Page 209 - 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. 209
The Labour Factor: The Docks of Trieste and Koper through the Global Crisis
ened to retaliate against the strikers for the damages suffered because of
work stoppage. Moreover, the management of the port did not recognize
the requests of the IPS workers because they were not direct employees of
the port (Je. G. 2011).
The demonstration received the support of workers in the ports
of Trieste and Rijeka and that of the Slovenian railway unions and was
backed by the organization of the Invisible Workers of the World. The
strike and the protests ended after eight days, when an agreement was
reached that included three points: first, that the strike was legitimate
and that the workers involved would not be discriminated against in any
way because of the strike; second, that the Koper Port Authority would
be involved as an equal partner in further negotiations between workers,
subcontractors, and the Port Authority; and third, that the workers’ wag-
es would be raised by 5% and that a collective contract would be signed
for all dock workers, regardless of whether they were directly employed
by the Port or by any subcontracting company (Vidmar and Učkar 2014,
83–4).
What makes this strike fit into the iceberg model concerns on the
one hand the relationship between ‘secure’ workers and ‘uncertain’ work-
ers and, on the other, the reporting that was given by the media.
The Crane Operators’ Union was set up in 2007 to overcome the frag-
mentation of port unions and as a response to a representation that was
considered too soft. It is defined as an ‘anarchist’ union due to the as-
sembly modalities with which decisions are taken and because it exclu-
sively groups direct employees of the port. The division between direct
workers and subcontractors is also an ethnic division: the direct work-
ers are Slovenians or long-standing immigrants, while the subcontracted
employees are often the result of recent immigration and subject to leg-
islation that, at least in their first year of permanence, puts them at the
complete mercy of their employers. The fact that they spontaneously sup-
ported the crane strike, their attempts to create an autonomous trade
union organization, and the relations between individuals from oppos-
ing countries in the Balkan wars deserves further study. Irrespective of
the ethnic segmentation of the labour market, this concerns not only the
port, but also the whole city, and requires broader reflections.
When Slovenia’s largest daily newspaper, Delo, reported the long
strike, it presented it as a ‘partisan protest’, giving more emphasis to
managements’ positions (Šuligoj 2011). It also published a letter from
209
ened to retaliate against the strikers for the damages suffered because of
work stoppage. Moreover, the management of the port did not recognize
the requests of the IPS workers because they were not direct employees of
the port (Je. G. 2011).
The demonstration received the support of workers in the ports
of Trieste and Rijeka and that of the Slovenian railway unions and was
backed by the organization of the Invisible Workers of the World. The
strike and the protests ended after eight days, when an agreement was
reached that included three points: first, that the strike was legitimate
and that the workers involved would not be discriminated against in any
way because of the strike; second, that the Koper Port Authority would
be involved as an equal partner in further negotiations between workers,
subcontractors, and the Port Authority; and third, that the workers’ wag-
es would be raised by 5% and that a collective contract would be signed
for all dock workers, regardless of whether they were directly employed
by the Port or by any subcontracting company (Vidmar and Učkar 2014,
83–4).
What makes this strike fit into the iceberg model concerns on the
one hand the relationship between ‘secure’ workers and ‘uncertain’ work-
ers and, on the other, the reporting that was given by the media.
The Crane Operators’ Union was set up in 2007 to overcome the frag-
mentation of port unions and as a response to a representation that was
considered too soft. It is defined as an ‘anarchist’ union due to the as-
sembly modalities with which decisions are taken and because it exclu-
sively groups direct employees of the port. The division between direct
workers and subcontractors is also an ethnic division: the direct work-
ers are Slovenians or long-standing immigrants, while the subcontracted
employees are often the result of recent immigration and subject to leg-
islation that, at least in their first year of permanence, puts them at the
complete mercy of their employers. The fact that they spontaneously sup-
ported the crane strike, their attempts to create an autonomous trade
union organization, and the relations between individuals from oppos-
ing countries in the Balkan wars deserves further study. Irrespective of
the ethnic segmentation of the labour market, this concerns not only the
port, but also the whole city, and requires broader reflections.
When Slovenia’s largest daily newspaper, Delo, reported the long
strike, it presented it as a ‘partisan protest’, giving more emphasis to
managements’ positions (Šuligoj 2011). It also published a letter from
209
