Navigation – Plan du site

AccueilRubriquesColloques2016“Dynamiques économiques portuaire...Sección 2 – Las dinámicas económi...Dockers in Las Palmas: Technologi...

2016
“Dynamiques économiques portuaires et réseaux dans l’Atlantique en perspective historique” (XVe – XXIe siècles)
Sección 2 – Las dinámicas económicas de los puertos en la larga duración

Dockers in Las Palmas: Technological changes, institutional evolution and waterfront radicalism (1960-2009)

Dockers in Las Palmas : Technological changes, institutional evolution and waterfront radicalism (1960-2009)
Daniel Castillo Hidalgo et Miguel Suárez Bosa

Résumés

Container shipping has constituted a revolution in trade on a planetary scale. Ports have had to change their infrastructures in order to incorporate the requisite technology, which has modified the historical trade networks around the World. The port of Las Palmas (Canary Islands) adapted its infrastructures and its institutional environment in order to develop the container activity that was added to its historical functions as scale port. The main aim of this paper is to explore the changes in port labour organization through the progressive implementation of container activities in Las Palmas. Port activity indicators, regulation, port infrastructures and labour relationships will be analysed with a view to presenting an overall perspective of the changes that have taken place in dock labour since the 1960s.

Haut de page

Notes de l’auteur

Previous drafts of this paper have been presented in the FZH, Seaports in Transition Conference (Hamburg, 2014) and in the International Scientific Meeting: The Governance of the Atlantic Ports (Lisbon, 2014). We must be grateful with the colleagues present at both meetings for their comments and suggestions.

Texte intégral

Introduction

  • 1 Valdaliso, Jesús , “El transporte marítimo en España, 1850-1936” en Barciela López, Carlos et al., (...)
  • 2 Suárez Bosa, Miguel “The role of the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Coal Route from the End of the (...)
  • 3 The conceptualization and methodology on the path-dependence have been discussed in : Arthur, W.B., (...)

1The privileged geographical location of Gran Canaria and the natural conditions of La Luz Bay are not the sole causes underlying the historical success of Las Palmas Port. Many other features have constituted positive elements that have had a positive influence on the competitiveness of the port. The success of Las Palmas is mainly based on its capacity to adapt its services, infrastructure and port communities to the demands of international shipping. The investment policy developed by the Spanish Ministry of Public Works from 1880 favoured the expansion of port activity in the Canaries, promoting their further integration into the global trading networks. This process of innovation and technological change allowed the growth of maritime trade, and the Spanish foreign trade, from the last third of the nineteenth century1. Different technological transitions he provided appropriate responses in the port since the last third of the nineteenth century when the port of Las Palmas became the main coaling station of the Middle Atlantic. This regional leadership was based on excellent coaling services and a strong port industry that favoured scale economies in transport2. The port of Las Palmas has managed to adapt to different technology so successful transitions from the last third of the nineteenth century when it became the main coaling station in the Middle Atlantic. The path of continuous innovation has been based on institutional support in terms of investment and regulation that have sustained the growth of its business and regional leadership. These aspects consolidated phenomena of path-dependence in the long run, especially in scaling functions and navigation support that endure to this day3.

  • 4 For a global exploration on these topics, see : Harlaftis, Gerlina, Tenold, Stig and Valdaliso, Jes (...)
  • 5 Marnot, Bruno, Les Grands Ports de commerce français et la mondialisation du XIXe siècle, Paris, Pr (...)
  • 6 Levinson, Mark, The Box : How the Shipping Container Made the World Smaller and the World Economy B (...)
  • 7 Kaukianen has recently settled several ways of technological modernization processes at quays durin (...)
  • 8 On the economic impact of the Spanish ports on the local and regional employment there is significa (...)
  • 9 Quintana, Guerra, Julio, Huella de los estibadores. Puerto de La Luz. La Isleta, Las Palmas de Gran (...)
  • 10 This argument about “docker´s subculture” has been criticized by Miller, where he exposed the metho (...)

2Since the 1920s the fuel-oil market began to acquire greater weight, entailing further consequences on coaling activities on an international scale. This was added to the constant evolutions in the shipping industry, which increased the size (tonnage), speed and cargo capacity of the vessels4. These changes required constant reforms in port infrastructures to enable maritime activities to take place and assure the port’s competitiveness5. The port community at Las Palmas has adapted its structures to these changes during different periods. Recently, the port has adapted its infrastructure to the new technical demands and the revolution caused by the container traffic. This cargo revolution, which started in the 1960s and expanded globally in 1980s, involved notable changes in port labour organization but in economic relationships6. Traditional stevedoring tasks that required a large number of dockers were replaced by a model based on intensive capital utilization and a small (but relatively highly skilled) workforce7. Stowage tasks have been radically transformed and the productivity per worker has increased notably thanks to the implementation of mechanical systems and highest specialization of dockers. Thus, this structure has given rise to a fall in the demand for workforce at ports as a consequence of increased cargo homogenisation and unitization caused by container technology8. However, other tasks such as the stowing of frozen fish and vegetables employ a large number of dockers9. The reaction to these structural changes in labour relations by dockers and their corporate institutions has caused significant unrest in the port. The organizational capability and the strength of dockers’ unions (integrated within international unions in the last decades) at Las Palmas have constituted one of its main characteristics and represents a global work subculture linked to port labour10.

  • 11 Broeze, Franck, “Containerization and the Globalization of Liner Shipping”, Research in Maritime Hi (...)

3The main objective of this paper is to set out the evolution of labour relations at Las Palmas Port during a period when the port has increased its commercial role, becoming a logistical base (hub port) in West Africa11. The port activity indicators and the institutional environment in the port that has affected social unrest (strikes, lockouts, etc.) will be looked at. The development of the infrastructures over the years through the introduction of post-Panamá cranes, palletized cargos, Ro-Ro traffic, etc. will also be explored. We analysed the existing literature to identify specific factors in the evolution of dock work in Las Palmas. We therefore propose a state of affairs on the changes occurring in the sector in recent decades. We have also used the statistical sources of the Port Authority with the aim of strengthening the quantitative analysis of trade in Las Palmas. Thus, we provide an overview of the evolution of maritime traffic in the port canary in relation to institutional change processes related to labour relations on the waterfront.

4This paper is organized as follows. Section two that follows the introduction presents the indicators of business of the port of Las Palmas between 1962 and 2007. In this part, the process of gradual implementation of the technology of container and other indicators related to the modernization process are observed and port reform. The next section discusses the changes in the organization of working time in the long run. The last part is responsible for institutional change and conflict on the waterfront of Las Palmas. Finally, some conclusions and reflections are presented.

Technological changes and the expansion of port activity, 1952-2007

  • 12 Suárez Bosa, Miguel, Llave de la Fortuna : Instituciones y Organización del Trabajo en el Puerto de (...)

