
Rise and Fall of the Dock Labour Scheme
John Dempster(Author)
Biteback Publishing
Published on 16. December 2010
Book
Hardback
240 pages
978-1-84954-004-9 (ISBN)
Description
John Dempster was a career civil servant at the Department of Transport. Not only did he have an eagle eye's view of the political and industrial events which led to Margaret Thatcher deciding to abolish the Dock Labour Scheme, he played a major part in planning for it. With full access to government papers he plots the history of the Dock Labour Scheme, explains why its introduction was necessary in the 1940s, how its grip on many British ports led to industrial paralysis and why it needed to be scrapped. Having interviewed dozens of the major protagonists in the events of April-July 1989, which led to the abolition of the Scheme he paints a portrait of an industry in decline, but one which has, since then, experienced a renaissance.
Reviews / Votes
A gripping account of how the port employers and the Thatcher government plotted theDock Labour Scheme's downfallA" Nicholas Finney OBE Director, National Association of Port Employers 1985-91More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Illustrations
Illustrations
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 134 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-84954-004-9 (9781849540049)
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Schweitzer Classification
Person
John Dempster was a senior Civil Servant at the Department of Transport until his retirement in the late 1990s, when he became Director of the UK Major Ports Group. He is now retired and lives in south west London.