ec port labour study vol i 18 1 13 def

8/12/2019 EC Port Labour Study Vol I 18 1 13 Def

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PORT LABOUR IN THE EU

Labour Market

Qualifications & TrainingHealth & Safety

Volume I The EU Perspective

Prof Dr Eric Van Hooydonk

Advocate, Eric Van Hooydonk Lawyers, AntwerpProfessor of Law, Ghent University

Study commissioned by the European Commission, BrusselsContract Number MOVE/C2/2010-81/SI2.588013

Final Report, 8 January 2013


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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

In the seapor ts of the 22 mar i t ime Member States of the European Union, some 2,200 por t

operators cur rent ly employ around 110,000 por t workers or 'dockers ' who are engaged in the

loading and unloading of sh ips and a number of anci l lary por t -based serv ices such as

warehous ing and log is t i cs .

Tradi t ional ly , por t work has been regarded as a low-ski l led manual profession. In order to cope

with the i r regular i ty of por t t ra f f ic and the ensuing f luctuat ions in labour demand, the por t

labour market has in many p laces been subject to speci f ic laws, regulat ions and col lect ive

agreements. In most cases, these ru les enta i l the reservat ion of temporary labour for a steadi ly

ava i lab le complement ( 'poo l ' ) o f reg is te red workers who en joy unemployment bene f i t o r s im i la r

pay when there is no work. Even i f these ar rangements take on very d i f ferent shapes, in 16 out

of 22 Member States ( i .e . 73 per cent) , access to the por t labour market is rest r ic ted under

ru les which depar t f rom genera l labour law.

In a considerable number of por ts, the speci f ic employment ru les are character ised by

rest r ic t ions on employment ( inc luding pr ior i ty for reg istered workers or recognised workforce

supp l ie rs , c losed shop s i tua t ions , s t r i c t job demarca t ions , mandato ry mann ing sca les ,

rest r ic t ions on temporary agency work and on sel f -handl ing) and rest r ic t ive working pract ices.

These rest r ic t ions impact negat ive ly on t rade, compet i t ion and/or employment . However , the

problems do not occur in every Member State or wi th the same intensi ty in a l l por ts. Severa l

States have reformed por t labour , whi le some por ts are complete ly rest r ic t ion- f ree. What is

more, not every regist rat ion or pool system is per se inef f ic ient , and not every rest r ic t ion goes

per se against EU law. However , in many cases ser ious doubts about the compat ib i l i ty o f the

nat ional or local por t labour regime wi th EU law are warranted in the l ight o f avai lab le EU and

nat iona l case law on in te rna l marke t and compet i t ion ru les . In sum, res t r i c t i ve poo l o r

regist rat ion systems can only be just i f ied under EU ru les i f the genera l in terest and especia l ly

the socia l protect ion of workers demonstrably require such an except ional labour market set -

up, i f the system is non-d iscr iminatory and fu l ly compat ib le wi th human r ights, i f rest r ic t ions on

access to the market for the provis ion of workforce are propor t ionate and do no got beyond

what is necessary in order to at ta in the publ ic in terest ob ject ive concerned, and, more

spec i f i ca l l y , i f the sys tem is kep t f ree o f any add i t iona l res t r i c t ions on employment , res t r i c t i ve

working pract ices and abuses. Vague references to socia l protect ion or safety object ives which

do no t exp la in why app l icab le res t r i c t ions a re indeed necessary w i l l no t su f f i ce . EU law a l lows

Member States and socia l par tners to choose between a f ree and open por t labour market or an

e f f i c ien t and sus ta inab le reg is t ra t ion o r poo l sys tem wh ich is no t a f fec ted by res t r i c t i ve

excesses, e i ther in the law o r in p rac t ice .

Qual i f icat ion and t ra in ing ar rangements are very d iverse across the EU. A growing number of

por ts and terminals organise sophist icated t ra in ing programmes but e lsewhere workers are st i l l

poor ly t ra ined. In a large number of Member States, cer t i f icat ion systems for por t workers are

in p lace, even i f these are not a lways fu l ly operat ional . A number of recent best pract ices are

ava i lab le .


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A major i ty of States have enacted speci f ic laws and regulat ions on heal th and safety in por t

work. Despi te s igns of considerable improvement in the past decades, scat tered data suggest

that the por t worker cont inues to have one of the most dangerous occupat ions in the ent i re EU

economy. However , spec i f i c na t iona l acc iden t s ta t is t i cs on por t labour a re on ly ava i lab le in a

minor i ty of Member States.

Seen f rom an EU perspect ive, the por t labour market can be descr ibed as a market in

t ransi t ion, wi th a t rend towards the appl icat ion of genera l labour law rather than speci f ic laws

and regulat ions. Opin ions on the need to mainta in speci f ic laws and regulat ions for por t labour

d iverge w ide ly .

For the European pol icy and law makers, a l ternat ive approaches present themselves. Leaving

aside the do-noth ing scenar io , fu ture EU act ion might inc lude: research, cooperat ion and PR

pro jec ts ; soc ia l d ia logue ; c la r i f i ca t ion th rough so f t law ; impos ing cond i t ions in the con tex t o f

re lated pol ic ies; in f r ingement procedures; the adopt ion of a Por t Services Direct ive (or

Regulat ion) ; and the adopt ion of a speci f ic Por t Labour Direct ive (or Regulat ion) . The choice

between these opt ions is del icate. F i rst o f a l l , the re ject ion of two ear l ier proposals for a Por t

Services Direct ive is st i l l f resh in the minds of stakeholders. In some Member States, an EU

intervent ion is today eager ly awai ted by at least some par t ies, whi le in others, there are

concerns that EU measures wi l l d isturb wel l - funct ion ing regimes. Even so, EU pol icy can

signi f icant ly contr ibute to the overarching a im of ensur ing the susta inabi l i ty o f nat ional and

loca l por t labour sys tems th roughout the Un ion , thereby con t r ibu t ing to the p ro fess ional isa t ion

of por t labour , the employabi l i ty o f workers, bet ter working condi t ions and maximum

per formance of EU por ts.

In l ine w i th the subs id ia r i t y p r inc ip le , the EU shou ld no t s t r i ve to in t roduce a common por t

labour regime for a l l EU por ts, but doing noth ing would not seem a sensib le scenar io e i ther . In

some Member States, EU inst i tu t ions could usefu l ly in tervene in order to restore compl iance

w i th fundamenta l p r inc ip les on f ree marke t access and f ree compet i t ion and , in some cases,

a lso wi th EU heal th and safety ru les. In addi t ion, min imum EU requirements for those nat ional

or local por t labour ar rangements which depar t f rom genera l labour law could be formulated (by

way of e i ther guidance or leg is la t ion) , expl icat ing exist ing pr imary EU law and promot ing best

p rac t ices . F ina l ly , the re is no reason why the soc ia l par tners cou ld no t take the lead in an

at tempt to genera l ise and propagate new nat ional qual i f icat ion, t ra in ing and cer t i f icat ion

systems for the ent i re EU.

In the even t tha t EU po l icy makers wou ld cons ider new in i t ia t i ves , they may f ind insp i ra t ion in

some or a l l o f the fo l lowing possib le approaches:

- leave we l l - func t ion ing por t labour sys tems und is tu rbed;

- require a f resh and adequate just i f icat ion for a l l regulated regist rat ion or pool systems

and ensure that these systems are f ree f rom al l unnecessary rest r ic t ive and/or abusive

ru les and pract ices;

- require market access for temporary work agencies unless a thorough and t reaty-

compl ian t jus t i f i ca t ion is e f fec t ive ly submi t ted ;


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- where necessary, launch in f r ingement procedures or impose reform in the context o f

other EU pol ic ies before resor t ing to new legis la t ive in i t ia t ives;

- in a f i rs t s tep, leave the e laborat ion of a cer t i f icat ion and qual i f icat ions f ramework as

we l l the imp lementa t ion o f the p r inc ip le o f mutua l recogn i t ion to the fo r thcoming soc ia l

d ia logue ;

- inves t iga te the poss ib i l i t y o f lega l ly ob l ig ing Member S ta tes to ma in ta in spec i f i c OHS

stat is t ics on por t labour ;

- moni tor compl iance by Member States wi th exist ing EU requirements in re lat ion to

safety t ra in ing by temporary work agencies and enforcement of OHS ru les by nat ional

labour inspecto ra tes .


