Beyond docks, below decks: Austrian seafarers’ shipboard collective protests in the age of industrial shipping

Abstract

This article explores collective resistance actions among Austrian seafarers between the late nineteenth century and First World War, shedding light on the seaborne dimension of their struggles and investigating possible connections between the developmental stages of the seafarers’ labour movement in Trieste and their engagement in collective action at sea. In doing so, the research focuses particularly on the crews of Austrian Lloyd, the most powerful shipping company in the Habsburg merchant marine, which played a leading role in shaping labour relations between Austrian seafarers and shipowners. By analysing data extracted from the Black Book, the company’s tool for blacklisting seafarers, this article identifies seaborne collective resistance as a distinctive mode of struggle found in specific phases of the industrial relations between Lloyd and its seagoing personnel, underscoring the relevance of the ship as a significant stage in maritime labour conflicts in the age of industrial shipping.