By Herb Mills

Page 5

Thus, to begin with, a hall man could at any time join one of the "gangs" which had an opening in his job category or, if he were willing, in a job category requiring less seniority than he possessed.

By contract, a longshore gang was a regularly constituted group of job categories, i.e., a "gang boss," two winch drivers, six hold men (later reduced to four), six dock men (later reduced to two), and a dock lift driver.

The men of each gang were dispatched as a unit, but since this dispatch was made by telephone these men did not have to go to the hall for each succeeding job. 

As a rule, the gang men who went directly from their home to the job saved at least an hour a day and a lot of driving. Frequently, a man would also join a gang in order to drive to work with a neighbor and/or to regularly work with one or more friends or relatives.

There were, then, certain basic reasons for "gang life" being popular. On the other hand, gang members did not have the opportunity of "shooting for" a particular job or pier, nor, as a rule, of working out-of category.

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