Tribunal defines dock work
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• Container handling in Southampton Docks is no longer to be regarded as "dock work". This is the text of a written decision issued by an Industrial Tribunal this week.
The Tribunal had been asked by the Dock Labour Board to define the term "dock work". The Board claimed that container moving within the docks by whatever means should be regarded as dock work and consequently should be handled by registered dock labour.
By a 1946 Act of Parliament it has been a criminal offence to employ persons in dock work who are not registered dock workers (CM October 22).
The Tribunal likened the movement of containers on road vehicles to the operation of a conveyor-belt system and stated that in such circumstances dock labour would not be employed.
Had the Tribunal accepted the Board's claim hauliers would have only been permitted to move containers between the ship's side and premises outside the dock area. This would have precluded the movement of containers to warehouses and customers' premises inside the dock area except on vehicles driven by registered dock labour.
There were fears among operators and shipping companies this week that the labour force at Southampton might take some reprisals. An unconfirmed report stated that one cross-Channel ferry had been immobilized on Wednesday after the decision was made known. CM was told that dock labour at Southampton claimed that driving accompanied semi-trailers from the ferry over the link span was dock labour work and, to insure that the haulage drivers did not move the vehicles, two slave tractors had been used to block the access. It is understood that the Dock Labour Board is considering whether it has grounds for appeal against the Tribunal's decision.