C: The 'gangers' engage labour
The Dockers
The contract system
Although many of the permanent and casual dock labourers were employed directly by the dock companies much of the work of the gangs was organised through contractors.
These were often men who had been foremen in the docks for many years. They would arrange for a ship to be unloaded at a fixed price per ton.
Unloading involved two operations:
(1) work in the ship's hold and
(2) handling the goods after they had left the ship, e.g. trucking goods along the quayside, warehousing, sampling, weighing etc.
The contractors would go to 'gangers' who would choose two gangs of men, one for work in the ship's hold, another for work on the quay. This did not work to the advantage of the dockers as Source D shows.
D: 'Now for the effect of the system upon the dock labourer. The complaint of the men is, first, that they are compelled to bribe, treat, or fawn upon the (gangers) who have the selection of the workers.
Secondly, and this is the gist (main point) excessive amount of work is got out of them in return for a disproportionately low scale of pay. It is true that the hourly wage paid by the gangers is no lower than formerly.
But for this wage the men complain that they are overdriven It is the ganger's interest to employ as few hands as possible for a given piece of work, and yet to get the work done as quickly as if it were adequately manned.'
TheTimes, 29 August 1889
C: The 'gangers' engage labour
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Contact
Nigel Sagar
Design and Technology
London Borough of Barking
and Dagenham
Email: nigel.sagar@lbbd.gov.uk
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