ABSTRACT
This chapter suggests a model that describes several configurations of dock labour and to offer some suggestions for research. The configurations stand in a logical succession to each other. The casual configuration is compared with three others: a pre-docker configuration in which sailors handled cargo; a monopolistic configuration, which did not take place everywhere; and a post-casual configuration. Dockers and their family members would look for jobs elsewhere, or for poor relief. In Amsterdam in the first half of the twentieth century, some 40 per cent of regular and 60 per cent of casual dock workers had to apply for poor relief at least once in their lives. The very weak position of dockers on the labour market explains the ferocity with which segments of the labour market were defended. Dockers' trade unions were involved in bargaining procedures with employers' organisations.
