Abolition of the UK National Dock Labour Scheme

Abolition opened British ports to more flexible labor and private investment, and it helps explain why Felixstowe, which had grown outside the scheme, became the United Kingdom's busiest container port. Under the scheme, only registered dockers could work at scheme ports, and employers found it hard to reduce crews as containers replaced manual handling. The government called the scheme an anachronism, and a national dock strike in July 1989 ended within weeks. For importers today, the episode shows how port labor rules affect productivity, cost and reliability, the same issues at stake in U.S. port labor contracts.

• Port of EntryWhere imports clear US customs
• Intermodal FreightFreight moved by rail and truck in one box

• 1934 West Coast Waterfront Strike1934 · A port strike leads to hiring halls with union dispatch
• 1971 to 1972 ILWU Strike1971–1972 · Dockworkers shut West Coast ports over container jobs
• Sea-Land Transatlantic Container Service1966 · Regular container service opens to Europe

1. Dock Work Act 1989 (legislation.gov.uk) legislation.gov.uk
2. National Dock Labour Board (Wikipedia) en.wikipedia.org