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TABLE OF CONTENTS OF VOLUME I

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

1. CONTEXT AND PURPOSE .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

2. SCO PE AND TERMINOLO GY .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112.1. A legal assessment of port labour regimes in the European Union . . . . . . . .. . . . . . .. 112.2. The no tions of por t labour an d dock work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132.3. The notion s of qual i f icat ions' and ' tra ining . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212.4. The concept of health and safe ty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232.5. Aspects not covered .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

3. RESEARCH PROCESS... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263.1. Methodology.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263.2. Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273.3. Disclaimer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

4. THE SPECIFICIT Y OF PORT LABOUR .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294.1. A contentious issue .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294.2. The ( i r)r egulari t y of demand for labou r . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304.3. From corporat ism to banal isat ion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 354.4. The docker's subculture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 434.5. From unski l led work to m ult i -ski l l in g . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 484.6. Divers e occupati onal r isk levels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

5. PORT L ABOUR GLOBALLY .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 535.1. Port s ystem .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 535.2. Sources of law .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 555.2.1. Por t labour -speci f ic sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

5.2.2. General sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

5.3. Labour market . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 625.3.1. H istor ica l background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

5.3.2. Regulatory set -up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

5.3.3. Facts and f igures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

5.4. Qua l i f icat ions and tra ining . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 775.4.1. H istor ica l background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77


5.4.3. Facts and f igures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

5.5. Health and saf ety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 835.5.1. H istor ica l background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83


5.5.3. Facts and f igures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .101

5.6. Pol icy and legal issues... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1025.6.1. Labour market issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .102


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5.6 .2 . Qua l i f i ca t ion and t ra in ing issues . .. . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . .125

5.6.3. Heal th and safety issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .126

5.7. Appra isals and out look . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1285.8. Synop sis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139

6. PORT LABOUR IN THE EUROPEAN UNION .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1406.1. Port system .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1406.2. Sources of law .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1416.2.1. Por t labour -speci f ic sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .141

6.2.2. General sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .141

6.2.3. The in ter - re lat ion between EU law and in ternat ional inst ruments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .144

6.2.4. The in ter - re lat i on between EU law and col lect ive agreem ents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .148

6.3. Labour market . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1546.3.1. H istor ica l background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .154

6.3.2. Regulatory set -up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .164

6.3.3. Facts and f igures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .203

6.4. Qual i f ic at ions and tr aining . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2066.4.1. Regulatory set -up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .206

6.4.2. Facts and f igures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .208 6.5. Health and safety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2126.5.1. Regulatory set -up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .212

6.5.2. Facts and f igures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .215 6.6. Pol icy and legal issues... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2176.7. Appra isals and out look . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2266.8. Synop sis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248

7. SYNOPSIS OF PORT LABOUR IN EU MEMBER STATES AND INDIVIDUALPORTS .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2497.1. Port system .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2497.2. Sources of law .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2517.3. Labour market . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2607.4. Qual i f ic at ions and tr aining . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2717.5. Health and safety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2777.6. Pol icy and legal issues... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2807.7. Appra isals and out look . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2967.8. Synopsis of port labour regimes in the EU .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304

8. POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3088.1. A del icat e choice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3088.2. Do nothing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3098.3. Research , cooperat i on and PR projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3108.4. Soci al dialo gue .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3118.5. Clari f icat ion through soft law .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3128.6. Imposing condit ions in the context of related pol ic ies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3138.7. Infr ingement procedur es . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 314


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8.8. Port Ser vices Direct ive (or Regu lat ion) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3168.9. Port Labour Direct ive (or Regulat ion) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3188.10. Step-by-step strategy or combination.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3228.11. Cri teria for the select ion of the r ight pol icy option . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3238.12. Fina l recommen dations on f uture EU act i ons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327


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1. CONTEXT AND PURPOSE

1. This study descr ibes the cur rent regime of por t labour in the 22 mar i t ime Member States of

the European Union, ident i f ies pol icy and legal issues and formulates recommendat ions for

future act ion by European decis ion-makers.

The study focuses on three aspects of the por t labour system: (1) the organisat ion of the

labour market ; (2) qual i f icat ions and t ra in ing; and (3) heal th and safety.

2. S ince the regime of por t labour has an undeniable impact on t ranspor tat ion and t rade f lows,

the sub jec t i s o f u tmost economic impor tance .

Por ts are v i ta l to the economic heal th and future prosper i ty of the European Union. The

European Commission est imates that Europes por ts handle 90 per cent of EU t rade wi th th i rd

countr ies and 40 per cent of in ternal market exchanges. Por ts handle more than 3.6 b i l l ion

tonnes of cargo annual ly , and they serv ice more than 400 mi l l ion passengers. The Commission

assumes that there are about 800,000 enterpr ises in EU por ts which generate, d i rect ly and

ind i rec t ly , approx imate ly 3 m i l l ion jobs 1.

Por ts are centra l nodes in an in increasingly mul t imodal t ranspor t system which ensures the

interconnect ion of mar i t ime, in land waterway, road and ra i l car r iage. Hence, the organisat ion of

por t operat ions impacts on the ent i re t ranspor t chain and, consequent ly, on the economic

systems of the Member States and the Union as a whole. Opt imis ing the per formance of the

por t sector is a key tool to fur ther economic in tegrat ion wi th in the EU, to boost the

compet i t iveness of the EU and i ts Member States in the wor ld economy, and to fue l economic

growth and job creat ion.

I t is widely accepted that both the day- to-day ef f ic iency and the medium and long- term

dynamics of por t compet i t ion are st rongly in f luenced by the regime of por t labour . Depending

on the type of terminal , por t labour represents between 15 and 75 per cent of the operat ional

terminal costs for terminal operators (15 to 20 per cent at dry bulk terminals; between 40 and

75 per cent at genera l cargo terminals) . Even in the capi ta l in tensive conta iner sector th is

percentage is bel ieved to reach 50 or even 70 per cent 2, which expla ins that the labour factor

1 Communicat ion f rom the Commiss ion on a European Por ts Pol i cy , 18 October 2007, COM(2007)616 f ina l , 2 ; compare European Commiss ion, Green Paper o f 10 December 1997 on Sea Por ts andMar i t ime In f ras t ruc ture , 10 December 1997, COM(97) 678 f ina l ; Theolog i t i s , D. , Future o f EU Por tsPol i cy , ppt presentat ion for the Apul ian Dis t ingu ished Lec ture Ser ies , 26 March 2012; see fur therdeta i l s i n f ra , paras 161, 234 and 239.2 See and compare Bar ton, H. and Turnbul l , P . , Labour Regula t ion and Economic Per formance in theEuropean Por t Transpor t Indus t ry . Fu l l Repor t o f Research Ac t i v i t ies and Resul ts , Card i f f , Card i f fBus iness School , May 1999, www.esrc .ac .uk , 27; Bar ton, H. and Turnbul l , P . , "Labour Regula t ion

and Compet i t i ve Per formance in the Por t Transpor t Indus t ry : The Changing For tunes of Three MajorEuropean Seaports " , European Journa l o f Indus t r ia l Re la t ions 2002, Vol . 8 , No. 2 , (133) , 138;Kagan, R. , "How much does law mat ter? Labor law, compet i t ion and water f ront labor re la t ions inRot terdam and U.S. por ts " , Law & Soc ie ty Rev iew 1990, Vol . 24, No. 1 , (35) , 53; Not teboom, T. ,


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also determines, for example, investment decis ions on terminal lay-out and equipment 3. Our

study conf i rms that labour ar rangements can have a t remendous impact on the proper

funct ion ing of por ts and on t rade f lows.

The cur rent economic and f inancia l cr is is notwi thstanding, expectat ions are that the coming

decades wi l l see fur ther growth in t rade and por t throughput , together wi th a far - reaching

innovat ion in handl ing technologies and a growing demand for wel l - t ra ined and versat i le por t

workers. The por t industry wi l l cont inue to funct ion as one of the European Union 's most

power fu l p rosper i t y and job genera to rs . The f ind ings o f our s tudy suggest tha t labour i ssues

are set to chal lenge pol icy makers, publ ic and pr ivate por t operators, por t users and socia l

par tners for many years to come.

