bestbooties:
The best thing to ever happen was getting shut of the bone idle dock workers.
Ignorance is bliss !!
That is a terrible thing to say.Just for the sake of revenge on a good union,the government of the day effectively closed the Gate to America. Not all the dockers were lazy and a lot of them lived through the hard times standing at the Pier Head with a hook over their shoulders and not getting any work if their faces didn’t fit. Just think about that before you slag them off
You must have visited a different dock to the rest of us
I’d have said a different city myself!
And a different union , and even if they were treated like crap that was no excuse to treat us, fellow workers and union members, the same way.
OK lads,I think something has been lost in translation here.I am no apologist for no lazy get dockers and in my nearly forty years on the road I have had a bellyful of dock work. But not just Liverpool. I have sat around all day at King Georges dock in Hull. I have been on Tilbury for ever, Avonmouth for two lifts of timber a day and half. Glasgow was a bit of a get,in those shipyards,(What shipyards?)Ok it once took me 2 1/2 days to tip five small arcton cylinders at Seaforth, But by the same token I would put 40 tons(two loads) of Fullers earth into Liverpool and be finished for dinnertime. I would be in and out of East Hornby dock regularly.I seen the bribery and corruption,I seen the robbing and believe me,there are large companies operating now which made the money from stealing.Talking of laziness,there are some drivers who would leave any docker standing for indolence.You know them as well
bigpeter53:
OK lads,I think something has been lost in translation here.I am no apologist for no lazy get dockers and in my nearly forty years on the road I have had a bellyful of dock work. But not just Liverpool. I have sat around all day at King Georges dock in Hull. I have been on Tilbury for ever, Avonmouth for two lifts of timber a day and half. Glasgow was a bit of a get,in those shipyards,(What shipyards?)Ok it once took me 2 1/2 days to tip five small arcton cylinders at Seaforth, But by the same token I would put 40 tons(two loads) of Fullers earth into Liverpool and be finished for dinnertime. I would be in and out of East Hornby dock regularly.I seen the bribery and corruption,I seen the robbing and believe me,there are large companies operating now which made the money from stealing.Talking of laziness,there are some drivers who would leave any docker standing for indolence.You know them as well
Ok I agree that not all dockers were bad only the majority.In the middle fifties to the late sixties I spent a lot of time loading and unloading in many docks and I can honestly say that the times I was treated fairly I can count on the fingers of one hand.As I have said before they worked themselves out of a job and then tried to take mine.No way
bigpeter53:
OK lads,I think something has been lost in translation here.I am no apologist for no lazy get dockers and in my nearly forty years on the road I have had a bellyful of dock work. But not just Liverpool. I have sat around all day at King Georges dock in Hull. I have been on Tilbury for ever, Avonmouth for two lifts of timber a day and half. Glasgow was a bit of a get,in those shipyards,(What shipyards?)Ok it once took me 2 1/2 days to tip five small arcton cylinders at Seaforth, But by the same token I would put 40 tons(two loads) of Fullers earth into Liverpool and be finished for dinnertime. I would be in and out of East Hornby dock regularly.I seen the bribery and corruption,I seen the robbing and believe me,there are large companies operating now which made the money from stealing.Talking of laziness,there are some drivers who would leave any docker standing for indolence.You know them as well
Ok I agree that not all dockers were bad only the majority.In the middle fifties to the late sixties I spent a lot of time loading and unloading in many docks and I can honestly say that the times I was treated fairly I can count on the fingers of one hand.As I have said before they worked themselves out of a job and then tried to take mine.No way
I totally agree with you,they did contribute to thier own downfall. I witnessed it. All the landlords on the Dock Rd, absolutely cleaned up out of the redundancy payments.I would often hear about 3, 4 or 5 grand being put behind the bars for p*** ups But not all of them did this. The opportunity was thrown away to make Liverpool a premier port.It was also politically motivated and carried through. This did not need to happen.It is despicable. To get freight to and from America the ships then had to go either around the top of Scotland or down past Cornwall to get to the east coast ports of Hull and Felixstowe.So the dockers fell on their own swords.Tough ■■■■■. What I want to talk about is our lot.Truck drivers. I think this job is descending into virtual slavery and would like to know how a Labour government allows so many agencies to flourish.It is terrible,it is a throw away society as far as HGV drivers are concerned and something radically needs to be done and done soon.If there are so many agencies it then logically follows that the work is there,I know conditions have improved of late,but not that much.There is still no security or guarantee of continuity. I think agencies should be scrapped.