5The main stowage tasks (involving coal and merchandise) were mostly carried out manually until the 1920s. Subsequently, some mechanical systems that elevated the productivity of the workforce (tonnage handled by work and hour) were introduced. At this time, apart from floating cargo equipment, sixteen cranes (eight of which were mobile) which were able to load between one and thirty tons of cargo12. These cranes were owned and managed by private companies except for one Titan crane – used on the construction of the modern port since 1883, owned by the Port Board of Works (Junta de Obras del Puerto) to handle heavy cargo (weighing up to forty tons). The technological improvements on port labour started in Las Palmas in the 1920s and 1930s with the introduction of the hand-wheelbarrow and the gradual introduction of pallet cargo. In addition, other tasks such as coaling had used mechanical systems since the last decade of the nineteenth century. These mechanical means – such as mobile cranes –, have eliminated some of the harder stevedoring tasks. However, the main changes of this type introduced in Las Palmas were delayed until the decade of 1960. Most mechanized tasks were devoted to fuelling through special installations that required few dockers. From a similar perspective, the supremacy of liquid fuels as a source of energy for shipping as of the 1960s put an end to this activity (black load). The evolution of the fuel-oil market in Las Palmas between 1962 and 2007 reflects a stable pattern, recording high average figures of over a million and a half tonnes handled a year (bunkering activities). We compared these data with indicators on ship traffic, having a history of relatively homogeneous growth between the two variables (Figure 1).

Figure 1 – Oil traffic and vessels calling port in Las Palmas, 1962-2007
Image 10000000000004FC00000369A2A16F3F.jpgSource : Anuarios Estadísticos de Puertos del Estado for each year. Compiled by the authors.

  • 13 Suárez Bosa, Miguel, “La organización del trabajo portuario : el caso de La Luz y Las Palmas (1891- (...)
  • 14 Martín del Castillo, J.F., La Luz, 1883-1983, Evolución tecnológica y desarrollo portuario, Las Pal (...)

6Figure 1 shows the evolution of the vessel traffic and bunkering functions in Las Palmas as a key element in understanding the port’s role as a shipping service station for international shipping. The moderate growth curve is mainly due to the improvements in the naval industry and improved engine efficiency, which gave rise to more power and lower consumption. On the other hand, from a quantitative point of view, the introduction of mechanical means into the Canary port was somewhat irregular. Before 1952, the port employers joined a corporative institution (Asociación de Consignatarios de Buques de Las Palmas) and created the MACBSA Company (Material Auxiliar de Consignatarios de Buques S.A.) in order to supply the port companies with mechanical means and support. This Company was established by the main port companies to reduce investments in capital equipment required of each company by using a common superstructure. It enabled them to block out new competitors from the port and to economize significantly on the workforce thanks to the new mechanical systems13. Fork-lift trucks, mobile cranes, tractors and other means were introduced in Las Palmas in the 1960s. Pallet cargo was the first standardized type of stowage used in this port in addition to the expansion of container vessels and the Roll On – Roll Off (Ro-Ro) traffic, etc.14.

  • 15 The OTP is a public institution created in 1968 in order to manage the labour market at the Spanish (...)
  • 16 Suárez Bosa, Miguel, Llave de la Fortuna : Instituciones y Organización del Trabajo en el Puerto de (...)

7These technological changes have had a decisive impact on port labour organization due to advanced automatic systems, standardization and the application of computerised tools. The traditional “nice stevedoring” tasks have been replaced by modern dockers, who have to work together with machines to optimize the space and time employed. These operatives required a high specialized workforce to carry out some tasks (i.e.: post-Panamá crane pilots) and other unskilled workers such as the stevedoring of frozen fish in refrigerated holds. The political strategy developed by the Port Labour Organization (OTP)15 since the 1970s has been characterized by the constant renewal of the workforce in order to maintain the competitiveness and efficiency of port services. Furthermore, dockers have to progress from the manual jobs of stowing of frozen fish and fruits to the coordination of teamwork and then to the most skilled tasks serving as pilots on the large cranes to stow container cargo. Since the 1980s collective bargaining agreements were signed between the employers and dockers in order to enhance efficiency, profitability and competitiveness in port services16.

  • 17 Ibidem, p. 88.
  • 18 For an overall economic analysis of this topic and the global impact of the port on the regional ec (...)
  • 19 For the case of the Canary Islands, see : Tovar, Beatriz, Hernández, R. and Rodríguez-Déniz, Héctor (...)
  • 20 The first container vessel (“Estefania” from the Mediterranean Shipping Company) moored at Las Palm (...)

8Containerisation has constituted the most important revolution in cargo handling in Las Palmas, modifying the physical structure of the port. This technological revolution gave rise to a change in a labour model based on the intensive use of dockers to a capital intensive model with a reduced but highly skilled workforce (Suárez Bosa, 2003, p. 88)17. As we showed in the Figure 2, the containerisation index (percentage of total general merchandise traffic stowed in containers) reflects this tendency, rising from 0.05 in 1992 to 0.83 in 200718. This traffic has required important investments in immobilized capital by port companies with the aim of attracting the major shipping lines such as Maersk Sealand Company or Mediterranean Shipping Company which the most of World container traffic through the establishment logistic stopovers (hub ports) on the main maritime commercial routes19. Figure 2 shows the evolution of the containerisation index in Las Palmas from 1973 to 2009, where a significant increase in this activity after the 1990s can be observed20.

Figure 2 – Containerization index in Las Palmas, 1973-2009
Image 100000000000045A000002E8DF982315.jpgSource : Anuarios Estadísticos de Puertos del Estado for each year. Compiled by the authors.

  • 21 An example of this kind of vessel is the “Regina Maersk” with the capacity to move 6,140 TEUS. The (...)

9The containerisation of stowed goods in Las Palmas has been developed by three major operators: OPCSA, La Luz Terminal de Contenedores S.A. – part of the Boluda Group – and Líneas Marítimas Canarias. They received spaces in the port area as administrative concessions. Of these operators, OPCSA currently enjoys a predominant position with a market share of more than 35 per cent because it serves the cargo vessels of the Mediterranean Shipping Company. At the same time the port indicators in Las Palmas reveal a sustained growth especially in the tonnage registered, which has increased considerably since 1997. After that year, the naval industry underwent an important transformation due to the expansion of the Post-Panamax vessels with increased cargo capacity21. The rise in of tonnages after 1996 is remarkable, if we observe the average tonnage per vessel calling at port (Figure 3). These commercial movements encouraged some reform work at ports in order to make dockers’ work easier, cheaper – and profitable –, guarantee the port expansion and keep the port competitive. Work carried out included dredging, the construction of new container terminals, the extension of commercial quays, improvement in urban accesses to port and investment in fixed capital (machinery, cranes, etc.).