3. The present study was under taken in a h ighly charged pol i t ica l context .

Two ear l ier proposals by the European Commission for an EU Por t Services Direct ive, launched

in 2001 and 2004 and conta in ing measures for the l ibera l isat ion of the por t labour market ,

proved h ighly controversia l . They provoked a heated debate and ser ious industr ia l unrest

across Europe , wh ich cu lm ina ted in an unseen doub le re jec t ion o f the D i rec t ive by the

European Par l iament 4. In the course of our research, we noted that these antecedents are st i l l

f resh in the memor ies of a l l concerned par t ies.

In 2007, the European Commission adopted a Communicat ion on a European Por ts Pol icy which

however announced few concrete in i t ia t ives in respect of por t labour . In 2011, the White Paper

on EU t ranspor t po l icy la id a broad foundat ion for new in i t ia t ives to improve the per formance of

the European por t sector . Today, the Commission is prepar ing a new vis ion on a European

por ts pol icy and is assessing the need for speci f ic measures on, in te r a l ia , por t labour . Our

study is in tended to help the Commission assess the cur rent s i tuat ion and e laborate wel l -

considered proposals.

From the outset , we were aware of the par t icu lar ly del icate nature of our task. To an extent ,

our study rests on o f ten contradictory assessments of the cur rent state of por t labour in the

EU by d i rect ly involved par t ies. We accepted the chal lenge of repor t ing in an object ive manner

on a d i f f icu l t , content ious and even taboo-r idden, subject , on ind iv idual , indeed of ten

subject ive or polemic, appra isa ls of the cur rent s i tuat ion, and on ongoing d iscussions and

controversies. We can only hope that our inventory of data, po l icy and legal issues and

pos i t ions by s takeho lders w i l l fac i l i t a te a f resh deba te on the bas is o f ra t iona l a rguments and a

bet ter understanding by stakeholders of each other 's concerns.

Dock labour and por t - re la ted employment in the European seapor t sys tem, Brussels / Antwerp,ESPO / ITMMA, 2010, www.por teconomics .eu , 49; Vonck , I . and Not teboom, T. , Economic Analys isof Break Bulk F lows and Ac t i v i t ies in Be lg ian Por ts , Brusse ls / Antwerp, ING Bank / ITMMA, 2012,

80. 3 See, for example, Chambreui l , A . , Produc t i v i t des terminaux conteneurs , Compigne, CETMEF,2011, ht tp : / /www.cetmef .developpement-durab le .gouv . f r / IMG/pdf /P_11-01_c le288f2a.pdf , 18.4See i n f ra , para 178 et seq.


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2. SCOPE AND TERMINOLOGY

2.1. A legal assessment of port labour regimes in the EuropeanUnion

4. The present study analyses speci f ic por t labour regimes in the European Union.

As we have expla ined 5, i t examines three aspects of por t labour : (1) the regulat ion of thelabour market ; (2) qual i f icat ions and t ra in ing of por t workers; and (3) occupat ional heal th and

sa fe ty .

For each of these aspects, the study provides facts and f igures, an overview of sources of law,

a descr ip t ion of cur rent organisat ional ar rangements, an inventory of the most pressing pol icy

and legal issues, a pol icy-or iented appra isa l and out look, and a synopsis.

5. The study's main focus was to examine the nat ional por t labour systems of the 22 mar i t ime

Member States of the European Union: Belg ium, Bulgar ia , Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, F in land,France, Germany, Greece, I re land, I ta ly, Latv ia, L i thuania, Mal ta, the Nether lands, Poland,

Por tugal , Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the Uni ted Kingdom. Chapter 7 of the cur rent

Volume I provides a synopsis of these country analyses. The reader wi l l f ind deta i led country

chapters in Volume I I o f the study.

The other EU Member States (Austr ia , the Czech Republ ic , Hungary, Luxembourg and Slovakia)

have no mar i t ime por ts and are not d iscussed in th is study, as labour ar rangements in in land

por ts were beyond the scope of our task. Moreover , very few, i f any, speci f ic labour

ar rangements seem to exist in in land por ts 6. Conversely, in some country chapters we d id pay

specia l a t tent ion to the handl ing of barge t raf f ic in mar i t ime por ts.

Nei ther have we paid at tent ion to the organisat ion of por t labour in a number of impor tant

European sea por ts which are located in countr ies that have not jo ined the European Union.

These include, for example, Albania, Croat ia , Ice land, Norway 7 and Russia.

The speci f ic i ty of por t labour and the in ternat ional and European regulatory and pol icy context

of por t labour are out l ined in in t roductory chapters (Chapters 4, 5 and 6 respect ive ly) .

5See a l ready supra , para 1 .6 Yet i t should be noted that some non-mar i t ime Member States , such as Aus t r ia , took an ac t i ve

in teres t in the debates on the prev ious proposals for a Por t Serv ices Di rec t i ve.7 In format ion gathered on por t labour in Norway, which i s bound by ILO Convent ion No. 137,suggest that in th is count ry the i ssues are more or less s imi lar to those in o ther Scandinav iancount r ies and Fin land.


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Clar i f icat ion on the scope and terminology and the conduct of our research wi l l be provided as

wel l (present Chapter and Chapter 3) .

Po l icy -o r ien ted conc lus ions on pers is t ing p rob lems as we l l as recommendat ions fo r poss ib le

act ion by the European inst i tu t ions wi l l be formulated at the end of the study (Chapter 8) .

6. The present study is pr imar i ly a legal study. I ts main purpose is to assess the cur rent por t

labour reg ime f rom a lega l perspect ive , to iden t i f y po l icy and lega l i ssues and to suggest

concrete pol icy and legal measures which may help so lve these problems and improve the

overa l l per formance of the European por t system, taking due account of the in terests of

employers and workers.

This is not to say that the study is pure ly legal . F i rst o f a l l , we used as background mater ia l a

number of h istor ica l , economic and socia l s tudies publ ished by author i t ies in these f ie lds. In

addi t ion, we col lected, wi th the help of numerous organisat ions and ind iv iduals, a considerable

amount of non- legal data, inc luding stat is t ics and pol icy statements. F inal ly , we were aware

f rom the outset that facts do not a lways conform to what the law requires or presupposes. As

our research proceeded, our suspic ions were borne out , and thus we ident i f ied th is d iscrepancy

between law and real i ty as a separate pol icy issue.

7. Last but not least , the study focuses on the existence of spec i f ic por t labour ar rangements,

i .e . laws, regulat ions, agreements and usages which speci f ica l ly deal w i th por t labour and

depar t f rom genera l labour law.

This a lso expla ins the substant ia l d i f ferences in length of the ind iv idual country chapters in

Volume I I . In an increasing number of EU Member States, speci f ic por t labour ar rangements

are being abol ished. As a resul t , por t labour gradual ly becomes subject to the ru les of genera l

labour law. To the extent that no speci f ic ru les remain in p lace, we have br ie f ly out l ined the

main sources of genera l labour law as appl ied in the por t sector . A substant ive descr ip t ion of

employment condi t ions under the genera l labour law of the 22 Member States of course

exceeded our mission.


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2.2. The notions of port labour and dock work

8. The study deals wi th the employment of por t workers or 'dockers ' , i .e . predominant ly manual

workers engaged in the loading and unloading of sh ips in por ts, anci l lary serv ices such as the

checking, storage and in t ra-por t t ranspor tat ion of cargo, and operat ions at passenger

te rmina ls .

9. In our study, we use the words 'por t worker ' and 'docker ' in terchangeably, a l though in most

cases we prefer red the former , more neutra l and genera l term. Some exper ts indeed argue that ,

today, the word docker , which came into use wi th the opening of c losed dock and warehouse

areas in the f i rs t ha l f o f the 19th century 8, has a pejorat ive or at least outmoded r ing and that i t

should be replaced by por t worker as the la t ter term acknowledges that the profession now

requ i res spec ia l sk i l l s and qua l i f i ca t ions and re l ies on the use o f soph is t i ca ted techno logy 9.

However , workers ' organisat ions cont inue to ca l l the i r members dockers, and the famous ant i -

l ibera l isat ion s logan used by European unions was 'Proud to be a Docker ' . In some Member

Sta tes , inc lud ing F rance , the Eng l ish word 'docker ' s t i l l se rves as the o f f i c ia l , lega l t i t le o f the

por t worker . But other lawmakers expressed a preference for the word 'por t worker ' or 'por t

labourer ' 10.