Talk like that on here will have people agreeing with you
Im not so sure that a Labour government would want to change this. If you are signed to an agency, you are not unemployed, you are not sick, you are counted amongst the 1000’s of workers who flip burgers and sell bread rolls in Subway.
Weve all suffered at hands of Dockers as Drivers . Sothampton was a good Dock with really good potential ( if it wasnt for the Dockers ) , the old fruit boats in the sixties provided us with a lot of work , loading on the quays of in the sheds , old and New Docks , rope and sheet , strait up to the Markets tip reload for the South , tip , reload fruit and away again , money to be earned , worked in a few boxes ( who me sir not me sir ) .
I`ve enjoyed the stories of Liverpool Docks , we used to run 45 gallons drums from Borden Chemicals , queyue on the rail lines for a couple of days only to off load yourself ,struggled with these if they bit into a wet or damaged trailer bed , gangs playing cards behind , not interested.
london Dockers also gave grief in terms of Drunkeness , I always fell foul of drunken Cockeneese Dockees .
After a long night tipping in Covent about 6.00am we went onto the Docks to load tinned fruit . by about 0845 when they showed up I was first on the bank , by dinnertime I had all of half a load , after dinner they were p****d , I was getting peeved with standing around . Well I complained about these useles drunken pieces of s**t and got bombed off by the Local drivers for my trouble .
That was it , rope and sheet half a load after speading it out and take that home .
When I joined BRS in 1969 I never had anymore dock work until 73 and thats another story .
Frenchy
frenchy:
Weve all suffered at hands of Dockers as Drivers . Sothampton was a good Dock with really good potential ( if it wasnt for the Dockers ) , the old fruit boats in the sixties provided us with a lot of work , loading on the quays of in the sheds , old and New Docks , rope and sheet , strait up to the Markets tip reload for the South , tip , reload fruit and away again , money to be earned , worked in a few boxes ( who me sir not me sir ) .
I`ve enjoyed the stories of Liverpool Docks , we used to run 45 gallons drums from Borden Chemicals , queyue on the rail lines for a couple of days only to off load yourself ,struggled with these if they bit into a wet or damaged trailer bed , gangs playing cards behind , not interested.
london Dockers also gave grief in terms of Drunkeness , I always fell foul of drunken Cockeneese Dockees .
After a long night tipping in Covent about 6.00am we went onto the Docks to load tinned fruit . by about 0845 when they showed up I was first on the bank , by dinnertime I had all of half a load , after dinner they were p****d , I was getting peeved with standing around . Well I complained about these useles drunken pieces of s**t and got bombed off by the Local drivers for my trouble .
That was it , rope and sheet half a load after speading it out and take that home .
When I joined BRS in 1969 I never had anymore dock work until 73 and thats another story .
Frenchy
Well said Frenchy.I have suffered all those indignities as you.I totally agree with you as have all the other lads of our generation.
And while we are on the subject of London docks, what about waiting in your freezing cab for hours on end because there was nowhere to wait without missing your call over the tannoy and in order to hear it you needed the window down?
What about not being allowed in the dockers canteen but restricted to a tiny wooden hut containing a drinks/food machine?
And, harking back to another thread showing the horrors of ‘hole in the floor’ toilets in France, what about drivers being forced to use those so called ‘Asian’ toilets in the docks rather than the dockers’ own facilities?
And who treated drivers like the worst thing you could scrape off your shoe?
Transport and General Workers Union members - dockers - the same union many of the drivers were in.
If you think I cursed Frank Cousins and his successors you’d be right.
Spardo:
And while we are on the subject of London docks, what about waiting in your freezing cab for hours on end because there was nowhere to wait without missing your call over the tannoy and in order to hear it you needed the window down?
