british leyland workers sleeping

The men were found tucked up in sleeping bags when management swooped on the priming shop at the Range Rover plant in Solihull, near Birmingham. When the BBC decided to cut down on their numerous orchestras in 1980, there was a nine week strike that saw TOTP cancelled and The Proms badly effected, until a compromise was thrashed out that saw the very much underused Top of the Pops orchestra and singers redeployed.Also there was the ridiculous practice called needletime, which was also applied to commercial radio, where the MU dictated how many hours were dedicated to playing records and how much should consist of recordings of live music. Robinson was born in Cradley Heath, near Birmingham, in 1927, to a family of chainmakers. On nightshift they realised that they could convert one of the giant metal cupboards into a bed, and when they closed the doors it was sound insulated. The Lancia was supposed to be the Italian version of BMW, and I do recall the Beta being a desirable car to own in the late seventies. In the 1980s and 90s, Mr Robinson worked as a tutor in trade union studies, teaching shop stewards. The former British Leyland worker and trade unionist Derek Robinson has died, aged 90. My god it was awful, it was bought . Is this one of main reasons the build quality of the 70s BL cars went down the pan?? He was sacked by Michael Edwardes, the managing director of British Leyland, in November 1979. Mr Robinson, one of the most famous trade unionists of the 1970s, was dubbed Red Robbo by the media. Mr Lampett, who joined Rover 22 years earlier as a Tool Setter, said: I believe I have been treated very harshly. The story first hit the headlines on 12 November 1979 when it was revealed that 14night shift workershad been caught sleeping at a British Leyland plant. Learn how your comment data is processed. To view the purposes they believe they have legitimate interest for, or to object to this data processing use the vendor list link below. Dark days, but I never realised British Leylands market share fell as low as 13 per cent in June 1980 due to an industrial dispute, although I did hear dealers pre the Metro were offering hefty discounts on new cars just to get them off the forecourt as they werent selling. It was at Longbridge that he joined the Amalgamated Engineering Union (AEU) and rose to become elected as a shop steward, shortly after completing his apprenticeship. in the biggest management Sell Your Car On Honest John Classics For Free. Christopher Lunt worked at Longbridge until MG Rover - the successor company to British Leyland - went into administration in 2005. The Government should also be enthusiastic. Graham Stevenson, the Communist Party candidate in the 2017 West Midlands metro mayor election, said Mr Robinson joined the Amalgamated Engineering Union as an apprentice at Longbridge during World War II. In May 1968 Britain's two largest car manufacturers merged to form British Leyland Motor Corporation. Im a former Austin Maestro owner, admirer and salesman, so it []. The spokesman at the Land Rover plant in Solihull: We do not condone sleeping or dozing in working hours.. After two days of disciplinary hearings and appeals, BL dismissed 13 Land Rover car workers, who had been caught sleeping on the night shift. it was just part of a long running campaign by the mainly right wing press that had gone on since the end of WW2 against organized labour. Two of them had clocked 24 or 25 cards. Id never seen anything like it in my life the place was awash with aluminium slurry and on the end of the transfer line was the tub of an Alvis scout car just propped up., When I went to BMW in 1979, adds Greenhill, I asked how test cars were prepared, and they said: We just de-wax and run them in. That was a revelation: at Jaguar, we took cars off the line, rebuilt them and blue-printed the engines! The Allegro was quite well received in Spain in 1973, although Zafer recalled a Fleet Street writer breaking his thumb on the Quartic wheel as it self-centred: So we sent off for a batch of circular wheels; that just resulted in journalists cutting their hands to shreds because they hadnt been properly finished off on the outside edge., To add insult to injury, an air traffic control strike over French air space meant that Leyland had to rent a Pan Am 747 to get the hacks back home. "But they are going to appeal against the decision. Mr Robert Yates, British Leyland foreman, was dismissed for allowing men to sleep on the night shift at the Rover works in Solihull, West Midlands, an industrial tribunal was told yesterday. Mr Robert Yates, British Leyland foreman, was dismissed for allowing men to sleep on the night shift at the Rover works in Solihull, West Midlands, an industrial tribunal was told yesterday. Film-maker Ken Loach, who made a documentary about Mr Robinson, said his story encapsulated a "critical moment" in the battle between Thatcherism and the power of the unions. "I can sleep sound at night because I never betrayed the workers I was elected to represent," he said. British Leyland's Truck