10. The meaning of the word 's tevedore ' is somewhat ambiguous, as i t may refer , in a genera l

sense, to any por t worker 11; more nar rowly, to a genera l por t labourer working on the ship (or a

'ho ldsman' , as opposed to the 'docker ' or 'por t worker ' sensu s t r ic to who works on shore) 12; or ,

8 See Barzman, J . , "Gens des quais " , in X. , Sur les qua is . Por ts , docks e t dockers de Boudin Marquet , Par is / Le Havre / Bordeaux, Somogy / Muse Mal raux / Muse des Beaux-Ar ts , 2008,(47) , 48. Remarkably , the word 'docker ' i s a lso used in por ts which have no sys tem of (wet ) docks inthe s t r i c t eng ineer ing sense of the word, such as open t ida l harbours .9 Compare, on the use of 'dokwerker ' in F landers , Brugge, J . , "Die n ie t zu ip t o f koopt , wordt n ie t

gerekend om te werken. " Het soc iaa l over leg met bet rekk ing to t de Gentse haven t i j dens hetin terbe l lum (1919-1939) , Masters thes is , Ghent Univers i ty , 2008-2009,ht tp : / / l i b .ugent .be/ fu l l tx t /RUG01/001/361/037/RUG01-001361037_2010_0001_AC.pdf , 56; on theavoidance of the word docker in French, Galbrun, X. , La manutent ion por tua i re en 2001. Rappor tannuel d 'ac t i v i ts , Par is , UNIM, ht tp : / /www.unim.org/cg i -b in /c l ient /modele.p l?shop=unim&modele=agenda&cat=188&manuel_menu=gamme_188&manuel_par=33, 21; and, on the rep lacement o f the 'dockers ' by 'por t operat i ve workers ' or ' cargo handlers ' a f terthe repeal o f the UK Dock Labour Scheme, Turnbul l , P .J . , "The docks af ter deregula t ion" , Mari t imePol i cy and Management 1991, Vol . 18, No. 1 , (15) , 19.10 'Por t worker ' i s used, for example, in current Mal tese por t labour leg is la t ion; 'por t labourer ' wasthe of f i c ia l term in the ( repealed) Mal tese Ord inance No. XXI o f 1939 (see i n f ra , para 1321 et seq. )11 In th is sense, see ht tp : / /www. thef reedic t ionary .com/s tevedore . In Spain , por t workers are s t i l lca l led 'es t ibador ' .12 For example, the ( repealed) Mal tese Ord inance No. XXI o f 1939 (Sec t ion 2) d is t ingu ished asfo l lows:

S tevedore means a person employed in the handl ing o f cargo between the ho ld and ra i l o f

a sh ip in the process o f load ing and un load ing o f th is cargo.Por t labourer means a person employed in the handl ing o f cargo between the ra i l o f thesh ip and any l igh ter , vesse l , whar f or any p lace on land in the process o f load ing andunload ing o f th is cargo.


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workers and may have author i ty to h i re the required number of casual workers for a day or a

shi f t . Typica l ly , one gang of workers is used per sh ip 's hatch or hold, or per shoreside crane.

Cargo hand l ing compan ies a lso employ o f f i ce s ta f f invo lved in admin is t ra t ion , sa les , marke t ing ,

in format ion technology, legal mat ters etc . , but these whi te co l lar employees are considered

nei ther 'dockers ' , nor 'por t workers ' for the purposes of th is study.

On the other hand, i t should a lso be noted that , in some por ts, crane and other equipment

operators are legal ly t reated as whi te co l lar workers, and that the typ ica l docker 's professions

of ta l lyman, ch ief ta l lyman, ch ief foreman enta i l par t ly or main ly of f ice work, so that the

dist inct ion between b lue and whi te co l lar is of ten b lur red. Regard less of the ir b lue or whi te

co l la r s ta tus under na t iona l o r loca l lega l a r rangements , we have t rea ted a l l these 'c lass ica l '

categor ies of dockers as por t workers.

In many por ts, cargo handlers a lso employ mechanics (a lso ca l led maintenance or repair men,

including e lect r ic ians) who are responsib le for keeping equipment in running condi t ion; these

workers of ten have the same or s imi lar status as por t workers proper . Where re levant , we have

included them in our study.


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Figure 1. A kale idoscope of por t labour jobs in Europe today

General cargo work

( p h o t o b y H a f e n H a m b u r g M a r k e t i n g /

H . J . H e t t c h e n )

General cargo work

( p h o t o b y K a r i n e L e P e t i t /

w w w . m e t i e r s - p o r t u a i r e s . f r )

General cargo work

( p h o t o b y C a r g o S e r v i c e A / S , w w w . a a s k . d k )

General cargo work

( p h o t o b y w w w . d o c k s e t e. f r )

General cargo work( p h o t o b y D a n n y C o r n e l i s s e n )

General cargo work( p h o t o b y H a f e n H a m b u r g M a r k e t i n g /


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H . J . H e t t c h e n )

Ro-ro work

( p h o t o b y w w w . p o r t . c c i - b r e s t . f r )

Ro-ro work

( p h o t o b y C o p e n h a g e n M a l m P o r t )

Container work

( p h o t o b y w w w . p o r t o d e s e t u b a l . p t )

Container work

( p h o t o b y w w w . p o r t o f g o th e n b u r g . c o m )

Container work

( p h o t o b y C o p e n h a g e n M a l m P o r t )

Container work

( p h o t o b y D a n n y C o r n e l i s s e n )


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Container work

( p h o t o b y A P M T )

Liquid bulk work

( p h o t o b y H a f e n H a m b u r g M a r k e t i n g )

Dry bulk work



Dry bulk work

( p h o t o b y H a f e n H a m b u r g M a r k e t i n g )

Cruise terminal work



Logis t ics work

( p h o t o b y M i c h a e l V a n G i e l )


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13. S ince por t labour is by def in i t ion car r ied out wi th in a 'por t ' or a 'por t area ' , the def in i t ion of

por t labour has an impor tant geographica l d imension to i t .

Where por t labour is governed by speci f ic laws or co l lect ive agreements, i t is wel l -n igh

inev i tab le to express ly de te rmine the exact geograph ica l scope o f such ins t ruments . The

del imi tat ion may be le f t vague ( e.g. the 'po r t ' and i t s ' v ic in i t y ' , o r the 'mar i t ime pub l ic domain ' )

or i t may be e laborated in deta i l ( e.g. based on a deta i led map or a predef ined d istance f rom

the water f ront ) ; i t may be def ined e i ther nar rowly as the quayside, the water f ront , or , in ISPS

terms, the 'sh ip/shore in ter face ' , or widely, so as to inc lude adjacent warehousing and log ist ics

areas, in land conta iner depots ( 'dry por ts ' ) and industr ia l p lants behind the water f ront .

14. S imi lar ly , some speci f ic por t labour regimes d ist inguish between d i f ferent types of cargo

and exc lude some ca tegor ies f rom the i r scope , fo r example own-account ( indust r ia l ) ca rgo ,

l iqu id bu lk o r f i sh .

15. Yet another issue is whether speci f ic por t labour regimes apply to a l l por ts in a g iven

country, or on ly to impor tant commercia l por ts or por ts at ta in ing a cer ta in cargo volume

threshold.

16. From the outset , readers should a lso be aware that por t workers are employed by a var ie ty

of employers. Increasingly, por t serv ices are provided by pr ivate terminal operators hold ing a

lease, concession, l icence or author isat ion issued by a landlord por t author i ty . In many but not

a l l por ts, severa l terminal operators are in compet i t ion wi th one another . Some workers are

employed by publ ic por t author i t ies (especia l ly , crane dr ivers) or by companies contro l led by a

state-owned ent i ty . Yet other por t workers are se l f -employed and h i red by sh ip owners or the ir

agents; these workers may at the same t ime act as employers of o ther workers.

Por t workers include not only permanent workers employed under an employment contract for

an indef in i te or a def in i te term fu l ly governed by genera l labour law, but a lso permanent

workers registered as por t workers under speci f ic por t labour ar rangements. Many por ts re ly on

registered pool workers who are h i red on a dai ly basis (or for a sh i f t or a hal f sh i f t ) and who

are ent i t led to an unemployment benef i t whi le they are not working. F inal ly , many por ts use

var ious categor ies of more or less i r regular ly employed supplementary workers (occasional or

auxi l iary workers, inc luding, in some por ts, seasonal workers and/or temporary agency or

in ter im workers) .


