ABSTRACT
Between 1880 and 1890, the commissioners of the Calcutta Port Trust made great efforts to further improve the port's infrastructure. The practice of contracting out labor requirements constituted a break with the tradition on the part of the Calcutta Port Trust, which had relied on small-time intermediary figures to arrange for the hiring of labor. This chapter explains the impact of these changes on the port workforce. It draws on primary source records from the decade 1880–1890 to identify distinctive features of the work process from this period. It examines the many records that suggest an emerging new pace of work at the port. This new pace of work was one where intense bouts of activity alternated with long stretches of time that left workers idle. The chapter also compares developments in the Calcutta port in this period with other major ports in the Indian Ocean region and elsewhere in order to place this transformation in a larger context.
