Technological innovation capital and labour: Two case studies of the port industry in California

Abstract

These two cases give accounts of technological innovation in a particular industry, ie bulk cargo handling and containerisation in the port industry. The geographical setting is the Pacific Coast of Northern California, more precisely at Sacramento and at San Francisco. The subject of technological innovation is a vast one, the extent of the port industry along the full length of the Pacific Coast is equally massive, and the complexity of relationships between ports as employers, stevedoring companies, shipping companies, employers' associations, the international union (ILWU) and its various Locals, and other unions, is phenomenal. Thus these two cases are merely tiny snap shots within that huge scenario. The information has been collected from the sources of visits to the locations, technical and specialist literature, and interviews with four individual people representing management and organised labour.

Citation

LOWNDES, R. (1976), "Technological innovation capital and labour: Two case studies of the port industry in California", Industrial and Commercial Training, Vol. 8 No. 8, pp. 318-329. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb003560