Report on dock employment in New York City & recommendations for its regularization

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1916 Excerpt: ...available can, with the least delay and cost, be filled from the ranks of such qualified applicants as there may be, first in other parts of the city, second in any other part of the division, and, failing this, third, in any other part of the country. t Aside from its relation to questions of employment, the establishment of an efficient, public system of signalling and communication of the arrival of vessels is an immediate need of the port which does not for its realization have to wait for the solution of the large and difficult problems of harbor administration. The annoyance and vexation to which at present passengers and those awaiting their arrival are exposed are largely avoidable. In the case of mail boats where bills of lading arrive only with the vessel itself, and previous knowledge of the cargo does not, therefore, exist in detail (though presumably its main features are known to the company by cable), there is usually a fairly good general knowledge of the nature of the top part of the cargo which is to be unloaded first, and gangs for the subsequent work might be made up as soon as the requisite knowledge of the lower part of the cargo could be made available. To enable a more accurate forecast of labor requirements generally, it would be fair to demand from the workers under such an agreement as we suggest that they must not quit work without due notice. Such provision already exists in a number of agreements of which the following clause from that of the Leith (Scotland) Dock Labor Employers' Association and the National Union of Dock Laborers is a good sample: "When men start on a job they shall finish the day if required by the foreman, unless the job is finished sooner. Any man commencing work in working hours and desiring not to w...