Workers won’t be contained
DOCKWORKERS – the very first labour activists in Durban – should continue to be vital in spite of automation that has seen huge cranes replace labour gangs since the onset of the containerisation revolution.
This is according to Peter Cole, professor of history at Western Illinois University in the US and author of the award-winning Dockworker Power: Race and Activism in Durban and the San Francisco Bay Area.
“However, how many workers are part of logistics is an open question,” he said.
“The statistics are clear: global trade has increased exponentially in the past few generations. There’s little reason to believe that will change.”
He said when the revolution
