Handling Cargo
Life of a docker
 Mail being unloaded alongside `Queen
Elizabeth` |
Traditionally, dock labour was `casual` employment. The
stevedores or porters did not have a contract with a shipping line,
but were hired according to the amount of work available.
Typically, a docker would come to the dock before 7.00am and
present himself at a `stand`. Here the employer would pick those he
needed for the morning`s work. The same would happen around 1.00pm
for the afternoon`s work. So, a docker did not know if he was going to work that day, but
still had to turn up twice. Employers tended to pick the strongest
or most skilled men, as they could expect them to work most
efficiently. They might avoid those regarded as troublemakers,
including men devoted to their trade union. There were dockers that preferred the casual labour system. They
could present themselves when they chose to work, and take time off
when they liked. To some extent, they could choose the type of work
they preferred. The disadvantage was that a docker who was injured,
unwell or just too frail to carry on a physically demanding job
would not find work. He could easily be reduced to poverty. Fitter,
younger men could turn up and be preferred for the work. There was
absolutely no security of employment, and this tended to be
reflected in some dockers` attitude to life. They spent freely when
they had money, and went without when they had none.
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