from a Hull reader
The meeting called by Hull Centre for Socialist Education on June 10th on the future of the docks was attended by Kevin McNamara, M.P. for Ne Hull, It was reported at length in the Daily Mail, fron which we take the following extracts: "The first step towards an efficient port industry is to raise the dignity of dockers by assuring them of a good, regular weekly wage, said Mr. K. McNamara, The situation in which men went home with scratches and bruises after fighting for a job was not a system under which a man could work properly, Nationalisation of the docks had to come as soon as possible with the immediate step the passing of the Docks and Harbours Billsesess He called for the abolition of the piece-work system and the introduction of understandable rates of pay. There should also be a proper system of training and the maintenance of a good wage for elderly workers. The docker should have a more active say in the running of the industry, not only in terms of his own conditions, but concerning future dock developments. "Mr. Tony Topham, the regional convenor for C.S.E., said the Government was on the one hand in favour of the Devlin Report and on the other in favour of nationalisation, The Devlin Report suggested decasualisation of employment, which was a very good thing, but offered it at the cost . of extending the powers of the private employer. The employers of the seamen were the employers of the majority of dockers, he warned. The report was in favour of merging firms. If efficiency was the purpose, why not reduce the number of employers in Hull not from say 90 to 10, but to one - the State? Dockers in Hull were aware of the weaknesses of orthodox nationalisttion, For instance, the British Transport Docks Board was composed almost ontirely of representatives of private industry, He suggested a national authority with regional or port authorities with responsibility for planning the industry and maintaining installations. National and local boards should be appointed by the Government with rules that no business interests should be represented, Port workers' councils should have the power to supervise and veto these appointments. The step of sweeping aside the private employer was a logical one. The private employer was simply a labour contractor, a 19th century survivor which fulfilled no useful function. Powers should be given to workers’ counceils to hire and fire dockers, All dockers would be regular workers, with regular employment and regular pay. "Nr. Harry Spaven, chairman of the Hull Unofficial Port Workers' Committee, said thet in general dockers thought the industry should be nationalised, and Mr, Brian Barker, of the T/?.W.U., said many dockers in Hull could tell the employers how to better their industry."