10Port indicators in Las Palmas show a long-term positive tendency linked to container traffic (Figure 3), the modernization of the commercial terminals and its designation as a hub port by the MSC. The impact of that decision on port indicators since 1998 is outstanding and is especially conspicuous in cargo transit movements. In addition, the movement of containers also responds to a rise in domestic demand in Canary linked to growth in tourism and population pressure. This figure (Figure 3) shows the importance of the general cargo on the commercial structure of the port in the long-run perspective. This figure is partially complemented by the recovery of fishing activities in the port in the 1980s. The port of Las Palmas has been a historical base port for the fishing in the Saharan Bank through the decades. After the decolonization of the Spanish Sahara, this activity fell into crisis due to the troubles between Spain and Morocco for the sovereignty of the waters. In the 1970s and 1980s several international fleets such as those of the USSR, Japan and South Korea chose Las Palmas as their base port for their West African fishing activities. They operated in Mauritania, the Saharan Bank, Senegal, Guinea and the Gulf of Guinea. Complementarities with the fishing port of Dakar (Senegal), Conakry (Guinea) or Nouakchott (Mauritania) are an interesting feature of how the West African port system operates for fishing activities. However, the port of Las Palmas has retained its regional leadership in services and repair activities in West Africa. In recent years the increased importance of petroleum extraction in the Gulf of Guinea has favoured the arrival of petroleum platforms in the Canary Island ports, where they could be repaired, re-fuelled and prepared to operate in African waters.

Figure 3 – Port indicators at Las Palmas, 1962-2009
Image 100000000000051600000328DE407D5A.jpgSource : Anuarios Estadísticos de Puertos del Estado for each year. Compiled by the authors.

“From the shovel to the crane”: technical improvements and labour organization in Las Palmas

  • 22 Suárez Bosa, Miguel, Llave de la Fortuna : Instituciones y Organización del Trabajo en el Puerto de (...)
  • 23 Turnbull, P. and Sapsford, D., “Hitting the Bricks : An International Comparative Study of Conflict (...)

11Port labour organization has undergone important evolutions over time, and these changes are mainly linked to technical evolutions. Moreover, the control of the workforce by the dockers’ Unions in Las Palmas was a key element before Franco’s coup in 1936. However, some factors such as the conformation of “hands” of workers or “taifas” (gangs) constituted distinctive elements of stowage activities that have survived until today. Dockers encouraged the maintenance of minimum work teams in order to share work under conditions of solidarity. In 1978, the Local Port Commission approved the composition of minimum hands in cargo handling, which increased structural costs (increased wage per docker and ton handled)22. Until the massive introduction of container activity in Las Palmas in the mid-1990s, the cargo handling was hard, dangerous work. This is now less true, thanks to the homogenisation of cargo in containers, but work in cold stores still causes serious physical problems for the workers In addition, this technological evolution in cargo handling influenced on the dockers’ capacity to exert pressure on employers given the standardized conditions of labour and they have had to find other defensive strategies, such as the participation in the International Dockers Council (IDC)23.

  • 24 In Spain, the number of dockers censed in the OTP fell from 12,500 (1980) to 3,974 (1994). Canalejo (...)
  • 25 On the development of the port system in West Africa, see : Debrie, Jean, “The West African Port Sy (...)
  • 26 Alvargonzález Rodríguez, Ramón María, “La evolución reciente del sistema portuario español” en Delg (...)

12The technological revolution linked to containers made the capital factor at ports more important and reduced the number of workers employed. The consequences of this question in Las Palmas have been clears: in 1970 the number of dockers was among 1,500 and 2,000, but in 1998 the figure has descent to 445 dockers24. The paralysation of new recruitment and the blocking and closure of the census by SESTIBA and SAGEP workers, the signing of new Acuerdos Marco, early retirements, some redundancy plans and the new policies of low-cost structures at ports could be identified as the factors which account for this situation. Increased international competition with other hub ports may have aggravated this situation, bearing in mind the lower social costs in some neighbouring countries such as Morocco (Tangier-Med), Senegal (Dakar), the Ivory Coast (Abidjan) or Ghana (Accra)25. It is clear that after the 1986 reform (when SESTIBA was set up) the number of dockers in Las Palmas was reduced dramatically, as it can be observed in Figure 4. This decline contrasts with the significant increase in commercial traffics (general cargo, bunkering, bulk cargos, etc.) at the port. This process of growth in economic activity without employment generation has also been revealed by Alvargonzález (2000) in his study on the development of the Spanish port system26. Figure 4 shows the process of change in the organization of dock work, moving from a system based on intensive use of labour for major operational, to one based on capital intensive factor model. A similar process developed in other ports, as pointed out Turnbull and Sapsford (2001), Barzman (2012) or Mah (2014).

Figure 4 – Average number of dockers in the Las Palmas census and growth in commercial traffics, 1912-1998
Image 100000000000034F000002426F353ADB.jpgSource : Anuarios Estadísticos de Puertos del Estado for each year. Suárez Bosa, Miguel, Llave de la Fortuna : Instituciones y Organización del Trabajo en el Puerto de Las Palmas, 1883-1990, Telde, Fundación Caja Rural de Canarias, 2003, p. 111-112, 223-228. Compiled by the authors.

  • 27 Quintana, Guerra, Julio, Huella de los estibadores. Puerto de La Luz. La Isleta, Las Palmas de Gran (...)
  • 28 Mah, Alice, Port Cities and Global Legacies. Urban Identity, Waterfront Work and Radicalism, Croydo (...)

13Finally, the massive introduction of container technology in the late 1980s brought on important changes in labour relations in Las Palmas. The standardization of cargo and the massive capital investment (i.e.: cranes and mechanical systems, semi-automatic terminals, etc.) led to changes in the structure and organization of port work. In recent years, the daily workload is shared among the canary dockers in four 6-hour shifts (morning, evening, night and dawn)27. The new organization and distribution of working hours, adjustment policies template and relatively balanced distribution of tasks between the canary dockers have been adjusting elements and fit the new context of labour relations in the waterfront. These general elements have been recently highlighted by Alice Mah in other ports such as Liverpool or Marseille28.

Institutional evolution and waterfront radicalism

  • 29 In the case of Las Palmas, the pro-Franco institutional context introduced a new labour regulation (...)

14Changes in port labour have brought about transformations in the institutional context and the labour regulation in ports on a global scale since the Second World War. In Las Palmas, these changes were conditioned by Franco’s dictatorship, which interrupted the institutional evolution developed during the Second Republic. One such feature was the consolidation of the docker’s census in order to bring together the supply and demand of port workforce. This census started in the decade of 1920 (Job Office) and was consolidated just before the Civil War. The census was managed by the public institutions in agreement with the port business associations29. In 1939, the Government led by Franco adopted the Port Loading and Unloading Regulations, national regulations that emphasized the role of the Falangist leaders and the corresponding Ports Union Service. In 1942 this Service was transformed into the Port Labour Service (SPP) charged with the drawing up of lists of dockers in or available to work and the organization of stowage workers. Two years later, the SPP was integrated into the Labour General Direction. Finally, in 1968 this service became the Port Labour Organization (OTP), a national institution located in Madrid but with offices in each port. The OTP is in charge of regulating the labour conditions of 15,000 dockers in Spain. These public institutions were complemented by the National Port Labour Regulation (1962), which organized stevedoring activities until the development of the latest Labour Regulation (1969 and 1974).

