The docker`s job
Tough and independent, dockers are a race apart. Ports depend on them more than any other group of workers. Because of this, and the way they used to be employed, they had the power to disrupt the port.
Much dock work involves hard physical labour, but a degree of skill and experience is also needed. It is also very specialised. The main distinction is between stevedores and porters, but there are many other types of worker.
Stevedores and porters
In contrast to stevedores, porters never go on a ship. When the stevedores have unloaded the cargo porters move it from the dockside into warehouses or sheds. They also have tasks such as counting, sorting, and weighing items. They also pack them into canal boats, barges, rail wagons or trucks.Stevedores actually fill and empty ships. They work in the hold of a ship, to stow the cargo most efficiently, or unload it as quickly as possible. Also referred to as stevedores are those who work on deck, lowering or raising the cargo from the hold, and move it between ship and shore. Stevedores are regarded as the most skilled of dockers and their work is probably the most hazardous. This is usually reflected in their wages.
In a large port, dockers might specialise in different types of cargo. Fruit porters, for instance, become very skilled at judging the fruit they unloaded. So much so, that the fruit merchants relied on the porters to grade the fruit they sold. In cotton importing ports like Liverpool, some stevedores specialised in this particular cargo because of the way it was loaded. Being light and bulky, bales of cotton were physically forced into the holds in loading ports such as New Orleans (Southern United States), so as much as possible could be carried. Getting it out again was a skilled job.
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