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17. The exact mean ing o f the no t ion o f 'dock work ' was repea ted ly d iscussed a t the leve l o f t he

Internat ional Labour Organizat ion ( ILO) , but the invar iab le outcome was that the term can only

be def ined accord ing to nat ional law or pract ice, and th is compromise solut ion has been

enshr ined in , for example, ILO Dock Work Convent ion No. 137 17. Cur rent ly , there does not exist

a genera l ly appl icable def in i t ion of the not ion of por t labour a t EU level e i ther .

18. In our study, we star ted f rom a broad def in i t ion of por t labour as set out above 18, and saw

no reason to exclude any types of por t labour a pr ior i . The coun t r y chap te rs in Vo lume I I w i l l

ind icate which def in i t ions of por t labour , i f any, prevai l in the ind iv idual EU Member States.

17See i n f ra , pa ra 72 .18See supra, para 8 et seq.


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procedures or redesign the workplace 24. Tra in ing is one of the key var iab les determin ing

phys ica l p roduct iv i t y o f por ts 25.

In v iew of the dangerous nature of por t work, t ra in ing is a lso provided in order to increase

occupat ional safety. Var ious in ternat ional and European legal inst ruments obl ige employers to

prov ide spec i f i c hea l th and sa fe ty t ra in ing .

22. Por t t ra in ing inst i tu tes a l l over the wor ld and, increasingly, ind iv idual por t operators, o f fer

speci f ic job- re lated t ra in ing both at management ( e.g. por t operat ions management , por t

equipment p lanning, etc . ) and at operat ional or technica l level ( e.g. operat ion of cranes,

equipment maintenance, lashing, etc . ) . Some of these programmes are organised rout ine ly,

whi le other courses are ta i lor -made 26.

Tra in ing of por t workers comes in d i f ferent forms. A basic d ist inct ion must be made between

learn ing on- the- job and formal inst ruct ion or t ra in ing. The la t ter may compr ise var ious schemes

such as t ra in ing between school and work, ( induct ion) courses for new entrants, courses for

the establ ished docker , t ra in ing in safety and f i rs t a id and the ret ra in ing of in jured and

redundant dockers. Another impor tant d ist inct ion can be made between specia l is t courses for

cer ta in categor ies of por t workers and t ra in ing a imed at the avai lab i l i ty o f mul t i -sk i l led or a l l -

round por t workers 27.

F inal ly , workers may make use of formal ised t ra in ing oppor tuni t ies on e i ther a vo luntary or

compulsory basis. In our study, we have t r ied to ind icate which qual i f icat ion and t ra in ing

requ i rements a re imposed by laws, regu la t ions o r co l lec t ive agreements .

24 Mele t iou, M. , " Improved por t per formance through t ra in ing: The cont r ibut ion o f the In ternat iona lLabour Organizat ion" , 22n d In ternat iona l Por t Conference "Human Resources and Sea Por tsPer formance" , 12-14 March 2006, A lexandr ia , www.ppia f .org , 4 .25 Bar ton, H. and Turnbul l , P . , "Labour Regula t ion and Compet i t i ve Per formance in the Por tTranspor t Indus t ry : The Changing For tunes of Three Major European Seaports " , European Journa lo f Indus t r ia l Re la t ions 2002, Vol . 8 , No. 2 , (133) , 138; see a lso Not teboom, T. Dock labour andpor t - re la ted employment in the European seapor t sys tem. Key fac tors to por t compet i t i veness andre fo rm, Repor t prepared for European Sea Por ts Organisat ion, 2010, 46 and 57. 26 Mele t iou, M. , " Improved por t per formance through t ra in ing: The cont r ibut ion o f the In ternat iona l

Labour Organizat ion" , 22n d

In ternat iona l Por t Conference "Human Resources and Sea Por tsPer formance" , 12-14 March 2006, A lexandr ia , www.ppia f .org , 4 .27 For an overv iew, see Evans, A.A. , Technica l and soc ia l changes in the wor ld 's por ts , Geneva,ILO, 1969, 81 et seq.


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2.4. The concept of health and safety

23. A th i rd aspect o f por t labour reg imes ana lysed in the p resen t s tudy re la tes to the hea l th

and safety of por t workers. Here too, avai lab le speci f ic ar rangements f ind the ir or ig in in the

opera t iona l charac te r is t i cs o f por t labour , wh ich con t inues to invo lve , in te r a l ia , dangerous

manua l work in d i f f i cu l t l y access ib le workp laces , in tense in te rac t ion w i th heavy mach inery ,

hazardous cargoes and dense t raf f ic and movement .

As the authors of ILO's la test Code of Pract ice on Safety and Heal th in Por ts note, technica l

deve lopments , inc lud ing the in t roduct ion o f increas ing ly soph is t i ca ted cargo hand l ing

equipment have great ly increased capaci ty and reach. Whi le many of these changes in cargo

handl ing methods have resul ted in s ign i f icant improvements of the safety of por t workers, some

changes have in t roduced new hazards and por t work is st i l l regarded as an occupat ion wi th

very h igh accident rates 28.

24. The p resen t s tudy p rov ides an overv iew o f spec i f i c hea l th and sa fe ty laws and regu la t ions

which per ta in to por t labour in the EU Member States. Where heal th and safety is governed by

genera l ru les, we l imi ted ourselves to br ie f ly out l in ing the appl icable inst ruments. Al though we

give some randomly se lected examples, we have not at tempted to inventory and analyse

internal heal th and safety regulat ions of ind iv idual terminal operators.

In addi t ion, we at tempted to co l lect facts and f igures on occupat ional accidents and d iseases in

por ts. In some rare cases, we were able to compare the heal th and safety record of por ts wi th

that of o ther industr ies such as construct ion or that of the economy as a whole.

28 See X. , ILO code o f prac t i ce Safe ty and hea l th in por ts , Geneva, In ternat iona l Labour Of f i ce,2005, ht tp : / /www. i lo .org/publ i c / l i bdoc / i lo /2005/105B09_39_engl .pdf , 1 .


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2.5. Aspects not covered

25. As the study focuses on the three aspects of EU por t labour systems out l ined above, i t

does not go in to mat ters such as:

- por t labour in in land por ts, i .e . por ts which exclusive ly accommodate in land waterway

vesse ls29;

- the organisat ion of labour engaged in other por t serv ices, such as technica l-n aut ica l

serv ices (even i f , in some rare por ts, the same workers are involved in cargo handl ing

and moor ing serv ices) ;

- the status, st ructure and powers of por t author i t ies ( inc luding representat i on of workers

in boards of por t author i t ies) and of por t operators;

- ru les on access to the por t serv ices market ;

- labour management re lat ions ( inc luding ru les and pract ices of socia l d ia logue and

co l lec t ive barga in ing , se t t lement o f i ndust r ia l d ispu tes , s t r i ke p ropens i t y, etc . ) ;

- condi t ions of work ( remunerat ion, wage supplements , working and rest t imes, sh i f t

sys tems, ho l idays , soc ia l secur i t y , we l fa re ) ;

- genera l labour law, except to the extent necessary to understand the por t labour

regime 30;

- the f inancia l reg ime of por t labour pools;

- s tate a id aspects of por t labour regimes and por t labour reform schemes;

- por t labour - re l ated aspects of por t pr ivat isat i on schemes;

- the protect ion of workers in the event of a t ransfer of under taking 31;

- procedura l issues re lat ing to in f r ingements, compla ints, enforcement , and the

competences of EU and nat ional author i t ies in th is respect ;

- demographica l t rends and the genera l s i tuat io n on the labour market ;

- economic and socia l aspects of por t labour regimes such as the product iv i t y and cost of

por t labour , the re lat ion between labour cost and stevedor ing tar i f fs , compet i t ion in and

among por ts and por t ranges, the impact o f the cos t o f por t labour on the overa l l cos t o f

products and on the economy as a whole, and overa l l job desirabi l i ty for workers;

- a compar ison wi th labour markets in other , more or less s imi lar , sectors;

- a g loba l benchmark .