  • 30 A similar institution existed in France to regulate dock labour. For a further research, see : Barz (...)

15The OTP was the most important port labour institution in Spain because it regulated the dockers´ activity between 1968 and 198830. This corporate institution had to study, negotiate and participate in all questions referring to port labour: Labour Relations, Medical and Social Assistance and port workers. In addition, its main function was to centralize the workforce supply and demand through the establishment of a job list and mediation with the shipping agents and other port companies. The OTP had to pay dockers’ wages (through the various port companies), keep up social security payments, certify non-working days and prepare and implement training activities. Furthermore, the 1962 regulation favoured the privileged inclusion of relatives in the job census but this aspect was eliminated in 1980. This decade was witness to a new period of reforms which increased the liberalization processes at the Spanish ports. In 1982 the OTP paved the way for reforms until 1988, when it disappeared and mixed companies appeared. The government led by Felipe González (PSOE) approved Royal Decree 2/1986 (23rd May) that prepared the disarticulation of the OTP and its transformation into the State Stowage Companies (SESTIBA), which allowed private partners to take part in workforce management in ports in a major move towards liberalization when Spain joined the European Economic Community. The shareholding structure in these institutions entailed a State majority (51%). Before November 1988, SESTIBA was the sole operator in Las Palmas and it managed the dockers´ census, having to work in coordination with the dockers of the private port companies.

16These changes took place in a context of modernisation of port activity, linked to the increased importance of standardized cargo and a noteworthy reduction in the demand for stevedores in ports. The appearance of SESTIBA as port labour managers incorporated new elements of work mobility and flexibility for dockers, but favoured instability and precariousness by introducing temporary workers. In February 2011, in a context of economic crisis and liberal economic policies, SESTIBA was transformed into SAGEP (Sociedad Anónima de Gestión de Estibadores Portuarios) in the main Spanish ports. The objective of this new institution was to reduce the administrative costs to the State, increasing the participation of private partners in the most profitable Spanish ports. The increased international competitiveness based on structural costs (mainly the wages of dockers and managers), the increased importance of neighbouring hub ports such as Tangier, the decisive role of the International Shipping Liner Alliances and the changes in the port labour market were the main challenges facing SAGEP when trying to meet the interests of the port employers and dockers.

  • 31 Several comparative and case studies have explored this question, identifying differences among the (...)
  • 32 The Spanish Vertical Union was a corporate -non democratic- Union where employers and workers were (...)
  • 33 Suárez Bosa, Miguel, Llave de la Fortuna : Instituciones y Organización del Trabajo en el Puerto de (...)

17These changes in labour regulations together with the technical evolution received a categorical response from the dockers’ Unions, increasing the waterfront radicalism. On a global scale, ports have been characterized by particular social formations, Union traditions, an entrepreneurial culture and special social relations between port workers31. In Las Palmas, the evolution of the port Unions was interrupted by the Civil War, the prosecution of Union leaders and the elimination of dockers’ representative organizations by the fascist regime and dockers were integrated in the Sindicato Vertical32. However, the concentration of workers and the hard port tasks favoured a specific labour subculture for dockers in an inflexible and authoritarian institutional context. The long years of hidden resistance among workers culminated in February 1968 when a major illegal strike was held in Las Palmas. In this strike several factors related to the political regime (the absence of liberty and democracy, the prosecution of the political dissidents, corruption and paternalism) coincided with the dockers’ vindications. This strike was encouraged by the clandestine Spanish Communist Party (PCE), which exerted considerable influence in urban transport and agricultural cash-crop sectors (tomatoes). Dockers demanded better wages, an improved distribution of shifts and the clarification of the accounts of the OTP, whose managers were accused of corruption and the deviation of funds. The first dockers to go on strike were the daily workers, who aspired to be included in the census. Then, several antifranco leaders joined the strike, which was that was encouraged by Island society, particularly in the popular neighbourhood of La Isleta, where most dockers lived33. The authorities’ response was severe. They fired some dockers, who were later readmitted. After some months of negotiation and agreements between the Sección Social del Sindicato de la Marina Mercante and the Ministry of Labour, mobilizations ended. Dockers received the guarantee of a 6-hour shift, the payment of overtime and the inclusion of daily workers in the census.

  • 34 Ibarz, Gelabert, Jordi, Historia general de la Coordinadora (1978-1998). La construcción de un espa (...)

18The next mobilizations took place during the Transition to Democracy in a context of liberalization and privatization processes34. In April 1978, a new conflict arose in Las Palmas caused by the differences in wages between ASEP (Union Association of Dockers) and the local Shipping Agents (ACPBLP). The dockers’ Union wanted to sign a regional (Canary Islands) collective bargaining agreement and to establish a commission on the control of port tariffs. However, the employers did not agree these to terms and the dockers remained on strike until 6th May. Port activity suffered sporadic disruptions over the following ten years causing important problems to the island economy (the cutting off of imports, paralysis of cash-crop exports, lack of supplies in the urban markets, etc.). The pressure exerted by dockers and their Unions bore fruit and they obtained an increase of between 45 and 55 per cent – depending on the category – and an increased control of the supply of labour by the OTP, despite the presence of private companies that engaged external workers for some tasks such as the use of cranes.

19Since 1979 port conflicts took place in a context of general port reform. Spanish dockers were integrated into the State Dockers’ Coordinator (Coordinadora) in order to harmonise actions among the Spanish Dockers’ Unions. This move was rejected by the business sectors and the main political institutions as has been highlighted by Ibarz Gelabert (1998). The Coordinadora focused their efforts on maintaining the strength of the OTP as a way of guaranteeing control of the workforce through national collective bargaining. In the mid 1980s the port strikes became fiercer due to the position of the employers, who rejected the signing of a national bargaining agreement. The dockers’ mobilisations in Spain put pressure on the Government and agreements were signed in June 1980. However the Canary shipping agents did not sign the agreement and dockers were still on strike by the 30th June (supported by the Union Comisiones Obreras). Both negotiations and port activity were disrupted once again. The port companies hired external workers, leading the strikers to adopt more radical positions. This external engagement was supported by the Government (BOE, June 16th 1980) which caused several protests, demonstrations and urban fighting between strikers and the police, causing the death of Belen Maria, a docker’s daughter, during a demonstration. This fact sparked a reaction of popular support among the island society, but the negotiations went on for two years during which selective strikes, low-productivity actions, boycotts, demonstrations and other actions took place.

  • 35 Suárez Bosa, Miguel, Llave de la Fortuna : Instituciones y Organización del Trabajo en el Puerto de (...)
  • 36 The I Acuerdo Marco was signed on February 1988. The II Acuerdo Marco was signed on November 1st 19 (...)

