billingsgate_280On April 28th 2012 a centuries-old way of life and work will officially come to an end. This is the story of the last of the Billingsgate Fish Market porters.

Billingsgate Market began trading exclusively in fish in 1699. It comprised of two main groups: the merchants who sold the fish and the porters, who with their small numbered enamel badges, traditionally worn on their aprons, had sole licence to transport fish within the market. The portering system is based on the merchant paying the porter a fixed retainer and the fishmonger or customer paying a bobbin (today, 18 pence) per stone of fish delivered.

A porter’s work is one of hard manual graft, carrying heavy boxes of fresh fish and working unsociable hours. Yet these men are proud of their enduring role and tradition. The job of porter has often been passed down through family generations, resulting in a very tight-knit community, complete with its own humorous banter and camaraderie. The porters have long been seen as the heart and soul of Billingsgate.

In January 2012, the City of London Corporation – effectively an independent governing institution – withdrew all trading licences from the porters, revoking a bylaw dating back to 1876. Without this protection, the porters could legally be replaced by cheap casual labour.

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A great injustice is being done to the porters of Billingsgate fish market, whose case has not even been heard by the City of London Corporation. This act is a modern allegory: it tells a deeper story of uncontrolled capital and a total lack of political accountability. –  Theft in a City State: Guardian 06 Apr 11

The LFMA (London Fish Merchants Association) has been trying to change the porters’ working conditions from a collective agreement (which gives them collective protection) to an individual contract and has found a powerful aid in the City of London Corporation, who is currently making the funds (£2.5 million) available to the merchants to buy out the porters.

The question is, what is the motivation to so determinedly get rid of 102 working men?

The Corporation insists this move is purely one of necessary modernization for the market. Others have less optimistic views. Former Mayor of London Ken Livingstone claims the move is “yet another example of the downgrading of working-class working conditions.” London Assembly member and Labour party politician John Biggs believes that the Corporation’s withdrawal is a move towards “casualisation” of the City’s workforce. Labour MP Jon Cruddas fears that “the market – and specifically the porters – stands in the way of its expansion plans around Canary Wharf.”

The last point appears key. This area of London, its financial hub and primarily the venue for the city’s 2012 Olympics, is undergoing massive redevelopment, particularly in regard to transport links – for example, the new Stratford International and Cross Rail stations. As such, real estate values around Billingsgate are at a premium. The porters themselves believe that the fish market will be relocated; and that getting rid of them and their organized, historically protected workforce, was the first step to make this possible.

My interest in the Billingsgate porters’ story stems from a fascination with the disappearance of manual labour; work generally considered menial by our society, yet carried out with a great deal of pride and passion by those small communities involved. These groups have often functioned as their own micro-cultures; by eradicating them, longstanding heritage and identity disappears.

Claudia Leisinger
www.claudialeisinger.com

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    Shishbo 

    I remember the days when the porters carried the fish baskets on their head, of coarse that was in the old Fish Street in Billingsgate down by the docks. Has any one a Picture Please to remind me of the good old days. I am so sorry to hear that they have stopped portering.Did you know that the role of Billingsgate Fish Porters dates back to Henry the 8th and was officially recognized by the Corporation of London in 1632.

    Shishbo

     
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    oliverlouis 

    My husband, Bas, is a Billingsgate Fish Porter.  Took my youngest Saturday 28 April 2012 to the Billingsgate Fish Market so he could see where he dad works.  The atmosphere was incredible,  tradition mixed with complete sadness of a working life being demolished.   Took photos of my lovely husband and his fellow colleagues to show my sons what a wonderful market it was.  

     

     

     

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    peter taylor 

    bobby taylors dad so proud of you fellas its the road towigan pier

     

     

     

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    Bt 

     bobby taylor…fish porter 20 years.thanx to claudia for such lovely memories of such good friends…….
    take care…..good words schoee. x.x

     

     

     

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    fishtaker55 

    im johnny schofield,a billingsgate fish porter of 30 years,saturday 28th april 2012 will be a very very sad day inmy lifetime.i feel like my legs have been chopped off,my heart is ready to explode !!!.how can people hate fellowhuman beings so badly to strip them of their dignity without a second glance.thank you to all the people who liked this link and thank you claudia for making it public,thanks darling xxx

     
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    Jamie Furlong 

    What a fantastic montage of audio and photos. The essence of the place captured so well, and that last photo – wow! The fading memory of the old fish handlers with the shadow of Canary Wharf, lurking over his shoulder. Brilliant stuff, well done Claudia.

     
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    beanet 

    the heart and soul of london is being ripped apart all for pure greed shame on all who made this happen

     
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    Julie Wootton 

    Such a shame, Change is good but not always for the best. 🙁