Prior to the abolition of the National Dock Labour Scheme (NDLS) in July 1989, registered dock workers had good jobs. This was the result, first and foremost, of militant solidarity on the part of dock workers and, of course, the NDLS, which was itself a principal outcome of organised struggle....

Economic deregulation has been the principal labour market policy of the Thatcher Government during the 1980s. Unlike most workers, however, Britain's registered dockers appeared to be immune from this process until the Government suddenly announced the abolition of the National Dock Labour...