20The victory of the Social Democrats (PSOE) in the 1982 Spanish elections started a new age of port reforms in which the Coordinadora and the OTP played a key role in political actions in a context of industrial reconversion. In May 1986 a Government Decree about public cargo handling services at ports that anticipated the creation of mixed stowage companies (SESTIBA) was approved. In November 1986 an agreement between the Government, the port companies and the largest national unions (Comisiones Obreras and Unión General de Trabajadores) was signed, excluding the Coordinadora, which represented most port workers35. Hence, the constitution of SESTIBA and the regulation of dock labour in Spain were bound by the National Framework Agreements (Acuerdos Marco) in order to maintain social stability36.

  • 37 The reform processes in the field of dock work have been recently analyzed by : Notteboom, Theo, Do (...)
  • 38 Quintana, Guerra, Julio, Huella de los estibadores. Puerto de La Luz. La Isleta, Las Palmas de Gran (...)

21The situation was kept relatively stable during the 1990s but in October 2000 labour conflicts returned to Las Palmas due to a redundancy plan proposed by SESTIBA that gave rise to several selective strikes (in different port companies) and the stoppage by stowage operators. Finally, the dockers´ Union accepted a general wage cut of 39 per cent and a modification to bargaining on frozen fish. In early 2002, the changes in labour regulations in the European Union intended to increase the liberalization of port activities gave rise to a collective reaction by dockers across Europe37. The strike lasted for five days in the main European ports, and complementary mobilisations also took place in Brussels and Strasburg. Finally, the European Parliament rejected the project to modify port labour regulation38.

22A key element in this European mobilisation was the configuration of the IDC as a corporate tool used by the dockers to defend their interests globally. The pillars of this coordinated international mobilization by the IDC were located after the events of the port of Liverpool (1995-1998) and the liberal policies that threatened the stowage industry worldwide. The crisis of Liverpool set the path to new forms of corporatist unionism in ports with a broader approach and greater international coordination. IDC's response arises from an international strategic perspective, through coordination with various national unions. The Spanish stevedores, through the role of the Coordinadora, have been integrated into this process of international corporate resistance. The dockers’ Union at Las Palmas joined the IDC in 2000 and this global Union now represents more than 120,000 dockers in the main ports around the world.

Final remarks

23The implementation of container technology (and other technical improvements) in Las Palmas has entailed important changes in labour organization. The growth in port traffic and the decrease in the workforce have increased worker productivity since the constitution of SESTIBA. This paradoxical situation reveals the technical transition process that characterizes the international economy in recent decades: economic growth without employment generation, as pointed Alvargonzález. In the field of stevedoring and port labour, this has been an obvious phenomenon internationally, given a context of greater liberalization and deregulation. Therefore, the direct impact of port activities on the local economy becomes more diffuse. The proliferation of external economies and indirect job creation linked to port activities are the highlights of this historic process.

24However, the reduction in the workforce and its increased specialisation has made port workers more efficient. The rising levels of goods in transit since 1998 have required more transhipment workers, who have to compete with other regional ports. These African ports set new challenges for the port community in Las Palmas in a context of economic liberalisation and the prevalence of some international companies that account for the lion’s share of liner activities. The privatisation of some West African ports by corporations such as Dubai World Ports has introduced a new element into the scenario based on low-cost structures and intensive capital investment in ports. Hence, the role of Las Palmas as a logistic base and a stopover port for international shipping is affected by these factors of international competitiveness. In addition, traditional port functions must be complemented by others such as international cooperation (the port of Las Palmas has been a logistic base for the Red Cross since 2007), the stopovers of tourist vessels and stopovers and repair work for oil platforms. From this point of view, it would be interesting to undertake a comparative analysis of growth and modernisation in the West African ports bearing in mind some common elements in the context of the Second Port Reform.

25Finally, this paper pointed out the paths of resistance and social unrest on the waterfront in relation to the liberalization and deregulation of stowage sector. The dockers in Las Palmas have shown their ability to act as a lobby to defend their corporate interests from the 1960, responding to a historical tradition dating back to the early twentieth century. Acting from underground during the Franco regime, longshoremen articulated different mobilizations and demands to expand or protect their labour rights. A history of corporate defence that has defined a strongly cohesive industry whose labour model is currently in discussion.

Haut de page

Bibliographie

Alvargonzález Rodríguez, Ramón, “La evolución reciente del sistema portuario español”, in Delgado Barroso, J.M. and Guimerá Ravina, A. (coord.), Los Puertos Españoles : Historia y Futuro (siglos XVI-XXI), Madrid, Puertos del Estado, 2000, p. 107-140.

Arthur, W.B., “Competing technologies, increasing returns, and lock-in by historical events”, Economic Journal, vol. 99-394, 1989, p. 116-131.

Barzman, John, “Conflits et négociations au Havre avant et après les grandes réformes portuaires”, L´Espace Politique [online], vol. 26-1, 2012, last accessed : February 2, 2014, URL : http://espacepolitique.revues.org/2242.

Bilbao Plaza Marítima, Estudio del impacto económico del Puerto de Bilbao en el País Vasco, Bilbao, Bilbao Plaza Marítima, 1995.

Broeze, Franck, “Containerization and the Globalization of Liner Shipping”, Research in Maritime History, 2000, vol. 14, p. 385-423.

Canalejos, Irene (1995), “El sector portuario de la estiba en España”, Boletín Económico ICE, 2460-2461, pp. 75-80.

Castillo Manzano, J.I. (coord.), El Puerto Bahía de Algeciras, el motor económico del Sur, Sevilla, Autoridad Portuaria de Algeciras-Universidad de Sevilla, 2001.

Cooper, Frederick, “Dockworkers and Labour History” in Davies, et al. (eds.), Dockworkers International Exploration in Comparative Labour History, 1790-1970, Ashgate, 2000, p. 523-541. 

Coto Millán, P., Gallego Gómez, J.L., y Villaverde Castro, J., Crecimiento portuario y desarrollo regional. Una aplicación al Puerto de Santander, Santander, Autoridad Portuaria de Santander, 2001.

David, P.A., “Why are Institutions the “Carriers of History”?: path dependence and the evolution of conventions, organizations and institutions”, Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, vol. 5-2, 1994, p. 205-220.

Davies, S., Davis, CJ., and De Vries, D. (eds.), Dock Workers. International Explorations in Comparative Labour History. 1790-1970, Ashgate, 2000.

De Rús, G., Román, C., y Trujillo, L., Actividad económica y estructura de costes del Puerto de La Luz y de Las Palmas, Madrid, Civitas, 1994.

Debrie, Jean, “The West African Port Sytem: global insertion and regional particularities”, EchoGéo [online], vol. 20, 2012, last acceded 3 january 2015, URL: http://echogeo.revues.org/13070

Ducruet, César and Notteboom, Theo, “The Worldwide Maritime Network of Container Shipping”, Global Networks, vol. 12-3, p. 395-423.

Genet, B, “Quelques apercus sur la situation des dockers en Europe du Sud au cours du XXe siècle” en Domenichino, J., Guillon, J.M., y Mencherini, R. (eds.), Dockers, de la Méditerranée à la Mer du Nord. Des quais et des hommes dans l´histoire, Aix-en-Provence, Edisud, 1999, p. 187-190. 

