SOCI 235 Lecture Notes - Lecture 12: International Longshore And Warehouse Union, Pacific Maritime Association, Stevedore
8 Jun 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
SOCI 235 – Technology and Society
Shipping Industry – Oct. 18th
Factors shaping nature of work, pre WW2
1. Ships arrive in ports full of goods - they need to be unloaded, sorted for different
destinations, and made ready for pickup, then ship normally has to be reloaded with
another type of good
2. There are different sorts of goods
a. Bulk goods that were always handled mechanically, i.e. oil, grain
b. Processed goods – required more protection, i.e. tea, flour, compressed wool
c. Fragile goods – electrics, automobile component, required significant amount of
labour intensive carrying and stacking
3. Ship arrival times = unpredictable because of weather and tides
4. Ship owners had interest in fast turnaround time
5. Work was labour intensive and there was demand for labour that was highly variable
→ this caused a peak loading problem
Who hired longshoremen?
• Sometimes, but rarely, port owners
• Usually governments
• Some shipping companies hired their own longshoremen – but this was unusual
• Stevedoring companies acted as labour hiring agents for shipping companies
Workers had these characteristics:
• Skills → some craft workers in normal sense, senior longshoremen called stevedores
who had skills in stacking goods in a hold, most of workforce was unskilled
• Adapting to variable availability of work, developed unstable work habits
• Port workers usually lived close the port – created a strong sense of community
• Theft was common
• Variable to no job security, i.e. casualism
Casualism – hired in the morning for the job, day by day basis
• Created a sense of community and identity
• When situation of the industry changed, trade grew rapidly – after WW2
• The shape up at the plant gate which in turn encouraged bribes and the more general
cultivation of workers
• Unionization came in the 30s and 40s, a priority of unions was to control hiring out of
which developed union hiring halls
• Practices were developed to maximize the hours of paid work
• There was a considerable emphasis on kinship – getting relatives hired
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
After WW2 conditions changed → in contrast to interwar period labour markets tightened
• There was full employment, port workforce was unionized, and strength of community
meant that it deployed its bargaining power with some effectiveness
• Workers were able to organize lots of more or less spontaneous small strikes
• Such strikes were a problem for shippers who want the shortest possible turnaround
time, damage could sometimes be catastrophic because cargoes are perishable
• Large # of stevedoring companies meant that employees were weak and divided
• Result – conditions wages in the ports grew rapidly – more rapidly than wages in general
• Since port work was labour intensive, this provided strong incentive to innovate in a way
that reduced the reliance on port workers
1960s onwards – we find an aggressive union behaviour operating through small groups rather
than mass strikes
1950s onwards – age goth, i uskilled laou, ette paid so its oe epesie to hie
them
• This is deeply concerning for employers
• For shippers – time in the port is lost money
• Interest in speeding up shipping turnover and process, shipping industry looked to
technology
Ways of improving shipping and moving goods: These sped up the loading and unloading
process to reduce ship turnaround time, reduced labour costs
1. Palletisation – you have a flat surface strong enough to hold goods, use crane to load
pallet onto the ship
2. Containerization – shipping containers, hold goods, new in the 1960s, meant you could
stack goods into the container, seal it, keep it secure
a. Introduced the possibility of intermodal shipping: moving goods between
transportation modes
b. Made the possibility of taking container, loading onto rail car, onto ship, etc. and
delivering it easy
3. Roll on/roll off trucking – big ship you roll the trucks onto the ship and then once it gets
to the destination, you roll it off
Expectations of these improved shipping methods:
1. Enormous reduction in the need for labour
o Came from reductions in the costs of shifting goods at transportation nodes
2. More use of mechanical equipment – instead of people carrying things, we have cranes
3. Chronic problem with theft – poor workers, handling expensive good, responded to it
by stealing to provide for themselves
o This would become more difficult because goods would be locked in containers
4. Jobs would be eliminated
5. Shift in skills demanded – large # of unskilled jobs would be eliminated and smaller
number of skilled jobs created
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Who hired longshoremen: sometimes, but rarely, port owners, usually governments, some shipping companies hired their own longshoremen but this was unusual, stevedoring companies acted as labour hiring agents for shipping companies. 1960s onwards we find an aggressive union behaviour operating through small groups rather than mass strikes. 1950s onwards (cid:449)age g(cid:396)o(cid:449)th, i(cid:374) u(cid:374)skilled la(cid:271)ou(cid:396), (cid:271)ette(cid:396) paid so it(cid:859)s (cid:373)o(cid:396)e e(cid:454)pe(cid:374)si(cid:448)e to hi(cid:396)e them: this is deeply concerning for employers, for shippers time in the port is lost money. Interest in speeding up shipping turnover and process, shipping industry looked to technology. In the us, port workers were unionized by 2 main unions: i(cid:374)ter(cid:374)atio(cid:374)al lo(cid:374)gshore(cid:373)e(cid:374)"s associatio(cid:374) east coast, gulf coast, and great lakes, i(cid:374)ter(cid:374)atio(cid:374)al lo(cid:374)gshore(cid:373)e(cid:374)"s union west coast. 1st reaction of unions was to reduce any productivity gains from new technology, 1. Demand that containers be unloaded and reloaded on the dock, 2. Attempt to maintain gang sizes irrespective the work to be done.
