East and Gulf Coast ports had large numbers of part-time longshoremen well into the 1970s. Boston longshoremen worked an average of one and a half days per week, New Orleans longshoremen two days. If containers were allowed, these part-time jobs were likely to vanish as the industry shifted to a permanent, full-time workforce. The ILA had seen how container shipping had decimated its membership rolls in New York, and it was loath to tolerate it in other ports until income guarantees were in place.
