Liverpool dockers fight casualisation

By Lisa Macdonald Five hundred dock-workers in Liverpool have been sacked by the Mersey Harbour Dock Company (MHDC) after refusing to cross a picket line established by young "trainee" dockers fighting casualisation of their jobs. Dozens of ships and tens of thousands of containers have been diverted from Liverpool, mainly to ports outside Britain. The dockers are taking a determined stand to stop the casualisation of the Liverpool docks. Almost all other ports in Britain now choose their workers on a daily basis will the result that dockers never know from one day to the next whether they will have a job and income. This is occurring despite the fact that dock-workers' productivity has been constantly increasing — the 500 Liverpool dockers are shifting more cargo than at any time in the port's history, including when 6000 workers were employed. In Liverpool, the MHDC is attempting to hand over port operations to a notorious union-busting operator that specialises in casualising dock labour. The workers' own union, the Transport and General Workers' Union, has refused to give any official support on the grounds that it would put the assets of the union at risk through legal action. Despite this the dockers' strike is receiving massive public support. Messages of support can be sent to Jimmie Davies by fax on 44 151 298 1044 or the Liverpool dockers' shop stewards by phone on 44 151 207 3388.

From GLW issue 211