Harlaftis, Gerlina, Tenold, Sven y Haldaliso, Jesús M., (eds.), The World´s Key Industry. History and Economics of International Shipping, Londres, Palgrave-MacMillan, 2012.

Ibarz Gelabert, Jordi (1998), Historia general de la Coordinadora (1978-1998). La construcción de un espacio sindical portuario, Coordinadora Estatal de Trabajadores del Mar, Barcelona.

Ibarz Gelabert, J., Treballant et silenci. Les relaciones laborals des estibadors del port de Barcelona durante el Primer Franquisme, 1939-1947, Barcelona, Museu Maritim, 2004.

Kaukianen, Yrjo “The role of shipping in the “second stage of globalization”, International Journal of Maritime History, 2014, vol. 26-64, p. 64-81.

Kimeldorf, H., Reds or Rackets? The Making of Radical and Conservative Unions on the Waterfront, Berkeley, Berkeley University Press, 1988.

Lagerholm, M. and Malmberg, A., “Path dependence in economic geography”, in Magnusson, L. and Ottosson, J. (eds.), The Evolution of Path Dependence, Cheltenham, Edward Elgar, 2009, p. 87-107.

Levinson, Mark, The Box: How the Shipping Container Made the World Smaller and the World Economy Bigger, New Jersey, Princeton University Press, 2006.

Luchetti Farré, A., Canvi Tecnològic i treball portuari. El canvi tecnològic i la seva incidència en el treball portuari (1965-1995). Els casos dels ports de Barcelona, Gènova i Marsella, Barcelona, Universidad de Barcelona, 2002.

Mah, Alice, Port Cities and Global Legacies. Urban Identity, Waterfront Work and Radicalism, Croydon, Palgrave MacMillan, 2014.

Marnot, Bruno, Les Grands Ports de commerce français et la mondialisation du XIXe siècle, Paris, Presses Universitaires Paris-Sorbonne, 2011.

Martin, R. and Sunley, P., “Path dependence and regional economic evolution”, Journal of Economic Geography, vol. 6-4, 2006, p. 395-417.

Martín del Castillo, J.F., La Luz, 1883-1983, Evolución tecnológica y desarrollo portuario, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Real Sociedad de Amigos del País, 1998.

Miller, R.C., “The Dockworker Subculture and Some Problems in Cross-Cultural and Cross-Time Generalizations”, Comparative Studies in Society and History, 1969, vol. 11, p. 302-314.

Notteboom, Theo, Dock Labour and Port-related employment in the European seaport system. Key factors to port competitiveness and reform, Brussels, European Seaports Organization, 2010.

Quintana, Guerra, Julio, Huella de los estibadores. Puerto de La Luz. La Isleta, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, ASEP, 2013.

Suárez Bosa, Miguel, “La organización del trabajo portuario : el caso de La Luz y Las Palmas (1891-1980), en Arenas, C., Puntas, F. y Martínez Ruiz, J.I., (eds.), Mercado y Organización del trabajo en España (siglos XIX y XX), Sevilla, Atril, 1997, p. 303-314.

Suárez Bosa, Miguel, Llave de la Fortuna : Instituciones y Organización del Trabajo en el Puerto de Las Palmas, 1883-1990, Telde, Fundación Caja Rural de Canarias, 2003

Suárez Bosa, Miguel (ed.), Atlantic Ports and the First Globalisation, c.1850-1930, Basingstoke, Palgrave-MacMillan, 2014.

Suárez Bosa, Miguel “The role of the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Coal Route from the End of the Nineteenth Century to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century. Corporate Strategies”, International Journal of Maritime History, 2004, vol. 16-1, p. 95-124.

Suárez Bosa, Miguel and Cabrera Armas, Luis Gabriel “La competencia en los servicios portuarios entre Cabo Verde y Canarias (1850-1914)”, Anuario de Estudios Atlánticos, 2012, 58, p. 363-414.

Tovar, Beatriz, Hernández, R. and Rodríguez-Déniz, Héctor, “Port competitiveness and Connectivity: The Canary Islands main port case”, IAME 2013 Conference, Marseilles, 2013.

Turnbull, P. and Sapsford, D. (2001), “Hitting the Bricks: An International Comparative Study of Conflict on the Waterfront”, Industrial Relations, vol. 40, nº2, p. 231-257.

Valdaliso, Jesús, “El transporte marítimo en España, 1850-1936” en Barciela López, Carlos et al., Via e mezzi di comunicacione in Italia e Spagna in età contemporánea, Rubbetino Editores, 2013.

Van Voss, L.H., y Van Der Linden, M., “Estibadores : configuraciones, 1790-1970)”, Historia Social, 2003, vo.45, p. 37-45. 

Haut de page

Notes

1 Valdaliso, Jesús , “El transporte marítimo en España, 1850-1936” en Barciela López, Carlos et al., Via e mezzi di comunicacione in Italia e Spagna in età contemporánea, Rubbetino Editores, 2013, p. 379. For a recent contribution on the role of ports in the global south, which includes the port of Las Palmas and others in the region, see : Suárez Bosa, Miguel (ed.), Atlantic Ports and the First Globalisation, c.1850-1930, Basingstoke, Palgrave-MacMillan, 2014.

2 Suárez Bosa, Miguel “The role of the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Coal Route from the End of the Nineteenth Century to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century. Corporate Strategies”, International Journal of Maritime History, 2004, vol. 16-1, p. 95-124. For a regional comparative analysis, see : Suárez Bosa, Miguel and Cabrera Armas, Luis Gabriel “La competencia en los servicios portuarios entre Cabo Verde y Canarias (1850-1914)”, Anuario de Estudios Atlánticos, 2012, 58, p. 363-414.

3 The conceptualization and methodology on the path-dependence have been discussed in : Arthur, W.B., “Competing technologies, increasing returns, and lock-in by historical events”, Economic Journal, vol. 99-394, 1989, p. 116-131. David, P.A., “Why are Institutions the “Carriers of History” ? : path dependence and the evolution of conventions, organizations and institutions”, Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, vol. 5-2, 1994, p. 205-220. Martin, R. and Sunley, P., “Path dependence and regional economic evolution”, Journal of Economic Geography, vol. 6-4, 2006, p. 395-417. Lagerholm, M. and Malmberg, A., “Path dependence in economic geography”, in Magnusson, L. and Ottosson, J. (eds.), The Evolution of Path Dependence, Cheltenham, Edward Elgar, 2009, p. 87-107.

4 For a global exploration on these topics, see : Harlaftis, Gerlina, Tenold, Stig and Valdaliso, Jesús (eds.), The World´s Key Industry. History and Economics of International Shipping, Londres, Palgrave-MacMillan, 2012.

5 Marnot, Bruno, Les Grands Ports de commerce français et la mondialisation du XIXe siècle, Paris, Presses Universitaires Paris-Sorbonne, 2011.

6 Levinson, Mark, The Box : How the Shipping Container Made the World Smaller and the World Economy Bigger, New Jersey, Princeton University Press, 2006.

