The Defiant Loaders of Uuras

Stevedores and the Tradition of Stevedores from 1850 to 1910

Authors

• Martti Kosonen

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.37456/tvt.125570

Abstract

Uuras, the outer harbour of Wyborg, devel­oped into a large export harbour for sawn Uuras, the outer harbour of Wyborg, developed into a large export harbour for sawn timber in the 19th century. Ships belonging to the trading houses of Wyborg were loaded in the Uuras straits by crews lead by Uuras´ Stevedores. This article tells their story.

Each trading house used its own workers for loading ships. They employed professionals called Stevedores to supervise the crews of hired dockhands. The houses agreed to a common pay and pricing system for the work and the stevedores followed the agreed practices. A unique Stevedore institution was developed as a key element of the special loading crew culture of the Uuras harbour characterized by strong mutually beneficial relationships between the trading houses, stevedores and loading crews.

In 1896, the trading houses gave up loading operations, but loaders, stevedores and work crews continued their practices in a workers’ association, the Uuraan Työväen Yhdistys (UTY), which they had founded. UTY, which operated first according to the principles of the Wrightian labour movement, became a social democratic organization in 1907. Also, in the same year, the loading operations were transferred to the loaders branch of the UTY. Thus, control of the loading operations, which had first been transferred from the trading houses to the UTY, was now transferred to its loaders branch, the heir of the stevedore institution.

The independent Stevedores and dockhands of Uuras fought three times for their existence and livelihood; In 1896 and 1904–05 they fought against private Finnish stevedoring firms taking over their harbour and in 1910–14 against a stevedoring firm that leaned on international capital. They survived as the winners of the first two struggles, whereas the third struggle ended unresolved at the beginning of the First World War.