El-Sahli, Z. & Upward, R. (2017) LSE Business Review [ONS LS]

Other information:
Extract:

The introduction of containers in UK shipping in the late 1960s suddenly and profoundly changed the labour market for dock workers. Containers require far fewer workers to load and unload cargo, and therefore they greatly reduced the employment of dock-workers (also known as stevedores or longshoremen).

Containerisation had other impacts on UK ports as well. Port activity became much more concentrated in a few locations, rather than being distributed widely around Britain. Containers required deep-water ports and integrated road and rail networks. Many older ports (such as the Port of London) were unsuited to the new technology and declined, while new ports expanded in more suitable locations such as Felixstowe...

Available online: LSE Business Review
Download output document: Full report (PDF 156KB)
Output from project: 0301522