espanolResumen Este articulo busca interrogar la aplicabilidad de la propuesta analitica de John Womack Jr. sobre la fuerza obrera, a partir del examen de un ciclo huelguistico (1916-1923) protagonizado por los trabajadores portuarios en uno de los nervios mas sensibles y estrategicos de la economia chilena de la epoca: los muelles embarcadores de salitre. Segun sostiene la hipotesis, y prueba el acucioso estudio de una veintena de huelgas, laborar en el sitio mas vulnerable del circuito exportador, no les habria significado un garante de fuerza a los referidos trabajadores en dichos conflictos laborales. Basicamente porque, tratandose de hombres prescindibles, en la mayoria de los casos fueron desplazados de la "posicion estrategica" en la que, de acuerdo a la teoria, se hallaban. EnglishAbstract This paper seeks to examine the applicability of John Womack Jr's framework on workers' strength. To do so, the paper examines the 1916-1923 strikes led by dock workers in one of the most sensitive and strategic sectors of the Chilean economy at that time: the saltpeter docks. Based on the thorough study of over twenty strikes, this paper aims to show that working in the most vulnerable place of the export circuit did not necessarily imply that these workers had the strength suggested by Womack Jr's framework. The data show that these workers were dispensable, so in most cases they were displaced from the "strategic position" where they were theoretically located.