I t goes wi thout saying that a l l these issues are of considerable impor tance. In a number of

country chapters in Volume I I we could not avoid marginal ly touching upon them.

To out l ine the broader context o f the study, we f i rs t o f a l l added some data on por t throughput

in the ind iv idua l Member S ta tes . As we a lso p rov ide f igu res on the number o f por t workers in

each country, the temptat ion might be great to ca lcu late nat ional ra t ios of product iv i ty per por t

29See a l ready supra , para 5 .30See supra, para 7 .31 See, however , the genera l re ference to Counc i l D i rec t i ve 2001/23/EC i n f ra , para 165. Even i f our

ques t ionnai re conta ined a genera l ques t ion on th is i ssue, we dec ided not to inves t igate i t fur theras , a t the t ime of wr i t ing, the mat ter was the sub jec t o f a separate po l i cy debate on the pos i t ion o fworkers upon terminat ion o f por t concess ions . In a few count ry chapters , we added someinformat ion however.


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worker . Upon c loser scrut iny, any usefu l assessment of labour product iv i ty should be based on

substant ia l ly more factual deta i l and much more sophist icated formulae. For example, a large

par t o f to ta l por t t h roughput , espec ia l l y we t bu lk and indust r ia l ca rgo , i s commonly no t hand led

by por t workers but by staf f o f re f iner ies, chemical p lants or manufactur ing companies. On the

other hand, in many por ts por t workers are a lso used to load and unload barges, lor r ies and

tra ins, so non-mar i t ime cargo volumes should be taken in to considerat ion as wel l . Por t workers

are of ten a lso deployed at warehouses and log ist ics areas, where volumes handled are not

ref lected in mar i t ime throughput f igures at a l l . A fur ther d i f f icu l ty is that data on the number of

por t workers are in most cases exclusive of occasional workers. F inal ly , labour product iv i ty is

o f course h igh ly in f luenced by o ther , ex te rna l , fac to rs such as ava i lab le por t equ ipment ,

terminal lay-out and procedures, and even c l imate. Any real is t ic product iv i ty est imate should

be based on addi t ional data such as, for example, working hours per formed, the scope of the

por t labour regime vis--v is vo lumes handled, technica l character is t ics of the por ts, etc.

In order to of fer readers insight in to the re lat ionship between employers, workers and their

respect ive organisat ions, we had to inc lude, in severa l country chapters, in format ion on access

to the cargo handl ing market in por ts, s ince the por t labour system is of ten inext r icably bound

up wi th the regulatory set -up of the serv ices market ( in some cases wi th a monopoly of

stevedor ing companies or wi th an ongoing scheme for the pr ivat isat ion of former ly state-owned

por ts) .

We a lso had to cross the boundar ies of the study where stakeholders compla ined that the

inadequacy of the por t labour regime mater ia l ises in an unacceptable st r ike f requency, a lack

of e lementary socia l protect ion or low job qual i ty .

Yet other issues would appear to deserve fur ther at tent ion, such as the need for many por ts to

re juvenate the ir workforce, which has immediate consequences for the organisat ion of the

labour market . In our pol icy recommendat ions, we shal l ident i fy a number of pressing issues

wh ich may insp i re use fu l add i t iona l research ac t iv i t ies in the fu tu re32.

32See i n f ra , para 355.


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3. RESEARCH PROCESS

3.1. Methodology

26. Our research fo l lowed a step-by-step approach including an in-depth desk study, a

quest ionnaire, numerous in terv iews wi th stakeholders and exper ts and a number of on-s i te

v is i t s .

Data obta ined through the quest ionnaire are va l id for the beginning of 2012, but we t r ied to

update them in the course of that year . Unless otherwise speci f ied, re ferences to legal

inst ruments are to the cur rent ly appl icable vers ion ( in other words, to the in i t ia l text as

modi f ied) .

Deta i ls on our methodology and sources are set out in the fo l lowing annexes to the present

s tudy :

- Annex A: Selected b ib l iograp hy;

- Annex B: Inven to ry o f conven t ions , laws, regu la t ions and co l lec t ive agreements ;

- Annex C: Quest ionnai re form;

- Annex D: Methodology of quest ionnair e and overview of ind iv idu al responses .

Quotat ions f rom exist ing Engl ish sources and t ranslat ions were le f t unedi ted.

27. The par tners in the Por t ius Por t Labour Consor t ium, Prof Dr Stefano Zunare l l i and Dr Elena

Orr of the law f i rm Zunare l l i e Associat i and Global Por t Tra in ing, contr ibuted to the review of

the I ta l ian country chapter and a pre l iminary h igh- level in ternet screening of avai lab le por t

t ra in ing programmes respect ive ly.


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3.2. Acknowledgements

28. F i rst o f a l l , we s incere ly thank the count less author i t ies, professional organisat ions,

companies, t rade unions and exper ts who contr ibuted massive ly to our work.

Because severa l in te rv iewees and exper ts asked us no t to d isc lose the i r names, we dec ided

not to inc lude a l i s t o f con t r ibu to rs , as such in fo rmat ion migh t inv i te readers to p roceed to an

ident i f icat ion of the persons we spoke to and as such an exercise would inevi tab ly g ive r ise to

misunderstandings. However , we can assure readers that a l l anonymous even i f o f ten h igh ly

sub jec t ive s tatements are based on deta i led notes taken dur ing in terv iews or other ver i f ied

in fo rmat ion .

We also extend our grat i tude to the European Commission, in par t icu lar to Dimit r ios

Theologi t is , Bernardo Urrut ia , Rober to Fer ravante and Pieter De Meyer of the Uni t Por ts &

In land Navigat ion of the Mobi l i ty Network Directorate, for a p leasant and a lways construct ive

cooperat ion. F inal ly , specia l thanks go to my col leagues at Er ic Van Hooydonk Lawyers

(espec ia l l y Wim Naudts , B j rn C loo ts and Jor is Van Raemdonck) , the par tners in the

consor t ium and, last but not least , Mia, for o f f loading ship loads of pat ience and love at my a l l

too congested l i t t le legal whar f a long the Scheldt .


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3.3. Disclaimer

29. In a l l modesty , we can say tha t th is s tudy is qu i te amb i t ious , s ince a t least to our

knowledge a comprehensive legal analysis of por t labour regimes in the European Union has

never been under taken before. The assistance of count less organisat ions and ind iv iduals

notwi thstanding, we encountered ser ious d i f f icu l t ies in accessing data. In addi t ion, a large

number of nat ional sources were not avai lab le in any of f ic ia l or even unof f ic ia l t ranslat ion, and

a few stakeholders were a b i t re luctant to cooperate, for fear of lending suppor t to any future

l ibera l isat ion proposals by the European Commission, or d id not respond to requests for

in format ion. For want of bet ter sources, we of ten had to re ly on non-academic sources,

including numerous media repor ts and even in formal in ternet sources. F inal ly , any study of

fo re ign lega l sys tems inev i tab ly bears the r isk o f m is in te rp re ta t ions . Even i f we sought

assistance f rom local exper ts, we cannot guarantee that a l l in format ion is per fect ly accurate or

complete; er rors wi l l a lmost cer ta in ly have crept in , for which we apologise.

30. As i ts perspect ive is main ly legal , the study focuses on the regulatory set -up of the por tlabour market and on a number of cr i t ica l issues which would appear to deserve fur ther legal

at tent ion, especia l ly possib le incompat ib i l i t ies wi th EU law. We beg the reader to understand

that th is emphasis on rest r ic t ions, inef f ic iencies, substandard working condi t ions, etc . does not

stem f rom any personal pre judice against employers or workers or the ir organisat ions, but is

on ly due to the Terms o f Re fe rence o f the s tudy wh ich ob l iged us to i den t i f y po l icy issues and

to propose recommendat ions on how to so lve these issues. We would l ike to st ress that we

always had a great sympathy for the wor ld of stevedores and dockers and that , through our

research, and a l l the methodologica l d i f f icu l t ies notwi thstanding, our af f in i ty wi th the wor ld of

por ts has only become st ronger .

