A Sea of Discontent: The Tides of Organised and `Unorganised' Conflict on the Docks

Abstract

Although it has long been recognised that industrial conflict embraces both strikes and other `unorganised' forms of conflict, such as absenteeism, there has been remarkably little empirical analysis of unorganised conflict per se or the relationship between organised and unorganised conflict. This is a reflection, in part, of a dearth of readily available empirical data, but more importantly the problem of establishing that forms of unorganised conflict such as absenteeism are in fact an expression of conflict for particular occupational groups or a particular workplace. This is less of a problem for Britain's registered dockers who, in persistently organising (unofficial) strikes and absenting themselves from work, challenged the process of industrial rationalisation throughout the post-war period. But the purpose and meanings attached to absenteeism changed markedly over time, as did the relationship between strikes and absenteeism. The nature and administration of the employment relationship under casual and permanent work regimes had a profound effect on the absence culture of the docks, as did technological change in the late 1960s and 1970s. Detailed analysis of the post-war period illustrates that industrial conflict on the docks can only be understood in relation to the effect of casual and permanent work regimes on both organised and unorganised conflict.