Dock Workers and the Development of the Sierra Leone Port Organisation

1 - t I THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF LABOUR IN AN AFRICAN PUBLIC ENTERPRISE: DOCK WORKERS AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE SIERRA LEONE PORT ORGANISATION THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL. STUDIES, SCHOOL OF ORIENTAL AND AFRICAN STUDIES, UNIVERSITY OF LONDON, FOR THE DEGREES OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (PH.D) BY DAVID FASHOLE LUKE S' ProQuest Number: 10673238 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a com plete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest ProQuest 10673238 Published by ProQuest LLC(2017). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States C ode Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 - 2 - ABSTRACT This study is concerned with the problem of Situating* lower paid workers within the political economy of an African state when these are workers in a public corporation which is in turn an integral part of a patron cHentelist political and economic system. It is also a study of the responses of one of the largest groups of wage earners in Sierra Leone to their employment by a parastatal organisation* -,Two perspectives are considered: whether lower paid workers in African parastatals are employed (and exploited) in a capitalist mode of production (like Marx*s proletariat) or, whether they are a part of a labour aristocracy (even a kleptocratic elite) which is parasitic on the peasantry* Neither of these perspectives seems fully appropriate. It is far from clear that parastatals (even in societies developing in the direction of capitalism) operate in the manner or by the criteria of capitalist enterprises, and consequently that the ideal or natural reponse of workers should conform to the classic Marxist model* On the other hand, it*is far from dear that all public sector employees are non-productive, unexploited, or purely parasitic on the peasantry* A public corporation like the Sierra Leone Port Authority has, in the post-colonial state, been less geared to profit-making than to providing jobs for political clients* The provision of such political benefits via the public sector after independence has been limited less by financial than by political constraints and IMF pressure to reduce public spending on over-extended public bureaucracies* There is therefore a strong element of parasitism in the collective operation of such organisations and one from which lower paid workers might be considered in some ways to benefit. And, as we shall see, this does affect their attitudes* These factors are most accurately seen, however, as merely mitigating their exploitation since they do largely perform the labour entailed in providing a genuine service for commerce at low rates of renumeration (even' when some graft is included)* Moreover, there can be no doubt from socio-economic indices and from sociological observation of their way of life that they are very much a part of the urban poor. There are immediate differences between them and the peasantry over such issues as the level of official food prices but these are really subsidiary to the major conflicts between the interests of the political and administrative elite together with some capitalist business on the one hand and the low income rural and urban workforce on the other. This helps to explain the vitality of the trade unionism of the dockers* - 3 - TABLE OF CONTENTS Page \ 1. DIAGRAMS, TABLES AND MAP 4 2. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 8 3. ABBREVIATIONS 11 4. A NOTE ON CURRENCY 13 5. INTRODUCTION 14 6. SECTION 1 THE HISTORICAL BACKGROUND 28 Chapter 1 The early organisation of the port of Freetown and the emergence of a workforce before 1954 29 Chapter 2 The development of modem trade unionism in Sierra Leone 65 7* SECTION 2 THE .ADMINISTRATIVE AND ECONOMIC OPERATIONS OF THE PORT ORGANISATION IN THE COLONIAL AND POST-COLONIAL STATES 118 Chapter 3 The development of a small-sized modem port in Freetown: The port organisation as a semi- autonomous public enterprise, 1954-65 .119 Chapter 4 The port organisation 1965-76; the dynamics of an African public enterprise 149 s* SECTION 3 THE PROBLEM OF SITUATING LOWER PAID DOCKERS IN THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF SIERRA LEONE: AN EXAMINATION 194 Chapter 5 Dock workers of the port of Freetown: A sociological profile 195 Chapter 6 A shop stewards1 movement: the internal dynamics of the Dock Workers’ Union, 1963-79 243 Chapter 7 The responses of.organised labour to politics in the post-colonial state 299 9. CONCLUSIONS 370 10. APPENDITURE: Survey questionnaire 372 11. BIBLIOGRAPHY OF SOURCES CITED 377 - 