Prior to the abolition of the National Dock Labour Scheme (NDLS) in July 1989, registered dock workers had good jobs. This was the result, first and foremost, of militant solidarity on the part of dock workers and, of course, the NDLS, which was itself a principal outcome of organised struggle. Deregulation post-1989 has transformed `dock work' to such an extent that the industry no longer offers the kind of extrinsic or intrinsic rewards enjoyed by dockers in the past; but the restructuring of the industry was only made possible by the mass redundancy of ex-registered dockers, in particular trade union activists. It was redundancy, in conjunction with the abolition of the NDLS, that led to the demise of what was once the `greatest game in the world'.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Allen, P.T. (1982) `Size of Workforce, Morale and Absenteeism: A Reexamination', British Journal of Industrial Relations, 20, 1, 83-100.
2.
Bullock, A. (1960) The Life and Times of Ernest Bevin, Volume 1, London: Heinemann.
3.
Collis-Squires, N. (1977) `Investigation of the National Dock Labour Scheme as an Example of Statutory Joint-Control of an Industry', LL.M Thesis, University of Warwick.
4.
Dally, H.K. (1981) `Review of British Container Terminals', National Ports Council, Bulletin 16, Winter, 1-14.
5.
Daniel, W.W. and Stilgoe, E. (1978) The Impact of Employment Protection Laws, London: Policy Studies Institute.
6.
Devlin, Lord (1965) Final Report of the Committee of Inquiry Under the Rt. Hon. Lord Devlin into Certain Matters Concerning the Port Transport Industry, Cmnd 2734, London: HMSO.
7.
Evans, N., MacKay, D., Garrett, M. and Sutcliffe, P. (1993) The Abolition of the Dock Labour Scheme, Research Series No. 14, London: Employment Department.
8.
Fryer, B. (1981) `State, Redundancy and the Law' in B. Fryer, A. Hunt, D. McBarnet and B. Moorehouse (eds.) Law, State and Society, London: Croom Helm, 136-159.
9.
Gordon, A. (1984) Redundancy in the 1980s, Aldershot: Gower.
10.
Hamilton-White, W. (1934) Decasualisation of Dock Labour, Bristol: Arrowsmith.
11.
Hill, S. (1976) The Dockers, London: Heinemann.
12.
Lee, R.M. (1985) `Redundancy, Labour Markets and Informal Relations', Sociological Review, 33, 3, 469-494.
13.
Liverpool University (1956) The Dock Worker, Liverpool: Liverpool University Press.
NAPE (1988) The Case Against the Dock Labour Scheme, London: National Association of Port Employers.
16.
Newman, N. (1980) `Private Problem for Public Ports', Management Today, December, 66-74.
17.
Oram, Colonel R.B. (1970) The Dockers' Tragedy, London: Hutchinson.
18.
Payne, P.J. et al. v. Port of London Authority (1991) Case 15560/89/LN/C, (August).
19.
Phillips, G. and Whiteside, N. (1985) Casual Labour, Oxford: Clarendon.
20.
Topham, T. (1991) `Danger on the Docks', European Labour Forum, 6, Winter, 34-35.
21.
Topham, T. (1992) Summary Dismissal: A Suitable Case for Protest, London: International Transport Workers' Federation.
22.
Turnbull, P. (1988) `Leaner and Possibly Fitter: The Management of Redundancy in Britain', Industrial Relations Journal, 19, 3, 201-213.
23.
Turnbull, P. (1991) `Labour Market Deregulation and Economic Performance - The Case of Britain's Docks', Work, Employment and Society, 5, 1, 1-19.
24.
Turnbull, P. (1992) `Dock Strikes and the Demise of the Dockers' "Occupational Culture" `, Sociological Review, 40, 2, 294-318.
25.
Turnbull, P., Wass, V. and Weston, S. (1993) The Price of Deregulating Britain's Ports: The Socio-Economic Costs of the Dock Labour Compensation Scheme, Cardiff: Cardiff Business School, UWCC.
26.
Turnbull, P. and Weston, S. (1993a) `Co-operation or Control? Capital Restructuring and Labour Relations on the Docks', British Journal of Industrial Relations, 31, 1, 115-134.
27.
Turnbull, P. and Weston, S. (1993b) `The British Port Transport Industry: Part 1. Operational Structure, Investment and Competition', Maritime Policy and Management, 20, 2, 109-120.
28.
Turnbull, P. and Weston, S. (1993c) `The British Port Transport Industry: Part 2. Employment, Working Practices and Productivity', Maritime Policy and Management, 20, 3, 181-195.
29.
Turnbull, P., Woolfson, C. and Kelly, J. (1992) Dock Strike: Conflict and Restructuring in Britain's Ports, Aldershot: Avebury.
30.
West, J.G. (1974) `Report on a Survey of Registered Dock Workers at London who have Accepted Severance', National Ports Council, Bulletin 6, Summer, 30-40.
31.
Westergaard, J., Noble, I. and Walker, A. (1989) After Redundancy, Cambridge: Polity Press.
32.
Wilson, D.F. (1972) Dockers, London: Fontana.
33.
Wood, S.J. and Cohen, J. (1977) `Approaches to the Study of Redundancy', Industrial Relations Journal, 8(4): 19-27.
34.
Young, M. and Willmott, P. (1957) Family and Kinship in East London, Harmondsworth: Penguin.
