longshoreman:
(also ‘stevedore’, ‘loader’; plural: ‘longshoremen’; pronunciation: ‘long’…’shore’…’man’; for the right pronunciation of this word, please click here)
longshoremen at work in 1950s
(in American & Canadian English) a person/worker whose job is to load or unload goods from ships at dockyards;
(in British English) a docker;
a dock worker; a stevedore,
present day longshoremen/women
In some ports around the world, when a longshoreman retires, he gives his license or permit to work at the dockyard to his son and his son, in turn, probably gives it to his son and so on, as if it were a family heirloom!
Ours being a country dependent on the revenue generated from the numerous dockyards along the long coastline, the government is always brought to its knees whenever longshoremen announce their decision to call for a strike.
Unlike their predecessors who used physical strength and brute force, longshoremen these days use sophisticated machines in loading and unloading goods from ships.