Fur thermore, as our inventory of po l icy and legal problems is to an extent based on subject ive,

somet imes w ide ly d ive rg ing , op in ions o f s takeho lders , ne i ther the au thors o f the s tudy , nor the

European Commission should be held responsib le for repor t ing these opin ions. Nei ther are the

au thors in tend ing to express any persona l judgment on the lega l i t y o f g iven s i tua t ions . The i r

in tent ion is to provide competent author i t ies, in par t icu lar the European Commission, wi th

factual data, in format ion on d i f f icu l t ies and compl icat ions, an insight in to the posi t ions of

stakeholders, and a menu of legal too ls which wi l l a l low them to fur ther invest igate cr i t ica l

issues and decide on appropr ia te measures to improve the cur rent s i tuat ion. To that end, we

have a lso out l ined a number of possib le pol icy opt ions, wi thout stat ing a personal preference

for any par t icu lar so lut ion.


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4. THE SPECIFICITY OF PORT LABOUR

4.1. A contentious issue

31. As we have exp la ined 33, the focus o f th is s tudy is on leges spec ia les ( inc luding agreements

and unwr i t ten usages) govern ing por t labour . As our f ind ings suggest a s low but cer ta in t rend

towards 'genera l isat ion ' or 'banal isat ion ' o f por t labour regimes i .e . , a replacement of sector -

spec i f i c ru les by genera l labour law cond i t ions the quest ion a r ises wh ich pecu l ia r i t ies

cont inue to character ise the profession today. Repl ies to our quest ionnaire and in terv iews

revealed st rongly opposing v iews on the speci f ic i ty of por t labour today and on the need to

mainta in speci f ic legal and organisat ional ar rangements. Moreover , as many leges spec ia leson

por t labour enta i l far - reaching rest r ic t ions on fundamenta l socio-economic f reedoms

guaranteed under both in ternat ional and EU law, they can only be deemed compat ib le wi th

these h igher ru les of law i f a specia l just i f icat ion is avai lab le. For these reasons, assessing the

pecu l ia r i t ies o f por t labour i s o f cap i ta l impor tance .

33See supra, para 7 .


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4.2. The (ir)regularity of demand for labour

32. The fundamenta l problem under ly ing the organisat ion of the labour market in por ts, and

indeed a l l specia l laws and regulat ions on por t labour , is the i r regular demand for workers,

which is i tse l f a d i rect resul t o f the in termit tent and to an extent unpredictable ar r iva l o f sh ips

and cargoes in por ts. Demands for labour are af fected by dai ly , weekly, seasonal and cycl ica l

var ia t ions and moreover f luctuate wi th each ship and type of cargo.

As John Dempster expla ins,

Port operators say that the biggest problem with running a por t is that ships behave l ike

buses they come in bunches. Even modern round- the-wor ld container ships which

seek to operate to a t imetable are apt to be delayed by bad weather , mechanical

problems, labour problems and so on. Many vessels do not operate to a t imetable

they t ravel around f rom por t to por t as the bus iness takes them. But once a ship enters

a por t there is great pressure to have i t unloaded and loaded quick ly . The shipowner

and the cargo owner have capi ta l t ied up in the ship and i ts cargo. They want the cargo

dispatched as soon as poss ib le, and the ship on i ts way to earn more revenue. Thus, a

t radi t ional por t operator needs a f lex ib le supply of labour to load and unload the ships.

One day he may need every man he can get hold of ; the next day he needs hardly

anyone34.

In addi t ion, t ra f f ic f lows in por ts of ten depend on the t ime of harvest of agr icu l tura l products

such as gra in, cot ton and f ru i t . Fur ther i r regular i t ies may resul t f rom naut ica l constra ints such

as d raugh t l im i ta t ions , t ida l , i ce and weather cond i t ions , congest ion a t locks and b r idges,

vo lun ta ry o r fo rced dev ia t ions , techn ica l fa i lu res , nau t ica l inc iden ts , po l i t i ca l and indust r ia l

con f l i c ts , f luc tua t ions o f t rade in commodi t ies , etc . Inevi tab ly, any delay encountered in one

place wi l l impact on p lanning in the next por t o f ca l l . Developments s ince the outbreak of the

cur rent economic cr is is i l lust rate that genera l economic s lumps and upturns may impose

sudden, qui te substant ia l , ad justments of the workforce as wel l .

Exact ly hal f a century ago, the Rochdale repor t on UK por ts pol icy argued that the in termit tent

nature of por t work can be overst ressed; some degree of i r regular i ty there wi l l a lways be, but

most se rv ice indust r ies a re sub jec t to f luc tua t ion in the leve l o f demand and ye t have found

reasonably successfu l ways of contending wi th i t whi le mainta in ing a more or less regular

labour force 35. Today, the demand for por t workers has in many por ts and terminals become

relat ive ly stable and programmable as a resul t o f conta iner isat ion, improved means of

communicat ion and ICT-suppor ted p lanning processes. For th is reason, many por t companies

are now able to of fer normal , in par t icu lar permanent , employment condi t ions to a major i ty i f

not a l l o f the ir workers. But in t ramp por ts and por ts handl ing only smal l vo lumes, work remains

largely i r regular . Also e lsewhere, peaks in demand are inevi tab le due to the uncer ta int ies

34 Dempster , J . , The r i se and fa l l o f the Dock Labour Scheme, London, B i teback Publ i sh ing, 2010, 5 .35 Min is t ry o f Transpor t , Report o f the Commi t tee o f Inqu i ry in to the Major Por ts o f Great Br i ta in ,London, Her Majes ty 's Stat ionery Of f i ce, 1962, 129, para 356.


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ment ioned above, which can never be ru led out ent i re ly. What is more, in some t rades

ir regular i ty seems to be on the r ise again: a t conta iner terminals, the b ig 18,000 TEU box ships

make less f requent ca l ls but require an ever st ronger concentrated deployment of large

numbers of por t workers, and there are no s igns that the t rend towards increasing ship s izes is

about to end.

To address th is eternal i r regular i ty problem of por t operators, over t ime and ext ra sh i f ts of fer

on ly a par t ia l so lu t ion . In a la rge ma jo r i t y o f por ts , the core work fo rce must s t i l l be

supplemented by casual workers who may be por t pool workers, workers temporar i ly h i red out

by other cargo handl ing companies, workers suppl ied by subcontractors, temporary agency

workers, or occasional workers (such as taxi or bus dr ivers, farmers or students) . To respond

to the more cycl ica l changes, temporary lay-of fs and reduct ions of working t ime may a lso be

cons idered .

An in terest ing i l lust rat ion of the present-day re levance of the i r regular i ty issues is provided by

the fo l lowing data on the programmabi l i ty of the demand for por t labour and the reasons for the

use of temporary workers in I ta l ian por ts in 2012, co l lected by the research inst i tu te ISFORT.

Figure 2. Programmabi l i ty of the demand for por t labour in I ta l ian por ts by cargo category ,

2012 (source: ISFORT36, our t rans lat ion)

36 ISFORT, I l fu turo de i por t i e de l lavoro por tua le , I I , 2012 ,ht tp : / /www. is for t . i t /s i to /pubbl i caz ion i /Rapport i%20per iod ic i /RP_17_lug l io_2012.pdf , 42.

2

1

11

8

9

5

12

11

10

13

8

7

Dry bulk

General cargo (coils,timber, crates, etc.)

Containerised goods

Ro-ro (trailer)

High programmability Average programmability Low programmability


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Figure 3. Reasons to re ly on temporary workers in I ta l ian por ts , 2012 (source: ISFORT37, our

t rans lat ion)

33. In th is regard, we should draw at tent ion to a fur ther terminologica l problem. The not ions of

'casual work ' and 'decasual isat ion ' , which are centra l to academic research but a lso to the law

and pol icy re lat ing to por t labour , can easi ly lead to confusion.

In a f i rs t , h istor ica l , meaning, the concept of casual labour refers to the employment of workers

plucked f rom the st reet corner or h i red f rom a recru i tment agency, and put to work in the por t

for a per iod of t ime wi thout any proper t ra in ing or supervis ion, a lso ca l led t rue casual isat ion 38.

Accord ing to Rayner , the cost of capi ta l equipment and customer expectat ions seem to have

ensured that nowadays there is no p lace wi th in the vast major i ty of por ts and cargo handl ing

fac i l i t ies fo r th is t ype o f casua l isa t ion 39. Our analysis of por t labour systems in the EuropeanUnion reveals, however , that , in order to meet peaks in demand and supplement the regular ly

employed por t workforce and/or , where i t ex ists, the formal pool o f por t workers, a large

number of wel l -organised por ts and por t employers cont inue to re ly on supplementary workers.

