Replacing them on the cannery line were women and boys aged 12-15, who had lower qualifications but who also received lower pay.
A law of 1939 slightly improved the situation of cannery women.
The tendency to employ women in fish canneries grew throughout the first third of twentieth century.
The new potential element is price and revenue sharing when the ex-vessel price for cannery-grade skipjack tuna rises above an agreed-upon floor level.
Although in certain sections of the cannery, such as the kitchen, men and women worked together, women earned 40 per cent less than men.
Although the women employed in the canneries performed many tasks, they had poorer contracts, worse working conditions and received lower wages than men.
This way of allocating work in the 1920s, which was entirely at the discretion of the cannery, is confirmed by interviews with older workers from the factory.
Workers who wanted promotion to masters had to complete their studies with specific training in processing, canning and accounting and needed five years' experience of cannery work.
