The Pavés problem. Notes on a document of the General Association of Merchants of the port of Valparaíso (Chile, 1921)

Abstract

In order to contribute to the study of the employer class in Chilean docks, this paper introduces, reproduces and make some notes on a document issued by the General Association of Merchants of Valparaíso at the beginning of 1921. From its content – a series of difficulties with a shipping agent –, the notes suggest an effort to discipline the bosses’ own ranks as a condition of their subsequent offensive against organized workers. As proposed, this associative requirement was crucial in a labor context such as the dock one, marked by a multiplicity of employers with little capacity to control casual workers.

Keywords

• dock labor relations
• general association of merchants
• valparaíso