Australian
Screen

Teacher’s notes

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This is a black-and-white narrated clip from a 1953 documentary produced by the Waterside Workers’ Federation (WWF) Film Unit. It portrays the physically demanding work of waterside workers and asks what fate awaits veterans who cease work. A montage of close-up scenes and orchestral music depicts younger wharfies working at a dangerous pace, then cuts to older workers struggling with heavy trolleys. A poetic narrative and a slow musical score lead the viewer from the shoes of a working veteran to a final scene where he walks from the wharves towards an unknown future.

Educational value points

• This clip reveals the physically arduous manual work and poor working conditions experienced by waterside workers up to and including the 1950s, which led to high rates of injury and disease. Work in confined warehouse spaces and ships’ holds with materials that generated dust and fumes contributed to respiratory disease. A reliance on lifting, carrying and pushing resulted in hernias, arthritis, physical breakdown, injuries and also deaths. Health deterioration increased with age.

• Waterside workers over 60 years old such as those depicted in this clip comprised almost 7 per cent of the waterfront workforce in the 1950s. The WWF was responsible for filling labour quotas, and older men with no pensions and no prospects needed their help to keep working. While they were unable to perform the most physically demanding tasks these men could maintain a work capacity within the requirements of the Stevedoring Act.

• This clip builds a case for pensions for veteran waterside workers at a time when there were no superannuation schemes and no pensions for them. In 1953 the WWF sought to gain a weekly pension of £8 for maritime workers over 65 years of age and with 20 years in the industry, to be funded by compulsory employer levies. It took until April 1967 for a groundbreaking agreement to be reached on a voluntary pension, funded by workers and employers, for workers in all major ports.

• Cinematic techniques are employed to create a persuasive argument in favour of provisions for older waterside workers. Music underscores the work pace and danger and also the dilemma of veteran workers. Short scenes and changing camera angles add to the sense of frenzy and urgency of the work in the hold. Close-ups reveal the dignity and endurance on the worn faces of the veterans. The narration style changes from factual to poetic during the clip’s message.

• The clip is from Pensions for Veterans, the first film produced by the WWF’s Film Unit as part of the union’s campaign to achieve pensions for its older members. Those appearing in the clip were waterside workers, former waterside workers or from affiliated unions. The 14 films made by the Film Unit between 1953 and 1958 sought to present views on subjects crucial to the lives of workers from the viewpoint of those workers.