Page 52 - 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. 52
plex Gateways
it played a key role in maritime or river and lake transport, or other trade
activities.
Porters were usually organized by companies, in a corporate way.
The Companies based their structures on statutes or contracts with the
city administrations, which determined the internal legal order for mem-
bers and the public position of the company, and its economic relation-
ship with the labour market. The roles of the companies and the types
of carrier services were different. One company might have a locally de-
fined scope, such as a city district, a port area, or a transshipment route.
Others were specialized in the type of cargo, such as the transport of wa-
ter, oil, coal, meat products, or people and their luggage, and still oth-
ers were tied to both the local type of work and cargo. The scope, spe-
cializations, and all the rules were set by the local authorities according
to the needs of individual carrier services and the availability of labour.
Porterage rights were usually exclusive and frequently monopolistic. This
was sometimes due to security reasons or trust. One such example was
the port customs porters, who had to guarantee that no irregularities oc-
curred when goods crossed the customs border. Therefore, in some cit-
ies the customs granted a monopoly position to companies of foreigners,
whose members were not allowed to have relatives or other interests in-
side the city (Orelli Vassere 2000, 227–8).
Private privileges and monopoly positions sometimes depended on
the type of goods or service. Local administrations allocated them on the
basis of permanent contracts, and companies managed to obtain them
by taking over from other companies. They could also derive from oth-
er privileges, such as concessions granted by city administrations to cer-
tain bearer companies in recognition of special public benefit. Such were
the accolades in some northern Italian cities for taking away the sick and
dead during the plague (Piccinno 2002, 4–5). On the one hand, the ad-
ministrations demanded a rigid and precisely regulated structure of por-
ter work, in order to meet the needs and ensure the appropriate quality
of porter services. On the other hand, regulations and monopolies pre-
vented the overcrowding of workers and their falling below the subsist-
ence limit. They also enabled the sustainability of companies through the
generational renewal. Some retained distinct ethnic features and other
forms of identity. This was particularly the case for companies formed
by immigrants who, operated as migratory work systems. An example of
such a company is the Caravana del portofranco in Genoa, which consist-
52
it played a key role in maritime or river and lake transport, or other trade
activities.
Porters were usually organized by companies, in a corporate way.
The Companies based their structures on statutes or contracts with the
city administrations, which determined the internal legal order for mem-
bers and the public position of the company, and its economic relation-
ship with the labour market. The roles of the companies and the types
of carrier services were different. One company might have a locally de-
fined scope, such as a city district, a port area, or a transshipment route.
Others were specialized in the type of cargo, such as the transport of wa-
ter, oil, coal, meat products, or people and their luggage, and still oth-
ers were tied to both the local type of work and cargo. The scope, spe-
cializations, and all the rules were set by the local authorities according
to the needs of individual carrier services and the availability of labour.
Porterage rights were usually exclusive and frequently monopolistic. This
was sometimes due to security reasons or trust. One such example was
the port customs porters, who had to guarantee that no irregularities oc-
curred when goods crossed the customs border. Therefore, in some cit-
ies the customs granted a monopoly position to companies of foreigners,
whose members were not allowed to have relatives or other interests in-
side the city (Orelli Vassere 2000, 227–8).
Private privileges and monopoly positions sometimes depended on
the type of goods or service. Local administrations allocated them on the
basis of permanent contracts, and companies managed to obtain them
by taking over from other companies. They could also derive from oth-
er privileges, such as concessions granted by city administrations to cer-
tain bearer companies in recognition of special public benefit. Such were
the accolades in some northern Italian cities for taking away the sick and
dead during the plague (Piccinno 2002, 4–5). On the one hand, the ad-
ministrations demanded a rigid and precisely regulated structure of por-
ter work, in order to meet the needs and ensure the appropriate quality
of porter services. On the other hand, regulations and monopolies pre-
vented the overcrowding of workers and their falling below the subsist-
ence limit. They also enabled the sustainability of companies through the
generational renewal. Some retained distinct ethnic features and other
forms of identity. This was particularly the case for companies formed
by immigrants who, operated as migratory work systems. An example of
such a company is the Caravana del portofranco in Genoa, which consist-
52
