File 16: the organization of work in the longshoring industry Flashcards
What factors shaped the nature of work in the longshoring industry pre WWII? (4)
- Ships arrive at the port, need to be unloaded, sorted for different destinations and made ready for pick up, then the ship needed to be reloaded
- ships arrival time were not predictable because of weather and tides
- ship owners had a interest in fast turnaround time
- work labour was intense and highly variable work labour demand
What were the different goods found in the longshoring industry pre WWII? (3)
- bulk goods (old, grain): handled mechanically
- processed goods (tea, flour, compressed wool)
- fragile goods (automobile parts, electrical goods)
2,3 in pre wwi required labour intensive carrying and stacking
What is the peak loading problem? what was the solution this problem?
peak loading problem is a consequence of the work load being highly intensive and highly variable meaning that the average demand for labor to unload ship is quite under the demand needed for peak loading time. The solution was stevedorring companies which provided a large amount of shoremen.
Who hired longshoremen in the longshoring industry? (3)
- ports = governments (highly unusual)
- shipping companies (highly unusual)
- Stevedorring companies acted as labor hiring agents for shipping companies. (require very little money to enter the industry and such there were many stevedorring copmpanies available at ports)
What were the characteristics of the longshoremen? (5)
- skills: crafts workers, senior longshoremen = stevedores (had skill in stacking goods in a hold), most were unskilled
- Due to variability of work: had unstable work habits
- lived close to port (created a stigma and sense of community)
- theft was common
- preoccupation in job security due to variabile availability of work.
In the pre war ii times (interwar times), casualism was found in the longshoring industry. What is casualism? What is its consequence?
Casualism = shape up = longshoremen were hired for a short period of time
Consequence: creations of unions to control hiring of shoremen
+ practices were developped to elongate the time of work because they were so short and to maximize the hours paid and thus there was an emphasis on kinship (getting relative hired) (ex: at any time half a gang worked, the other half sat down)
(response to preoccupation of job security)
How did the longshoremen work conditions change post wwii? (5) why? (4)
due to labour market tightening: full employment, unionization of port workforce and strenght of community (increased its bargainning power)
- workers were able to organize many small strikes
- strikes were a problem for shipper who wanted quick turnaround time (cargoes could be perishable)
- large numbers of stevedorrings meant that employers were weak and divided
- wages in port grew rapidly (more rapidly than wages in general)
- evidence of port work being labour intensive provided an incentive to innnovate to reduce the reliance on port workerswh.
what were the objectives of the technological changes in the longshoring industry? (2)
- speed loading and unloading to reduce turnaround time
2. reduce labor cost
What were the technological changes put in place in the longshoring industry?
- palletization
- roll on/roll off trucking
- containerization
- certain goods handled the traditional way
What were the expected consequences of the technological changes in the longshoring industry? (7)
- reduction in need in labour, jobs eliminated
- increase in use of mechanical equipment (lifting object)
- reduction in individual theft (bc good locked in containers)
- shift in skill demand: require for more high skilled laborers (crane drivers) (elimination of unskilled jobs)
- stable jobs become possible: incentive to retain skilled laborers and wage cost become smaller
- problem with logistical strangulation: lifting and moving equipment speeded up flow of goods that ports cant accomodate for =» ports displaced to larger locations
- many stevedorring companies eliminated: ports hire directly or shipping companies would run their own container facilities
What were the 2 main unions found in the US to represent port workers? What were their reaction to the technological changes (3)?
- The international longshoremen association of the east coast, gulf coast and great lakes
- international longshoremen association of the west coast
Goal: reduce any productivity gains by technological changes: - deman containers be loaded and unloaded at docks
- preserve job thru wel practice (4 on watch, 4 work)
- attempt to maitain gang size regardless of work done
What did the reduction in demand for labour in the longshore industry cause? What was the consequence?
it caused a crisis in labour relations
consequence: Mechanization and Modernisation Agreement of 1960 between ILWU and Pacifif Maritime Association:
1. management right to change working methods (total flexibility)
2. employers paid 5 million/ year into an ILWU fund that provided incentive (longshorement with 25 years seniority could retire w 7920$ cash and pension 100$/month and longshoremen between 62-65 paid 220$ a month if they retired
What were the effects of the Mechanization and modernization agreement? (7)
- Employers used the agreement to require employees to carry larger loads => became more physically demanding
- upsurge in demande for pacific labor due to vietnam war: had to meet demand whilst not qualifying more peple for the pension pool the union created the A and B workers (B not eligible for pension but have to pay union fees but does not have full union memeberhip)
- jobs become more stable (desire to jeeo reliable employees because equipment expensive)
- average skill level rose (unskilled job eliminated and maintaining new equipment required training)
- logistical strangulation led to dispacement of port activities to more spacious facilities
- problem with union juridiction: which union had the right to unload a container
- no fall in theft: theft replaced by organized crime
What issues had to be addressed to achieve the productivity gains of a container? (5)
- the standarzation of containers (dimension, design, locking device)
- the need for complementary investments: ships designed to contain containers, ports with space for cranes and container storage
- other transportation modes were relunctant to adapt
- shippers have to change their practices to maximize gains from containers ( containers full before being ship)
- regulations limited productivity of container: shipping rates were set according to commodity (not wether in container or not), icc did same for within us transportation, ICC assigned routes for trucking companies that didnt easily integrate container shipping process
How did unions deal with containerization? What was the context of their reaction? (3)?
Context of their reaction: techinical change in the industry brought: large quantity of job elimination, increase in average skill levels, surge in demand for West Coast port labour which disrupted the M&M agreement
How they dealth with containerization: their reaction evolved
1. at first, they sought to control hiring (change casualism to union hiring hall)
2. supported and encouraged effort limiting practices such as welt while attempting to limit the effects of containerization
3. by the end of 1950s, they realized technological changes were inevitable and negotiated employment downsizing starting with the M&M agreement
4. they still tried to mazimise their juridiction (particularly over the issue of breaking down containers)
5. during the vietnam war: they defended their core members and were indifferent to port workers (A vs B workers)
