How ond e cs once start = report on th. docks: yestcrccy, today or tomorrow .? I.csm not sure myself, but what Ice sure of is thst you nust bogin with incefficicney and injustice. The injustice of the port employers’ inefficiency being blsnca cn the dockworker, ,The injustice of th: terrible working coriditions of the anne in, this so-called modcrn < NBO y and the injustice. of dockworkers being, exchudcd fror cshc provisions of Gertcin cts‘of Gohl s Gaent which have been brought in recently to i:proye the stctus of the workine class.
Over the last nine norths, in fact since the introduction of the 40-hour week, the whole of the press, tclcvision cnd redio ond every means known for spreading props. esonde, hos; been used te attack the docorktr. Bleming the chaos in the docks on the dockers' refusal to work cvertine et wockends.
I would like to say now that befhre the ban practicelly week-end working: wos nenufacturcd and therefore unnecesscary,. that there existcd a hold-up of shipsins: beferc the ben, caused by the. ine f£ficicney and selfishness of th: port cmployers, and that before, the ban ‘She chaos was just cs bed asvit hes been since, end, will remain. se.as long, cs our docks nre:rtn by privete cntcrprisc.
in December, 1964, it wes rcported that xo dozen ships wore held up in the Thames, the, rcason given being the ban on overtine secon working, yct nine of thom were timber ships. awaiting barges, "of whieh there wes a creat shortage," and the mes Se three covld héve Cae ata in the Roycl Group cf Dock where ot-thet tiie there werc scvorrl ships berthed which were being used as store mahed onc of which was closed down for a whole week. :
Ycre we have c.vitrl industry Seen te by chree nein: avenves of transportation, wlver, eoil md road. Whilst woter and rail renéip proctieclly unused, the roads copé with 95 nex cent ‘of sil dock trciiic. AAG +6 wrene with the inland network of canals end névigesble rivers whi link Le n wi bs es the Hersey, he Bu ber end rest ios Ti ustrical hidlands centred cn Eirringnace I- transportation used to their fullest
eritish Railways stperating in th..docks have - wonderful serpyicce crying, cut t+ be used. Phe latést ino@iédGl-clectric loco onetive S ecuippcd with radio receivers; the dotks own narsheal~ linc, facilitics - sll berths cre fittcé out for poil $reffie td run clon; side TAS SRIfs so ths core- can ‘&¢ direct from rail to ship cnd viee verse; ths some acnlies to warehouses, snd yet this -showpie¢e of orecnised trabspertetion is left torrot whilst the ‘medequcte-roed system becore ieercasingly overburdcned.
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Tin many iiustances -shivs docking in London discharge a po amount of corgo for the -North; in sore &nstances up to 75% of 2 ship's. enrro. may be ues Eved ‘ec tho Kerth by road pAee sont when it would bejuch quicker, end seve rood cornresticn if the’ Corgo weg aischargcd in -c northern nory, or sent by Fail 6 watc®.
Report on the Docks continucd/ On meny occasions ‘ships are held wiiting for road transport whilst reil ‘transport lics idlc,. GontraryG> popular bélicf, the N.D.I.5. does not control the, whole labour forced, and becausc-of this men cre often sent hone beeeuse a certain firm doc. not require theM, whilst other companies may be desperately short of men. On other occesions conpenics will have «.ship or shins berthed, but not working whilst they wait for other. shins to finish. "This is done to noble firtis to utilise thcir own labour force, auite often hundreds of non will ‘be cut of ork whilst; this is happening Often ships ‘hve gangs stcndinc by, waiting.fer two or three * aays for customs ond 2.1.4. clocrance of the cargo thet in some cases as been waitin In th. warehouse for severcl days longer, i. fair proportion of shinners send their. cargo down after