4 - TABLES, DIAGRAMS AND MAP Table 1.1 Frequency distribution of the country of origin of steam ships engaged in commerce calling at Freetown in 1913 and in 1923 Table 1.2 Direction of trade in 1913 and in 1923 by share of total value (In percentages) Table 1.3 The Kroo population in Freetown 1891-1931 Map The estuary of the Rokel Diagram 1.1 The decentralised system of port organisation Diagram 1*2 The 1945 reorganisation Table 1*4 The wage labour force in Sierra Leone, circa 1940 Table 1*5 Estimate of wage earners employed by commercial firms and shipping companies in Sierra Leone, circa 1940 Table 1.6 Population of Sierra Leone, 1931 census* Table 1.7 Sex and age composition, population of Freetown in 1931 Table 1.8 Average non-agricultural employment, 1939-45* in Freetown Table 1.9 Monthly averages during peak year 1942 Table 2.1 Wage rates 1880 to 1935 Table 2.2 Registered trade unions 1942 Table 2.3 Official cost of living index 1939-45 Table 2.4 Movement of real wages 1939-54 Table 2.5 Registered trade unions 1946 and occupational backgrounds of trade union leaders Table 2.6 Africanisation of the senior public service during the period of decolonisation Table 2.7 1955 strike casualties Diagram 3.1 The organisation of the port in 1954 Table 3.1 Dock workers registered and total number of vacancies filled, Port Harbour labour pool Table 3.2 Total freight tonnage handled at Deep Water Quay, 1955-1964 Table 3.3 Port Management Department revenue and expenditure, 1955-64 Table 3.4 Port Management Department workforce, 1954 and 1962 - 5 - Table 4.1 Major domestic exports by value, 1960-65 Table 4.2 Price and tax structure for palm kernels, coffee and cocoa, 1968/69 - 1976/77 Table 4.3 Central government revenue: current revenue Table 4.4(a) Summary of functional distribution of government expenditure 1960/61 - 1968/69 Table 4.4(h) Functional classification of central government expenditure 1969/70 - 1978/79 Diagram 4*1 The organisation of the SLPA 1965-76 Table 4*5 Tonnage of cargo handled at the port, 1960-72 Table 4.6 Port Authority revenue 1960-66 Table 4«7 Port workforce 1954-67 Table 4*8 The control of expenditure 1968 Table 4*9 Debtors of the port at the time of the financial collapse Table 5*1 Rural and non-rural per capita incomes in Sierra Leone, 1968/69 and 1975/76 Table 5*2 Functional distribution of income, aggregated groups,' 1975/76 Table 5*3(a) Functional distribution of income, disaggregated groups, 1975/76 Table 5*3(b) Cross-classification of countries by income level and equality Table 5*4(&) The incidence of secondary employment among categories of dockers Table 5*4(b) Household annual incomes among categories of dockers Table 5.4(c) Occupations of household members Table 5.4(d) Percentages of occupational categories purchasing more than half of selected items from the informal sector Table 5.5(a) Percentage of sample reporting making loans Table 5.5(b) Sources of loans Table 5.5(c) Percentage of sample reporting helping relatives other than immediate family Table 5.6(a) Percentage of sample reporting home ownership Table 5.6(b) Overcrowding in the households of dockers • - 6 - Table 5.6(c) Type of house lived in by dockers Table 5.6(d) Amenities enjoyed by dockers’ households Table 5.6(e) Luxury items owned by dockers Table 5.7(a) Ethnic groups among clerks Table 5.7(b) Ethnic groups among skilled manuals Table 5.7(c) Ethnic groups among unskilled manuals Table 5.7(d) Ethnic groups among casual dockers Table 5.8(a) Percentage of dock workers not born in Freetown Table 5.3(b) Main reasons for coming to live in the capital Table 5.8(c) Previous occupation of dockers not b o m in Freetown Table 5.8(d) Tears of residence of dockers not bora in Freetown Table 5.8(e) Ages of dockers Table 5.9(a) Educational attainment among categories of dockers Table 5.9(b) Fathers’ occupation among categories of dockers Table 5.10(a) Labour turnover among categories of dockers - Table 5.10(b) Percentage of married dockers Table 5.H Means of obtaining employment among categories of dockers Table 5.12(a) Self-assessment of socio-economic position Table 5.12(b) Main views on the origins of inequality Table 5.12(c) Future intentions and aspirations Table 5.12(d) Assessment of politicians and public servants Table 5.12(e) Rural development as a national priority Table 5.13 Port workforce 1980 Table 6.1(a) Estimate of Union revenue 1963/64 - 1966/67 Table 6.1(b) Estimate of average Union monthly expenditure 1963/64 - 1966/67 Table 6.2 Movement of daily wage rates 1965-1979 of dock workers Table 6.3 Index of consumer prices at Freetown, 1970/71 - 1978/79 Table 7.1 Industrial disputes, Sierra Leone, I96O-64 - 7 - Table 7o2

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