Page 191 - 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. 191
A Respected Profession After All: Work Structures and Self-Perceptions ...
After 1950, Hamburg could no longer assert itself as the ‘stronghold
of the labour movement’ (Weinhauer 1994, 19). In retrospect, many inter-
view partners instead focused on their professional career to keep their
jobs in the port.
However, solidarity and social cohesion did not lose their meaning
and value, but received other connotations and became visible in differ-
ent contexts. For example, Paul Wonner takes a clear stand on the po-
litical attitude: ‘We can’t stand machos and Nazis. Those are the things
where we say: No chance! […] Nevertheless, we pay attention to that, be-
cause they are mixing in a bit, as I’ve heard. […] If there is a person about
whose attitude we are insecure, we don’t turn him over. He’ll be gone
eventually. In this case, we’re tough. And that’s what we announce dur-
ing recruitment. Any Nazi characteristics are grounds for dismissal. And
we’re proud of that. ’Cause part of being a docker is being a worker’ (Paul
Wonner, 1950). Wonner clearly defines the political standpoint and the
limits of the tolerable, underlining the consistency and determination in
approaching politically right-minded colleagues. Some years before I in-
terviewed Wonner, the candidate of the right-conservative ‘Schill party’
was voted the second mayor in Hamburg. Wonner explained that a fright-
eningly large number of unionists and workers voted for it. By referring
to the success of the party in 2001, he also showed that the widely estab-
lished image of left-wing groups such as workers is no longer valid, with
their turning to right-wing parties and contents (Eribon 2016). Wonner
still clearly positions the symbolic figure of the worker on the left.
However, these symbolic meanings are rather an expression of subjective
positioning and hardly ever reflected in collective political action practic-
es. Concerning the political image of the dock worker, Kamin-Seggewies
refers to the homepage ‘Proud to be a docker’, a Europe-wide campaign
launched to keep alive the political tradition in the ports and to make
it plain to current employees ‘that they are workers, too’ (Bernt Kamin-
Seggewies, 1960). This statement shows the symbolic value that is contin-
uously attached to the figure.
Although the structural transformation resulted in a largely de-po-
liticized work culture regarding public and visible political action, many
former workers continue to articulate their consciousness as dock work-
ers and the strong social cohesion amongst colleagues.
191
After 1950, Hamburg could no longer assert itself as the ‘stronghold
of the labour movement’ (Weinhauer 1994, 19). In retrospect, many inter-
view partners instead focused on their professional career to keep their
jobs in the port.
However, solidarity and social cohesion did not lose their meaning
and value, but received other connotations and became visible in differ-
ent contexts. For example, Paul Wonner takes a clear stand on the po-
litical attitude: ‘We can’t stand machos and Nazis. Those are the things
where we say: No chance! […] Nevertheless, we pay attention to that, be-
cause they are mixing in a bit, as I’ve heard. […] If there is a person about
whose attitude we are insecure, we don’t turn him over. He’ll be gone
eventually. In this case, we’re tough. And that’s what we announce dur-
ing recruitment. Any Nazi characteristics are grounds for dismissal. And
we’re proud of that. ’Cause part of being a docker is being a worker’ (Paul
Wonner, 1950). Wonner clearly defines the political standpoint and the
limits of the tolerable, underlining the consistency and determination in
approaching politically right-minded colleagues. Some years before I in-
terviewed Wonner, the candidate of the right-conservative ‘Schill party’
was voted the second mayor in Hamburg. Wonner explained that a fright-
eningly large number of unionists and workers voted for it. By referring
to the success of the party in 2001, he also showed that the widely estab-
lished image of left-wing groups such as workers is no longer valid, with
their turning to right-wing parties and contents (Eribon 2016). Wonner
still clearly positions the symbolic figure of the worker on the left.
However, these symbolic meanings are rather an expression of subjective
positioning and hardly ever reflected in collective political action practic-
es. Concerning the political image of the dock worker, Kamin-Seggewies
refers to the homepage ‘Proud to be a docker’, a Europe-wide campaign
launched to keep alive the political tradition in the ports and to make
it plain to current employees ‘that they are workers, too’ (Bernt Kamin-
Seggewies, 1960). This statement shows the symbolic value that is contin-
uously attached to the figure.
Although the structural transformation resulted in a largely de-po-
liticized work culture regarding public and visible political action, many
former workers continue to articulate their consciousness as dock work-
ers and the strong social cohesion amongst colleagues.
191
