Seattle's International District became the homequarters for Alaskeros during the cold months of the year. They would share hotel and boardinghouse rooms to save money before sailing back up north to work in the canneries from late spring to late summer. The population of Alaskeros in Washington grew between 1910 and 1930 from 1,700 to 3,500. Nearly 1,000 Filipinos were recruited by Japanese and Chinese nationals in 1921 to work in the Alaskan fisheries, and by the mid-1930s, they had become the dominant population in the canneries. Despite this fact, very few Filipinos became contractors, as they were halted from advancing past the position of foreman. This was mainly due to the fact of contractor positions were being held by mainly Japanese and Chinese employees. They entered into the canning industry before the Filipinos, and they held onto these jobs, while Filipinos worked as unskilled laborers in mechanized plants. Filipinos were dependent on whatever the Chinese and Japanese contractors made available to them, and their lack of proficiency in the English language as well as the difference in wages between the U.S. and the Philippines left them to be taken advantage of. The contractors would sell them items that were supposed to be compensated to the workers, such as food, work supplies, bedding and lodging. Sometimes, the contractors would take off without paying Filipino laborers their wages at the end of the season, leaving them without any money, and with no way to leave. Some Filipino foremen would charge the workers half a month's wages as a finder's fee for the cannery job. Unfortunately, mistreatment of fellow ethnics by more competent workers is a common occurrence in the migrant society.