In most cases, these casua l ly emp loyed workers en joy no income guaran tee , and a re a lso

refer red to as 'occasional ' or 'auxi l iary ' workers.

37 ISFORT, I l fu turo de i por t i e de l lavoro por tua le , I I , 2012 ,ht tp : / /www. is for t . i t /s i to /pubbl i caz ion i /Rapport i%20per iod ic i /RP_17_lug l io_2012.pdf , 44.38 See McNamara, T. and Tarver , S . , "The s t rengths and weaknesses of dock labour re form tenyears on" , Economic Af fa i rs 1999, Vol . 19, No. 2 , (12) , 15; Rayner , J . , "Rais ing the por tcu l l i s :

repeal o f the Nat iona l Dock Labour Scheme and the employment re la t ionsh ip in the docks indus t ry " ,Economic Af fa i rs 1999, Vol . 19, No. 2 , (5) , 9 . 39 Rayner , J . , "Rais ing the por tcu l l i s : repeal o f the Nat iona l Dock Labour Scheme and theemployment re la t ionsh ip in the docks indus t ry " , Economic Af fa i rs 1999, Vol . 19, No. 2 , (5) , 9 .

29

29

12

10

8

7

10

9

27

27

29

32

Large number of ships arriving in port at the sametime

Insufficiency of employees with respect to peaksin demand

Unpredictable weather and sea conditions

Difficulties for the shipping companies to plan

loading and unloading

Economic convenience on the part of the terminaloperator

Incompatibility of long-term planning with thecharacteristics of maritime transport

Often + sometimes Seldom + never


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In a second in terpretat ion, the not ion of casual labour is l imi ted to professional and wel l -

t ra ined pool workers employed for shor t per iods as required. These pool workers belong to the

regular workforce of the por t and may e i ther be permanent ly employed by the pool agency and

hired out to user companies for a day, a sh i f t , a hal f sh i f t , etc . , or merely be registered wi th

such agency and be a l located to shor t - term employers, w i th the proviso that they enjoy an

income guarantee in per iods of unemployment . Here, the term casual isat ion merely refers to

the in termit tent nature of the work per formed by por t workers who are e i ther regular ly

employed or at least protected against temporary unemployment by socia l secur i ty

ar rangements.

The term 'decasual isat ion ' , then, can be in terpreted in two d i f ferent ways as wel l 40. In the UK,

for example, i t has been equated wi th a scheme for the mere regist rat ion of workers and the

maintenance of unemployed labour , where the dockworkers st i l l have no permanent employer

and where their actual earn ings cont inue to depend on the amount of avai lab le work. Ful l or

real decasual isat ion only occurs where dockworkers are employed permanent ly, on the basis of

a normal fu l l - t ime contract o f employment concluded wi th e i ther a pool agency or an ind iv idual

emp loyer . Of ten used , more o r less accura te , synonyms fo r decasua l isa tion a re ' r egu la r isa tion '

and 's tabi l isat ion ' , which may refer to e i ther the provis ion of fu l l - t ime regular employment or a

scheme for the regist rat ion and a l locat ion of por t workers designed to provide adequate

guarantees of employment or income.

34. Below, par t icu lar ly in the chapters descr ib ing nat ional por t labour regimes in Volume I I , we

wi l l have to d ist inguish between d i f ferent k inds of casual ly employed por t workers. As a ru le,

we shal l reserve the term 'casual ' por t worker to professional por t workers employed on a dai ly

(or sh i f t ) basis. Whether these workers are merely registered and enjoy an income guarantee,

o r a re emp loyed permanent ly by a poo l agency, i s i r re levan t . The i r emp loyment i s ' casua l ' in

the sense that they do not work for one s ingle employer but can be a l located to d i f ferent

operators for shor t assignments 41. In the terms of ILO Convent ion No. 137, these workers are

40

On the meaning of casual i sat ion and decasual i sat ion, see and compare, i n ter a l ia , Barzman, J . ,"Commentary on the papers o f Vanf raechem and Ni jhof " , in Loyen, R. , Buys t , E . and Devos, G.(Eds . ) , Strugg l ing for Leadersh ip : AntwerpRot terdam Port Compet i t ion between 1870- 2000 ,Heide lberg, Phys ica-Ver lag, 2003, (289) , 296-297; Baudez, L . , "Evo lu t ie in de organisat ie van dehavenarbe id" , Arbe idsb lad 1984, 467-475; Couper, A.D. , New cargo-handl ing techn iques :Impl i ca t ions for por t employment and sk i l l s , Geneva, In ternat iona l Labour Of f i ce, 1986, 53;Dempster , J . , The r i se and fa l l o f the Dock Labour Scheme, London, B i teback Publ i sh ing, 2010, 17;Evans, A.A. , Technica l and soc ia l changes in the wor ld 's por ts , Geneva, ILO, 1969, 41; Hard ing, S. ,Rest r i c t i ve Labor Prac t i ces in Seapor ts , Washington, Wor ld Bank, October 1990, ht tp : / /www-wds.wor ldbank.org/serv le t /WDSContentServer /WDSP/ IB/1990/10/01/000009265_3960929231915/Rendered/PDF/mul t i_page.pdf , 18, para 51; In ternat iona l Labour Conference (90th Sess ion 2002) ,Genera l Survey o f the repor ts concern ing the Dock Work Convent ion (No. 137) andRecommendat ion (No. 145) , 1973, h t tp : / /www. i lo .org/publ i c /engl i sh/s tandards / re lm/ i l c / i l c90/pdf / rep-i i i -1b.pdf , 33, para 77; Jackson, M.P. , Labour Rela t ions on the Docks , Westmead, Saxon House,1973, 22 and 39; O 'Carro l l , A . , " 'Every sh ip i s a d i f ferent fac tory ' . Work Organisat ion, Technology ,Communi ty and Change: The Story o f the Dubl in Docker" , h t tp : / /nu im.academia.edu , 3-4; V igar i ,

A. , Ports de Commerce e t V ie L i t to ra le , Par is , Hachet te , 1979, 419.41 Compare, on the meaning of "uns tndig" in the German language, Hel le , H.J . , Die uns te t igbeschf t ig ten Hafenarbe i ter in den nordwesteurop ischen Hfen, Stut tgar t , Gustav Fischer Ver lag,1960, 10.


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" regu la rly ava i lab le fo r work as dockworkers" and "depend on the i r work as such fo r the i r ma in

annua l income" 42.

With the term 'occasional ' worker , we refer , as a ru le, to workers who f i l l shor tages but enjoy

no income guarantee. Usual ly , these workers have other jobs, so that the ir earn ings in the por t

are not the ir pr incipal means of l ive l ihood, or have not yet entered the fu l l - t ime labour market

(cf . s tudents) . A th i rd, re la ted, category are 'seasonal ' workers. The not ions of occasional and

seasonal workers are a lso used, for example, in ILO Recommendat ion No. 145 43.

Workers suppl ied by regular employment agencies wi l l be designated as ' temporary agency

workers ' .

42See i n f ra , pa ra 72 .43See i n f ra , pa ra 72 .


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4.3. From corporatism to banalisation

35. Throughout the centur ies, lawmakers and/or socia l par tners have sought to absorb the

charac te r is t i c f luc tua t ions in the demand fo r por t workers th rough the adop t ion o f spec ia l

regulat ions and agreements, which t r ied to balance the need for guaranteed avai lab i l i ty o f

labour wi th concerns over l ive l ihood secur i ty for workers. As a resul t , many of today's leges

spec iales on por t labour , inc luding the typ ica l rest r ic t ive ru les and pract ices, are deeply rooted

in h is to ry 44.

36. In soc io -economic s tud ies o f por t labour reg imes, the h is to r ica l perspect ive is usua l ly

l imi ted to developments s ince the second hal f o f the 19th century and in the course of the 20th

century, which saw a t rend towards decasual isat ion of por t labour under pressure of emerging

trade unionism and other factors such as mechanisat ion and uni t isat ion of mar i t ime cargoes.

However , speci f ic por t labour ar rangements emerged much ear l ier . Th

ec port labour study vol i 18 1 13 def

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