1. Port Workers

2. Ottoman Economy in the 19th Century
During the nineteenth century, international commerce grew ten-to sixteen folds in the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman economy remained among the most important trade partners of the leading economic powers, such as Britain, France, and Germany. Transportation improvements in steamships and railroads played a major role in the development of Ottoman commerce.

3. Construction of New Port Facilities
The growth in commerce and domination of steamships in sea transportation placed severe strains on existing Ottoman port facilities.
Foreign companies constructed larger and more efficient port facilities in the four leading Ottoman ports: Salonica, Izmir, Beirut and Istanbul.
New facilities at the ports vastly improved the flow of commerce.

4. Port Workers &Companies
The activities of foreign-owned port companies gravely threatened many Ottoman workers employed in the port zones.
The new port facilities destroyed their worksites and many of their jobs. Moreover, the companies and foreign merchants generally preferred to hire workers from abroad and/or Ottoman workers who were not members of any porters’ or boatmen’s guilds.
Construction of new dock sites, quays and warehouses, and the employment practices of the port companies gave rise to bitter struggles in the port sites.

5. An Important Year: 1908

6. Strike Wave in 1908
In the five-month period following the constitutional revolution, a strike wave involving thousands of workers swept the factories, mines, ports and railways in the Empire. Through these strikes, some of the port workers, such as those in Izmir and Beirut, began to earn higher wages, while some others, such as those in Istanbul, managed to increase their control over the labor processes in the ports.

8. Boycott and Port Workers
The boycott was managed by the Young Turks, but port workers in the capital and other cities played a major role in the enforcement of the boycott on a day-to-day level.
The boycott boosted port workers’ political power and enhanced their ability to fight against port companies. For instance, at Trabzon, where they had been particularly active during the boycott, the boatmen seized control of the local Unionist Party and effectively ran the city in the years before World War I.