The Disciplining of German Seamen

Gerstenberger, Heide

doi:10.1177/084387140101300205

Cited by 2 publications

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“…Consequently, the employers'construction of a distinct ‘nature’ dissociated sea workers from the general workforce. When accepted by regulators, the ‘special nature’ of shipping conditioned the growth of maritime labour law, as exemplified in Germany [ 71 ].…”

Section: Construction Of Sectoral Isolationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Fayle about the Hanseatic league practices in 1933. For Gerstenberger [ 71 ] validated this approach for Germany: “Neither the functioning of the sailing vessel nor the difficulties of living together in a very restricted space required a "naval" system of discipline aboard merchant ships. This only became necessary when the economic use to which vessels were put began to run counter to old seafaring customs.” For Gerstenberger, the authorities of German cities progressively dismantled the ancient seafaring practices by granting “[…] merchants the right to violate seafaring customs […]” The disruptive turn towards authoritarian command began when local authorities abolished “the seafarers' privilege to transport a certain amount of merchandise on their own account free of charge” and banned possibilities for seafarers to conduct their own business during port stay.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…This only became necessary when the economic use to which vessels were put began to run counter to old seafaring customs.” For Gerstenberger, the authorities of German cities progressively dismantled the ancient seafaring practices by granting “[…] merchants the right to violate seafaring customs […]” The disruptive turn towards authoritarian command began when local authorities abolished “the seafarers' privilege to transport a certain amount of merchandise on their own account free of charge” and banned possibilities for seafarers to conduct their own business during port stay. Seafarers attempted to resist the new order but, in 1841, “Prussia transformed disobedience aboard ship into a criminal act to be punished by imprisonment”, and in the 1854 law transformed “[…] a private labour contract into a state-sanctioned social relationship by making desertion a criminal offence.” [ 71 ] It signified that seafarers were denied the right to complaint or to leave the ship even on safety grounds or when facing unjust working situations. Merchants’ interests modified seafarer labour regime and subjugated workers.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Working time limits at sea, a hundred-year construction

Baumler

2020

Marine Policy

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In a view to protect workers from extended work periods as well as to comply with the Versailles Peace Treaty requirements, the International Labour Organization (ILO) regulated hours of work from 1919 using ‘8-hour workday and 48-h workweek’ as yardsticks. However, a historical perspective demonstrates the ILO's difficulties in integrating such standards for sea workers. From 1920 to 1958, the ILO endeavoured to anchor the 8-hour workday principle in maritime conventions on working time and to ensure compliance by quantifying manning levels. Facing sectoral opposition and the obstacle of the minimum tonnage requirement, none of the conventions adopted during the first period entered into force. A second regulatory wave (1995–2007) initiated by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) orientated working time towards fatigue management and adopted the 14-hour workday. Absorbed by the ILO from 1996, this threshold facilitated the implementation of working time standards for sea workers. The existence of autonomous maritime governance at the ILO and the IMO complemented by the incorporation of the tonnage clause in maritime convention allowed the acceptance of the 14-hour workday system in spite of breaching the universal principles established a century ago. The departure between maritime and land standards show that sectoral interests prevail over labour rights. More decisively, current standards detached labour rights from workers' human nature and attached them directly to sectoral interests.

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Section: Construction Of Sectoral Isolationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

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Working time limits at sea, a hundred-year construction

Baumler

2020

Marine Policy

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Careers at Sea: Exploring Seafarer Motivations and Aspirations

Baum-Talmor

2020

WMU Studies in Maritime Affairs

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Nowadays, in the era of flexible and precarious employment, the concept of a ‘career for life’ in one organisation appears to be redundant, as most employees in the global labour market do not have permanent employment (ILO, World employment and social outlook: the changing nature of jobs. Geneva: International Labour Office, 2015). This chapter focuses on the shipping industry as an example of a global industry that employs over a million seafarers (BIMCO, Manpower 2005 update: the worldwide demand for and supply of seafarers. Warwick: Warwick Institute for Employment Research, 2015) as their main labour force in what could termed flexible employment. The chapter explores the idea of having a ‘career’ within the precarious shipping industry by focusing on the reasons for joining, staying, and leaving a seafaring occupation. The chapter is based on existing literature, and on recent data that was collected as part of a study on seafarers’ career development.

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The Disciplining of German Seamen

Cited by 2 publications

References 0 publications

Working time limits at sea, a hundred-year construction

Working time limits at sea, a hundred-year construction

Careers at Sea: Exploring Seafarer Motivations and Aspirations

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