What about not being allowed in the dockers canteen but restricted to a tiny wooden hut containing a drinks/food machine?
And, harking back to another thread showing the horrors of ‘hole in the floor’ toilets in France, what about drivers being forced to use those so called ‘Asian’ toilets in the docks rather than the dockers’ own facilities?
And who treated drivers like the worst thing you could scrape off your shoe?
Transport and General Workers Union members - dockers - the same union many of the drivers were in.
If you think I cursed Frank Cousins and his successors you’d be right.
Aw, now you have disillusioned thousands of new truckers, who thought the staff having bad attitudes at an RDC was new, they are just the next generation of dockers.
Wheel Nut:
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Aw, now you have disillusioned thousands of new truckers, who thought the staff having bad attitudes at an RDC was new, they are just the next generation of dockers.
bestbooties:
The best thing to ever happen was getting shut of the bone idle dock workers.
Ignorance is bliss !!
That is a terrible thing to say.Just for the sake of revenge on a good union,the government of the day effectively closed the Gate to America. Not all the dockers were lazy and a lot of them lived through the hard times standing at the Pier Head with a hook over their shoulders and not getting any work if their faces didn’t fit. Just think about that before you slag them off
Hang on a minute. Something is lost in translation here. I meant “bestbooties” ignorance was bliss. I have not slagged off any dockers. He cites working the docks in the sixties and complains they where lazy and then says the best thing to happen was to get rid of them? The guys who got sacked where sacked in the 90’s ? He doesn’t know what he’s talking about . I’m well aware of why the guys in the 60’s where the way they where, that dock employment act had not long been passed and many had permanent jobs for the first time instead of waiting in a line. More importantly, there was strict rules in place to say what work they would do and what work they should not do. I’m also aware of why the dockers where sacked in the 90’s too, and it wasn’t because they where lazy, if it was then ports across the world would not of gone out in sympathy with them, as did happen.
Hope that sorts that out !
Ban tuatliners and containers.
lets go back to roping and sheeting, oh and get rid of the phones in the cab too. log sheets, trucks that smell of diesel and oil, not Mr Sheen.
i’ve gone all giddy!!!
Don,t know much about them except I used to work with a fitter at Kirkdale Lewis Haulage of Charleywood Rd Kirkby in the 70`s.
His name was Gerry Headings and he used to run a pub in Kensington with his wife Margorie (she was the licensee)the pub was The Majestic.
I think they then went on to run a pub called “The Post Office” just off (I think Castle St.) in the city centre.
He used to be the fitter at Dexters when they were running the London Trunk with fruit and our old GM at Kirkdale Lewis was the transport manager at Alfred Dexter and his name was Derek Rooke.
There was also Gerry,s mate Alan (Blackie) who was the fitters mate at Dexters he lived in the Norris Green area I think near to the Eagle & Child pub.
The last I heard was that Derek Rooke was the T/M at William Rainford at Aintree.
ainacs:
Found this old pic of an old Alfred Dexter Ltd Atkinson it has Liverpool on the side anyone know anything about them?
REgards Pat
Believe it or not i know someone who has been in that truck when it was working. The driver of the truck (now passed away) was called “Hughie”. The ‘Apollo’ on the truck is its name, all Dexters motors where named after planets or solar stuff, so…Apollo, Venus, etc… I’ll get more info if you want?
Spardo , made me laugh with more memories , funny now 40 yrs on not so funny then , leaving Southampton at 4am , arriving in London Docks around 7.15 ish to the lorry park , up to the wooden booking in office , handed in my notes, back to the cab , some drivers would stand in all weathers under the tannoy or even some kind driver might tell you if your Lorry number was called or if you fell sound asleep like I did one morning and woke up 3 hours later with no one else around in the park then you knew you was in trouble .
Frenchy
Remember loading loading 15 Ton of Brass Ignots from the Wolverhampton Metals to Liverpool Docks , they were tipped on the Wagon by a Machine,got there and was directed into a Compound as usual no Dockers to be seen told to get them all off and stack them in Piles of 50 so that the Ships Officer could count them end of Day ,knackered
, and even if they were treated like crap that was no excuse to treat us, fellow workers and union members, the same way.
