Page 187 - Mellinato, Giulio, and Aleksander Panjek. Eds. 2022. Complex Gateways. Labour and Urban History of Maritime Port Cities: The Northern Adriaticin a Comparative Perspective. Koper: University of Primorska Press.
P. 187
A Respected Profession After All: Work Structures and Self-Perceptions ...
Changing patterns of solidarity
Containerization and modern cargo handling brought along a variety of
transformations concerning the social space. New professional practic-
es brought changed social structures in the working groups, and influ-
enced arrangements based on interaction and solidarity on a profession-
al as well as political level.
Besides a strong reduction of jobs, one central aspect mentioned in
the narrations was reduced opportunities for weak or older colleagues
or those who were only partially able to work (Kiupel 1990, 77). The port
used to offer its workers various niches, and companies, for example,
hired workers who were no longer able to carry out their usual activities
due to accidents or sickness as custodians in so-called convalescent work-
places, even if they were unable to do physically demanding dock work.
These kinds of workplaces were part of ‘informal solidarity structures’
that dissolved over the years (Brüggemeier 1984, 254). As the system sup-
ported the individual, Walter Widmann accentuates the activities with
and for each other: ‘On this quay shed, for example, there were two or
three men who always had something to sweep, to clean, or they cleaned
windows [...]. We were able to drag them along. And that’s no longer the
case today’ (Walter Widmann, 1940). Widmann, who worked as a train-
ing instructor for many years, also explained that workers who could not
attend further training courses or work with technical equipment due
to a lower level of education were deployed elsewhere. This already hints
at the importance of qualification to stay in the system. Gustav Paulsen,
his colleague at the training centre, also emphasizes this aspect. He de-
scribes the handling of teaching materials as a major problem for many
colleagues who were not used to written tests. Although their working
practices were convincing, they fell out of the system due to a lack of ab-
straction capacity. Furthermore, a central condition for qualification and
equal opportunities was knowledge of the German language. In addition,
as a training instructor for the GHB workers and a council member, he
was particularly committed to work security and health protection, but
states that it was not an easy task to transmit this importance to his col-
leagues, who were mainly interested in working a lot, including overtime,
in order to gain money.
Besides transforming the social composition of the profession, the
altered work organization affected workers’ political attitudes. The reg-
ulation of the port milieu by politicians and port operators alike formed
187
Changing patterns of solidarity
Containerization and modern cargo handling brought along a variety of
transformations concerning the social space. New professional practic-
es brought changed social structures in the working groups, and influ-
enced arrangements based on interaction and solidarity on a profession-
al as well as political level.
Besides a strong reduction of jobs, one central aspect mentioned in
the narrations was reduced opportunities for weak or older colleagues
or those who were only partially able to work (Kiupel 1990, 77). The port
used to offer its workers various niches, and companies, for example,
hired workers who were no longer able to carry out their usual activities
due to accidents or sickness as custodians in so-called convalescent work-
places, even if they were unable to do physically demanding dock work.
These kinds of workplaces were part of ‘informal solidarity structures’
that dissolved over the years (Brüggemeier 1984, 254). As the system sup-
ported the individual, Walter Widmann accentuates the activities with
and for each other: ‘On this quay shed, for example, there were two or
three men who always had something to sweep, to clean, or they cleaned
windows [...]. We were able to drag them along. And that’s no longer the
case today’ (Walter Widmann, 1940). Widmann, who worked as a train-
ing instructor for many years, also explained that workers who could not
attend further training courses or work with technical equipment due
to a lower level of education were deployed elsewhere. This already hints
at the importance of qualification to stay in the system. Gustav Paulsen,
his colleague at the training centre, also emphasizes this aspect. He de-
scribes the handling of teaching materials as a major problem for many
colleagues who were not used to written tests. Although their working
practices were convincing, they fell out of the system due to a lack of ab-
straction capacity. Furthermore, a central condition for qualification and
equal opportunities was knowledge of the German language. In addition,
as a training instructor for the GHB workers and a council member, he
was particularly committed to work security and health protection, but
states that it was not an easy task to transmit this importance to his col-
leagues, who were mainly interested in working a lot, including overtime,
in order to gain money.
Besides transforming the social composition of the profession, the
altered work organization affected workers’ political attitudes. The reg-
ulation of the port milieu by politicians and port operators alike formed
187
