. The local had the good fortune to benefit from the merits of two totally different leaders with diverse leadership styles. Stanley Yanagi and Walter Kupau were each uniquely suited to the challenges of their respective eras; this history is a compelling account of how the union flourished under their administrations. In the past ten years, for instance, despite a decline in union membership nationally, Local 745 has nearly doubled its size.

Edward D. Beechert, Professor Emeritus at the University of Hawai'i, taught labor and economic history at the Manoa campus until his retirement in 1988. The author of Working in Hawaii: A Labor History, he has achieved here a study of Local 745 which is comprehensive and revealing and, at the same time, is very readable. Beginning with the earliest records of the conditions and status of carpenters in the islands, he takes us through the long road Hawai'i's carpenters have travelled to their present-day benefits and privileges. [106 pages]

Return to Page