A blue eye boy was classed as a favourite person whom the foreman would chose either because he was a family member or a good reliable hard worker or bought the foreman a drink or supplied a service others would not! = favouritism = the practice of giving unfair preferential treatment to one person or group at the expense or another. This happened a lot when in the early days of the London royal docks when all Dockers/stevedores were on piece work and had to line up each morning to get a days work, chosen by the foreman. Most dock work was kept in the family right up to the late 70s early 80s when the container ships entered tilbury and other large docks around the country and many dock workers lost their jobs as manual handling was not required for unloading/loading ships anymore. A lot of my family and friends lost their jobs, most taking early retirement. I remember as a boy in the 60s watching ships being unloaded and loaded in the royal docks around silvertown and north Woolwich and the pubs were plenty and always full, good memories. I hope to ask what wages were paid to dockers in the 30s/40s when a old friend of mine worked in the royal docks as a union steward replies. good luck.