7 Kaukianen has recently settled several ways of technological modernization processes at quays during the second wave of Globalization which have impacted positively on world trade growth. Kaukianen, Yrjo “The role of shipping in the “second stage of globalization”, International Journal of Maritime History, 2014, vol. 26-64, p. 64-81.

8 On the economic impact of the Spanish ports on the local and regional employment there is significant literature from Applied Economics. These case studies focus on input-output analysis with variables such as invoicing, tax receipts or payroll amount. For a case study on the port of Las Palmas, see : De Rús, G., Román, C., y Trujillo, L., Actividad económica y estructura de costes del Puerto de La Luz y de Las Palmas, Madrid, Civitas, 1994.

9 Quintana, Guerra, Julio, Huella de los estibadores. Puerto de La Luz. La Isleta, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, ASEP, 2013.

10 This argument about “docker´s subculture” has been criticized by Miller, where he exposed the methodological troubles on generalization and compression of different historical trajectories. See : Miller, R.C., “The Dockworker Subculture and Some Problems in Cross-Cultural and Cross-Time Generalizations”, Comparative Studies in Society and History, 1969, vol. 11, p. 302-314. For his part, Barzman has analysed these processes of transformation and radical break in the port of Le Havre, having features of common development on a global scale. Barzman, John, “Conflits et négociations au Havre avant et après les grandes réformes portuaires”, L´Espace Politique [online], vol. 26-1, 2012, accessed February 2, 2014, URL : http://espacepolitique.revues.org/2242. For a recently published exploration of these topics and case studies, see : Mah, Alice, Port Cities and Global Legacies. Urban Identity, Waterfront Work and Radicalism, Croydon, Palgrave MacMillan, 2014.

11 Broeze, Franck, “Containerization and the Globalization of Liner Shipping”, Research in Maritime History, 2000, vol. 14, p. 385-423.

12 Suárez Bosa, Miguel, Llave de la Fortuna : Instituciones y Organización del Trabajo en el Puerto de Las Palmas, 1883-1990, Telde, Fundación Caja Rural de Canarias, 2003, p. 79. For an international comparative analysis of changes developed in dock work, see : Davies, S., Davis, CJ., and De Vries, D. (eds.), Dock Workers. International Explorations in Comparative Labour History. 1790-1970, Ashgate, 2000.

13 Suárez Bosa, Miguel, “La organización del trabajo portuario : el caso de La Luz y Las Palmas (1891-1980), en Arenas, C., Puntas, F. y Martínez Ruiz, J.I., (eds.), Mercado y Organización del trabajo en España (siglos XIX y XX), Sevilla, Atril, 1997, p. 303-314.

14 Martín del Castillo, J.F., La Luz, 1883-1983, Evolución tecnológica y desarrollo portuario, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Real Sociedad de Amigos del País, 1998.

15 The OTP is a public institution created in 1968 in order to manage the labour market at the Spanish ports.

16 Suárez Bosa, Miguel, Llave de la Fortuna : Instituciones y Organización del Trabajo en el Puerto de Las Palmas, 1883-1990, Telde, Fundación Caja Rural de Canarias, 2003, p. 81.

17 Ibidem, p. 88.

18 For an overall economic analysis of this topic and the global impact of the port on the regional economy, see : De Rús, Ginés, Román, C., y Trujillo, Lourdes, Actividad económica y estructura de costes del Puerto de La Luz y de Las Palmas, Madrid, Civitas, 1994. For other Spanish ports, see : Bilbao Plaza Marítima, Estudio del impacto económico del puerto de Bilbao en el País Vasco, Bilbao, Bilbao Plaza Marítima, 1995. Castillo Manzano, J.I. (coord.), El Puerto Bahía de Algeciras, el motor económico del Sur, Sevilla, Autoridad Portuaria de Algeciras-Universidad de Sevilla, 2001. Coto Millán, P., Gallego Gómez, J.L. y Villaverde Castro, J., Crecimiento portuario y desarrollo regional. Una aplicación al Puerto de Santander, Santander, Autoridad Portuaria de Santander, 2001.

19 For the case of the Canary Islands, see : Tovar, Beatriz, Hernández, R. and Rodríguez-Déniz, Héctor, “Port competitiveness and Connectivity : The Canary Islands main port case”, IAME 2013 Conference, Marseilles, 2013. From a long-run perspective on the Spanish port system, see : Alvargonzález Rodríguez, Ramón, “La evolución reciente del sistema portuario español”, in Delgado Barroso, J.M. and Guimerá Ravina, A. (coord..), Los Puertos Españoles : Historia y Futuro (siglos XVI-XXI), Madrid, Puertos del Estado, 2000, p. 107-140.

20 The first container vessel (“Estefania” from the Mediterranean Shipping Company) moored at Las Palmas on 14th October 1992, transporting eighty-nine containers. It was served by the OPCSA Company using a post-Panamá crane. It was the first container vessel calling Las Palmas to develop these commercial tasks.

21 An example of this kind of vessel is the “Regina Maersk” with the capacity to move 6,140 TEUS. The next generation of high capacity cargo vessels started in 2006 after the introduction of vessels which were capable to displace 10,000 TEUS. This is added to the configuration of International strategic Alliances among the main shipping lines, which favoured the consolidation of hub ports on the main commercial routes. For a further analysis, see : Ducruet, César and Notteboom, Theo, “The Worldwide Maritime Network of Container Shipping : Spatial Structure and Regional Dynamics”, Global Networks, 2012, vol. 12-3, p. 403.

22 Suárez Bosa, Miguel, Llave de la Fortuna : Instituciones y Organización del Trabajo en el Puerto de Las Palmas, 1883-1990, Telde, Fundación Caja Rural de Canarias, 2003, p. 121.

23 Turnbull, P. and Sapsford, D., “Hitting the Bricks : An International Comparative Study of Conflict on the Waterfront”, Industrial Relations, vol. 40-2, 2001, p. 242.

24 In Spain, the number of dockers censed in the OTP fell from 12,500 (1980) to 3,974 (1994). Canalejos, Irene, “El sector portuario de la estiba en España”, Boletín Económico ICE, 2460-2461, 2001, p. 78.

25 On the development of the port system in West Africa, see : Debrie, Jean, “The West African Port Sytem : global insertion and regional particularities”, EchoGéo [online], vol. 20, 2012, last acceded 3 january 2015, URL : http://echogeo.revues.org/13070.

26 Alvargonzález Rodríguez, Ramón María, “La evolución reciente del sistema portuario español” en Delgado Barrado, J.M., y Guimerá Ravina, A. (coord.), Los Puertos Españoles : Historia y Futuro (siglos XVI-XX), Servicio de Publicaciones de Puertos del Estado, 2000, p. 109.

27 Quintana, Guerra, Julio, Huella de los estibadores. Puerto de La Luz. La Isleta, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, ASEP, 2013, p. 144-145.

28 Mah, Alice, Port Cities and Global Legacies. Urban Identity, Waterfront Work and Radicalism, Croydon, Palgrave MacMillan, 2014.