pialples the’ closing @ctc, hopin: to get top stowage. we) The timber ships in che Surrey Docks nay have up to eight or nine different wrchants' ecrgo down one hold, Ech merchant sing «a @ifferent clerk to tally his own particular bateh, which will be tallied by the shinoing comrany's hatch clerk in any case. Meny coupenies hold tally clcrks surplus to: requirements whilst: other coxuponics are undermanned. The conditions, that the werkers work under are worse than any othcr industry ih tho country. The dqacker is never supplied with protective clothing unless ke demands it, and this usually means a stoppcge of work on extrenely filthy cargeecs such.as ccment, lampblack ete. when working in refrigeratcd ships the only protection affordcd the docker is sacking to wrap around his boots, end this is to keep the mect clean. Drhs, wash-bcsins end; showers are conspicuous by their absence. Toilets are uuettended.and in tho cold weather becone frozen end unusable. Tea breaks have to. be taken in the onen surrounced by filth.. There are no plceces where-one can change and canteen fecilitics ore so bed thet it Is cneough to say that when Frank Cousins visited the docks in the autunun of 1964, he said that he wouldn't take his dog, intc then. Yet the biggest disgrace of all are the medical facilities. In en industry which annuelly hes one a in-every cight seriously injured, end one man in every 1,500 killed, there are no co-ordinated nedical services. The N.D.1L.3. ru the medical centres and the P.i.... runs the anbulcnce services. There is no liaison betwcen the two. In an industry that works two hours overtine every Gay. the medical services close down -t 5 o'clock, ‘so that at the tine when accidents cre most likely to dCour: i.e. botween 5 pm and 7 pm in the evening, end cn Soturdeys ond Sundays, there are no medical facilitics within oe docks. There is no liaison between level crcssings and swing oridgcs and the ambulence scrvice ~- as = w sult anbulanccs arc often heléc up on the way to accidents and on returning soneti: 2th seriously injured men, these hold-ups can 1st eOhe pi muteds
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Report on the Docks continucd/
Whssc does the docluorker stand when Lt comes to industriel reform + The cnswer is -clear-to sec ! The décEworkers were exeludcd fron The o are cts of Imployment uct of 1963, ond fron the so=celled."bross hond<shake",
a @°How ean you decasuclise sonething that is not cdsucal '? The registered dock worlcr hrs to uresent hinsclf for vork twice < dey; if there is ne werk he ecnnes scek work elsewhore, beccuse the Dock L-:bour Bocrd rétecirs his ¢ards at cll tines. He décnnot go or the dole, nor ccn he seek Nationel Assistunec when he is cut of work. He may be pettinre bess money then he would get on the dole, “ad yet he nays all his social security contributions <t Guch tines =< iticernl Healthy, Tax cote. The only terms in whieh he den -_ clessed as casucl, is the casual way ip which he is trented by those thet onploy hin.
LLY so-called de-casualisaticn sehenes so fn1 Due rorward by tho employers heve beens -imed ¢ “G abtaining «© yg control over 2 percentape of the Labour forec. Wh leaving the .).L.5. with a reserve pool for cnerronet cs. Lot at any vine have they put forwerd a corprehcnsive scheme - to cubreee cll registered dock workers
Io doen't thin thet one enn presont a report on the docks withcut some mention of the trad. s unions. As recdcrs will know there ore five unicns throughout the country concerned with dochkorss I shell speck abous two of there
The Ulucs, members of the N.4A.5.G D.U. cnd the Whites, menbers of ti: T.é G.u.U, The Blucs were cispelled frou the T.U.C. for So-eolled poaching ten yerrs o¢o. The White officials have refused over since to sit with them on the Retioml Jeint Council fer the industry, thereby denying over 6,000 nen the right. of « voice on major cffoirs.
This/Berinst GG WLSNCS GE the Greet. rejorivy of the White menbers whe have repectsdly compressed their desire to hove the a o i ee 1 . Pa, je Ee $ Z 3
Blues fully represcntcd, Inst-necs wicere the tue unioes have got together, “s in the case of the fort7-hrur week, mobility of Ispour 6te«, the 6ffieiclse arye earn icneced the opinions of the vist majority; of their members, worked Berd. in
sac 1 WOLI cers .
The executives
srests of the
glove ‘Luh the port cnployors ba _neming without consulting the neribershin vin 1 ern no lorser be reperded as maerncaretes WOTKCTS «
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I heve cevered somowhat sabes Sole of the troubles within the docks. The only wey to oveve “¢ these problens so that the decks and ports cen fully serve he noaticn is to place them in the hends of the people bhieour ch @cmocratic workers! ecntrol within notional plimning ond rn oe