Waterfront revolts

by Davis, Colin J

"During the decade that followed the end of World War II, dockworkers in New York City and London undertook a series of militant revolts against their employers, their governments, and their union leaderships. In this innovative comparative study, Colin J. Davis explores the dynamics of work and work stoppage along these two pivotal waterfronts. He identifies the structural and cultural forces that lay behind the emergence of rank-and-file dockworker movements, enabling workers to challenge union hierarchies and to wring concessions from national governments." "Davis examines the ethnic and racial profiles of workers and how their racial standings determined entry into the workforce. He discusses the work itself, with its shared sense of skill and danger, use of nicknames as identifying signals, and pilferage as a form of rebellion and entitlement. He examines the alienation of the work force from employers and top trade union officials, exploring ties between the New York union leader