ABSTRACT
In the year 1898, toward the end of April, as the hot Indian summer approached its sweltering peak in Calcutta, the port laborers of the city grew increasingly concerned about their safety. The workers refused to labor as long as they risked getting injected by any of the so-called inoculators. This chapter examines some of the important developments in the working environment of the port over the course of the 1890s. Specifically, it explores the building of the Kidderpore dock, a facility designed to help load and unload cargoes in an enclosed area. The chapter discusses the deployment of labor organized by large labor contracting firms. It also examines political conflict, which in this decade consisted of different kinds of everyday resistance. These included cases of theft, rule breaking, threats, and attempted intimidation. The chapter captures a moment when the long-term transition of the Calcutta port was suddenly interrupted.
