A History of Labour on the Wellington Waterfront up to 1937

Abstract

The problem of waterside labour has been one which has agitated the minds of thoughtful men since the late years of last century, when the general humanitarian trend brought an upsurgence of social and economic reform in most spheres of labour. There seems, however, to have been no general recognition in England, of the need of reform in the industry, no realisation of the resulting dislocation of the life of the community from a trade where unemployment and chronic underemployment flourished, until the English dockers' strike in 1889. The earlier Marine Strike in New York in 1881, which so adversely affected the longshoremen of that part, did not gain for them in America the same recognition of their invidious position, nor did the harbour workers in Germany, the foremost continental country in consideration of the problem, appear to come into prominence till the early nineties. From that time, however, the problem arising from waterside labour has been recognised as an industrial evil and a social anomaly which should be remedied. It is improbable that the recognition of this condition of affairs would have produced much effective and practical action without the growing power and driving force of organised unionism. Reports and discussion the world over, the result of inquiry into matters affecting the industry have done little besides lay down the principles for reform. In New Zealand at this period despite the 1890 Maritime Strike there is no undue alarm expressed over the same question. This is due in part to the better living conditions and smaller numbers of wharf labourers engaged in the industry in New Zealand, an in part to the fact that the strikers were not demanding reform but rather striking for a principle. Nevertheless the same special aspects of the shipping trade were operative in New Zealand and demanded urgent reform. The problems of long unbroken hours of work, over-fatigue, lack of proper safeguards and competent supervision of conditions of work, and the high accident rates were ever present. The intermittent nature of the work, the surplus of necessary labour and, over depression years, the increased competition for a smaller amount of work, combined with the apparently irremediable lack of permanence and security were also present. The fluctuating demand for labour meant that a larger number of men must be kept at the disposal of the stevedoring companies, than could adequately be maintained at a living wage. The impact on society of economic insecurity of a portion of the community is well known, and it follows that any improved scheme for the employment of wharf labour must make some attempt at the decasualisation of the industry. This thesis is an attempt to trace the history of organised labour on the Wellington waterfront; to discuss conditions of labour, relations between employer and labour and co-operation of workers within the Union; to follow the development of that union until the establishment of the Bureau System in 1937. With the forming of the New Zealand Waterside Workers’ Union, and the resultant centralised control of waterfront labour in New Zealand, and with the first really sustained and honest attempt at decasualisation of wharf labour, the end of a period on the Wellington waterfront has been reached.