Responding to environmental change in longshoring: Four north American experiences

In longshoring, technological change, expanding competition among ports, and the development of lower cost work forces induced a major restructuring of dock operations. This paper focuses on collective bargaining responses to environmental change and the interplay between those responses, government intervention, the law, and market forces. Four coastal regions in the United States and Canada are studied to gain a broad perspective in two jurisdictions with somewhat differing approaches to government intervention and labor law. Market pressures have become a dominant force, altering the need for and nature of government intervention, and accommodation to change seems most appropriate in today's highly competitive marketplace.