LABOUR: Jobs In Ports Plummet Under Industry Changes

By Gustavo Capdevila Reprint | | Print |

Gustavo Capdevila

GENEVA, May 22 1996 (IPS) - The numbers of jobs for port workers all over the world have been drastically reduced in the past few years with the growing use of containers and new cargo techniques, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) has reported.

The loss of jobs ranged from 40 to 60 percent in many countries, according to a meeting organised by the ILO this week in Geneva to discuss the effects of structural adjustments in ports.

The transformations caused by technological changes led a number of governments to review the role of the State in the sector’s activity.

Many countries implemented programmes that cut direct government participation and encouraged privatisation. The ILO report presented at the meeting states that the growing use of containers has revolutionised national and international transport, as well as the port industries.

Containers have had a decisive influence on the design and size of cargo ships. They have also affected planning, equipment, operations and employment in ports throughout the world.

By replacing labour with capital, the use of containers and its consequences has “caused a considerable reduction in employment in the ports, added to a significant rise in labour productivity,” the ILO report states.

The document points to the example of Australia, where the sector was known for its overstaffed workforce, the high costs of container operations, and the time put in loading and unloading the ships, highly unfavourable compared to other international ports.

In 1989, the Australian government launched a programme to reform the ports. In Melbourne, the new measures boosted productivity and reduced the labour force by 59 percent.

The trend towards rising unemployment in the sector was repeated in Great Britain, where jobs in the ports dropped 44 percent from 1989 to 1992. In France, reforms put into effect since 1992 led to a cutting of the workforce at the country’s six main ports by a full two-thirds.

Similar trends were also seen in developing countries. At the port of Cotonou, Benin, the number of employees in administration and operations was cut in half in the last five years, the ILO reported.

Early retirement plans and lay-offs were used. Benin’s experience demonstrated that “success is conditioned by the previous realisation of consultations between the government and the affected sectors of society.”

The International Federation of Transport Workers criticised the downslide in workers’ living conditions that resulted from the restructuring of the majority of the world’s ports.

But the union also said participation by representatives of workers in decision-making attenuated the negative effects of the restructuring.

The Federation called for an evaluation of the effects on workers brought by the structural adjustment programmes, which are backed by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, and dictated by today’s new trends in trade and transport.

The ILO report recognises that “in all probability, a structural adjustment programme that reflects the concerns of the affected sectors from the start will receive more support.”

Up to now — the document adds — the representatives of business sectors and workers have participated only in the final stages of the structural adjustment programmes, by which time priorities have often been established already.

The kinds of jobs offered in ports have also undergone a drastic change, due to new administration techniques and professional skills made necessary by structural adjustments.

Workers with multiple skills are in growing demand in ports, the ILO reports. Workers now have more individual responsibility, and follow instructions that are often received by radio or through computer networks.

The new techniques have led to a need for increased training and more highly skilled personnel. Those in greatest need of training are supervisors, foremen and machine operators, followed by inspectors and office workers.

The ILO document also points out that private sector capital is not only necessary in the area of training, but that enormous investments are needed in order to adapt ports to today’s new demands.

The Asia-Pacific region alone will need some 1.5 billion dollars in investment by the year 2000, in order to increase infrastructure capacity, of which transport and communications constitute a significant part.