29 In the case of Las Palmas, the pro-Franco institutional context introduced a new labour regulation that repealed the Republican legislation as of December 1936. It brought in the elimination of collective bargaining, the dissolution of the Maritime Industry Union and a new labour regulation agreed between the public administration and the port employers under corporate forms. Suárez Bosa, Miguel, Llave de la Fortuna : Instituciones y Organización del Trabajo en el Puerto de Las Palmas, 1883-1990, Telde, Fundación Caja Rural de Canarias, 2003, p. 105.

30 A similar institution existed in France to regulate dock labour. For a further research, see : Barzman, John, “Conflits et négociations au Havre avant et après les grandes réformes portuaires”, L´Espace Politique [online], vol. 26-1, 2012, accessed February 2, 2014, URL : http://espacepolitique.revues.org/2242. The progressive elimination of the Keynesian and Fordist organizational patterns at ports after the decades of 1980 and 1990 are explored too in : Turnbull, P. and Sapsford, D., “Hitting the Bricks : An International Comparative Study of Conflict on the Waterfront”, Industrial Relations, 2001, vol. 40-2, p. 231-257.

31 Several comparative and case studies have explored this question, identifying differences among the different ports and social formations around the world. See : Kimeldorf, H., Reds or Rackets ? The Making of Radical and Conservative Unions on the Waterfront, Berkeley, Berkeley University Press, 1988 ; Genet, B, “Quelques apercus sur la situation des dockers en Europe du Sud au cours du XXe siècle” en Domenichino, J., Guillon, J.M., y Mencherini, R. (eds.), Dockers, de la Méditerranée à la Mer du Nord. Des quais et des hommes dans l´histoire, Aix-en-Provence, Edisud, 1999, p. 187-190 ; Cooper, Frederick, « Dockworkers and Labour History » in Davies, et al. (eds.), Dockworkers International Exploration in Comparative Labour History, 1790-1970, Ashgate, 2000, p. 523-541 ; Van Voss, L.H., y Van Der Linden, M., “Estibadores : configuraciones, 1790-1970)”, Historia Social, 2003, vo.45, p. 37-45 ; Luchetti Farré, A., Canvi Tecnològic i treball portuari. El canvi tecnològic i la seva incidència en el treball portuari (1965-1995). Els casos dels ports de Barcelona, Gènova i Marsella, Barcelona, Universidad de Barcelona, 2002 ; Ibarz Gelabert, J., Treballant et silenci. Les relaciones laborals des estibadors del port de Barcelona durante el Primer Franquisme, 1939-1947, Barcelona, Museu Maritim, 2004.

32 The Spanish Vertical Union was a corporate -non democratic- Union where employers and workers were integrated under the regulation of the public powers.

33 Suárez Bosa, Miguel, Llave de la Fortuna : Instituciones y Organización del Trabajo en el Puerto de Las Palmas, 1883-1990, Telde, Fundación Caja Rural de Canarias, 2003, p. 159.

34 Ibarz, Gelabert, Jordi, Historia general de la Coordinadora (1978-1998). La construcción de un espacio sindical portuario, Barcelona, Coordinadora Estatal de Trabajadores del Mar, 1998, p. 105-110.

35 Suárez Bosa, Miguel, Llave de la Fortuna : Instituciones y Organización del Trabajo en el Puerto de Las Palmas, 1883-1990, Telde, Fundación Caja Rural de Canarias, 2003, p. 165.

36 The I Acuerdo Marco was signed on February 1988. The II Acuerdo Marco was signed on November 1st 1992.

37 The reform processes in the field of dock work have been recently analyzed by : Notteboom, Theo, Dock Labour and Port-related employment in the European seaport system. Key factors to port competitiveness and reform, Brussels, European Seaports Organization, 2010.

38 Quintana, Guerra, Julio, Huella de los estibadores. Puerto de La Luz. La Isleta, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, ASEP, 2013.

Haut de page

Table des illustrations

Légende Figure 1 – Oil traffic and vessels calling port in Las Palmas, 1962-2007Source : Anuarios Estadísticos de Puertos del Estado for each year. Compiled by the authors.
URL http://journals.openedition.org/nuevomundo/docannexe/image/70004/img-1.jpg
Fichier image/jpeg, 80k
URL http://journals.openedition.org/nuevomundo/docannexe/image/70004/img-2.jpg
Fichier image/jpeg, 124k
Légende Figure 2 – Containerization index in Las Palmas, 1973-2009Source : Anuarios Estadísticos de Puertos del Estado for each year. Compiled by the authors.
URL http://journals.openedition.org/nuevomundo/docannexe/image/70004/img-3.jpg
Fichier image/jpeg, 68k
URL http://journals.openedition.org/nuevomundo/docannexe/image/70004/img-4.jpg
Fichier image/jpeg, 128k
Légende Figure 3 – Port indicators at Las Palmas, 1962-2009Source : Anuarios Estadísticos de Puertos del Estado for each year. Compiled by the authors.
URL http://journals.openedition.org/nuevomundo/docannexe/image/70004/img-5.jpg
Fichier image/jpeg, 100k
URL http://journals.openedition.org/nuevomundo/docannexe/image/70004/img-6.jpg
Fichier image/jpeg, 164k
Légende Figure 4 – Average number of dockers in the Las Palmas census and growth in commercial traffics, 1912-1998Source : Anuarios Estadísticos de Puertos del Estado for each year. Suárez Bosa, Miguel, Llave de la Fortuna : Instituciones y Organización del Trabajo en el Puerto de Las Palmas, 1883-1990, Telde, Fundación Caja Rural de Canarias, 2003, p. 111-112, 223-228. Compiled by the authors.
URL http://journals.openedition.org/nuevomundo/docannexe/image/70004/img-7.jpg
Fichier image/jpeg, 38k
URL http://journals.openedition.org/nuevomundo/docannexe/image/70004/img-8.jpg
Fichier image/jpeg, 68k
Haut de page

Pour citer cet article

Référence électronique

Daniel Castillo Hidalgo et Miguel Suárez Bosa, « Dockers in Las Palmas: Technological changes, institutional evolution and waterfront radicalism (1960-2009) »Nuevo Mundo Mundos Nuevos [En ligne], Colloques, mis en ligne le 13 décembre 2016, consulté le 29 mars 2024. URL : http://journals.openedition.org/nuevomundo/70004 ; DOI : https://doi.org/10.4000/nuevomundo.70004

Haut de page

Auteurs

Daniel Castillo Hidalgo

IATEXT, University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
dcastillohidalgo@gmail.com

Articles du même auteur

Miguel Suárez Bosa

IATEXT, University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
msuarez@ulpgc.es

Haut de page

Droits d’auteur

CC-BY-NC-ND-4.0

Le texte seul est utilisable sous licence CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Les autres éléments (illustrations, fichiers annexes importés) sont « Tous droits réservés », sauf mention contraire.

Haut de page
Rechercher dans OpenEdition Search

Vous allez être redirigé vers OpenEdition Search