Page 206 - 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. 206
plex Gateways
regime using many types of employment contracts (Appetecchia 2011).
This situation has given rise to an internal competition played on the re-
duction of tariffs, accompanied by a reduction in costs for the safety of
workers and also by the bankruptcy of some companies. Many workers
found themselves in a situation of extreme uncertainty due to the reduc-
tion in hours worked. For this reason, in 2009, the Friuli Venezia Giulia
Region signed an agreement for payroll subsidies to port workers, most-
ly employees of cooperatives which otherwise would have been devoid of
any social safety net.
The process begun with Law 84/94 found full realization only in 2016,
when the Port Labour Agency was established in Trieste, which brought
together many workers from failed cooperatives. The Agency is responsi-
ble for providing temporary work in ports; therefore, it selects and hires
workers according to the limits of staffing set by the port authorities and
guarantees adequate training plans (Bottos, Conti, and Rustichelli 2019).
The reconstruction, albeit partial, of the organization of port work
in Trieste and Koper allows us to formulate some general considerations.
The global crisis has had a strong impact on the labour market in these
two ports, changing the conditions of many workers. The new needs of
ports and the growth of work peaks caused by naval gigantism require a
manpower that has a higher level of training and is available to perform
different tasks. The multifunctionality required of the workers is com-
pensated by greater stability. However, the issues related to the protec-
tion of employment still remain open in the context of the governance of
the automation and innovation procedures of the sector. Furthermore,
there is the decisive impact on ports made by shipping companies that
aim to achieve cost cuts along the transport chains by decreasing the pro-
tection of workers and safety at work. The trade unions dispute the claim
of the companies for the involvement of the crews of the ships in port op-
erations, causing serious safety risks on board and on the quays and also
with drastic repercussions on employment. According to the scheme pro-
posed by Notteboom, from which we started, there is a general trend that
affects all ports and that pushes towards open and autonomous pool sys-
tems with reserves of temporary employment agencies. There are strong
pressures from port companies towards continuous work with flexible
start times and variable shift lengths. This also depends on the conse-
quences of naval gigantism and the impacts it entails on the port and ter-
minal sector and on logistic chains. The volumes handled are considera-
206
regime using many types of employment contracts (Appetecchia 2011).
This situation has given rise to an internal competition played on the re-
duction of tariffs, accompanied by a reduction in costs for the safety of
workers and also by the bankruptcy of some companies. Many workers
found themselves in a situation of extreme uncertainty due to the reduc-
tion in hours worked. For this reason, in 2009, the Friuli Venezia Giulia
Region signed an agreement for payroll subsidies to port workers, most-
ly employees of cooperatives which otherwise would have been devoid of
any social safety net.
The process begun with Law 84/94 found full realization only in 2016,
when the Port Labour Agency was established in Trieste, which brought
together many workers from failed cooperatives. The Agency is responsi-
ble for providing temporary work in ports; therefore, it selects and hires
workers according to the limits of staffing set by the port authorities and
guarantees adequate training plans (Bottos, Conti, and Rustichelli 2019).
The reconstruction, albeit partial, of the organization of port work
in Trieste and Koper allows us to formulate some general considerations.
The global crisis has had a strong impact on the labour market in these
two ports, changing the conditions of many workers. The new needs of
ports and the growth of work peaks caused by naval gigantism require a
manpower that has a higher level of training and is available to perform
different tasks. The multifunctionality required of the workers is com-
pensated by greater stability. However, the issues related to the protec-
tion of employment still remain open in the context of the governance of
the automation and innovation procedures of the sector. Furthermore,
there is the decisive impact on ports made by shipping companies that
aim to achieve cost cuts along the transport chains by decreasing the pro-
tection of workers and safety at work. The trade unions dispute the claim
of the companies for the involvement of the crews of the ships in port op-
erations, causing serious safety risks on board and on the quays and also
with drastic repercussions on employment. According to the scheme pro-
posed by Notteboom, from which we started, there is a general trend that
affects all ports and that pushes towards open and autonomous pool sys-
tems with reserves of temporary employment agencies. There are strong
pressures from port companies towards continuous work with flexible
start times and variable shift lengths. This also depends on the conse-
quences of naval gigantism and the impacts it entails on the port and ter-
minal sector and on logistic chains. The volumes handled are considera-
206
