these protesters were from a number of ethnicities, including chinese, japanese, native hawaiian, luso and filipino americans, and from many different unions, including the international longshoremen's and warehousemen's union. the different groups, long at odds, put aside their differences to challenge the inter-island steam navigation company. the unions, led by longshoreman harry kamoku, demanded equal wages with workers on the west coast of the united states and closed shop or union shop.