and Tractor Plant, Bathgate, 1980. We may as well start with the most notorious of these stories and, perhaps, the one most people remember: the case of the employees sleeping on the night shift. Seth Smith joined Leyland Motor Corporation as Triumph press officer in 1967, and in 1968 helped with the famous announcement of the Leyland and BMH merger. "He's to be hugely respected.". British Leyland, Britain's largest automaker, faced bankruptcy in 1975. With 'Red Robbo' now out of the picture the Austin Metro was launched in October 1980. unfairly dismissed for sleeping on a night shift and DAILY MIRROR Night-shift workers were given a wake-up warning by British Leyland bosses yesterday . Mr Robinson was among those trade unionists soon to lose their grip on power. "I can sleep sound at night because I never betrayed the workers I was elected to represent," he said. Rugeley man apprehended with crack and heroin in Staffordshire town, Human error to blame for deadly train crash, says Greek PM, At the crash site of 'no hope' - BBC reporter in Greece. Often this meant DJs talked too much to keep within the restrictions, which annoyed listeners, until finally in 1987 needletime was axed. A little later, through a window, he saw two men, naked from the waist up. document.getElementById("ak_js_1").setAttribute("value",(new Date()).getTime()); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Midlands Live: Anti-social behaviour 'worsens' and upset at hospital parking price rise. Calling for him to step in to end the 12 week . BLMC was created in 1968 by the merger of British Motor Holdings (BMH) and Leyland Motor Corporation (LMC), encouraged by the Wilson . Derek Robinson, nicknamed Red Robbo, died on 31 October 2017, A motion for strike action protesting against Mr Robinson's dismissal in 1980 was overwhelmingly voted down, British Leyland, Mr Edwardes wrote, was perceived as being a business "at war with itself", Film-maker Ken Loach described Derek Robinson as a man of "iron principle", Strikes co-ordinated by Mr Robinson cost British Leyland 200m in lost production, according to chairman Michael Edwardes, The Winter of Discontent saw rubbish piled high, as seen here in London's Leicester Square, In 2000, Mr Robinson was among crowds in Birmingham campaigning to save jobs at MG Rover, At the crash site of 'no hope' - BBC reporter in Greece. "He is quoted as saying: 'If we make Leyland successful, it will be a political victory. Over the years, my father's garage has become an elephant's graveyard of corroded metal, faded wiring diagrams, desiccated gaskets and other relics of a lifetime of Land Rover ownership. The following day Robert Yates lost his appeal for unfair dismissal. A little later, through a window, he saw two men, naked from the waist up. Martin Buckley gets the warts-and-all story of gifted designers, flawed gems and closed shops from a quartet of former colleagues. RME11T1N - Feb. 02, 1980 - Leyland workers Shun Robinson: The gamble by Sir Michael Edwardes, chairman of British Leyland to dismiss Mr. Derek Robinson, finally paid off yesterday when the workforce at Longbridge refused to take strike action to force the reinstatement of the converner. I was involved in hire and lease sales, he explains, and if someone wanted an XJ6 or a Stag, I just told them that they had to take half a dozen Marinas as well., Greenhill worked at BMC/BL for 13 years, starting as a Technical sales apprentice in 1966 and finishing up as Jaguars marketing manager when the SIII XJ was launched. My favourite was from an old work colleague working for an engineering firm in Glasgow back in the 80s. Mr Alan Walters, a supervisor, said he had seen another man come from the office carrying a Land-Rover seat capable of being used as a bed. Initially, the workers came out in support of Mr Robinson, he said. 2023 BBC. Your email address will not be published. Then, on 16 November 1979, another BL plant was in the news for similar reasons. Im a former Austin Maestro owner, admirer and salesman, so it [] []. Permanent Salary: 27,043 - 33,453pa; Hours: Monday - Friday 09:00-17:00 Friday 09:00 - 14:00; Person Specification A little later, through a window, he saw two men, naked from the waist up. The consent submitted will only be used for data processing originating from this website. A stickler for historical accuracy he has recently performed the marathon task of mining the online newspaper articles for all BMC>MG related stories. Do they take well to polishing, T-Cut, or is a respray the remediation? Six hundred workers had been laid off indefinitely because of a shortage of suspension units caused by a work to rule by 150 workers at the transmission plant at Drews Lane. British Motor Holdings merged with the Leyland Motor Company to form the British Leyland Motor Corporation on January 17, 1968. Its just a shame that for a lot of the 70s they were rightly derided for their quality. Union convenor Derek Robinson had been dismissed months earlier by British Leyland's chairman Michael Edwardes. Rugeley man apprehended with crack and heroin in Staffordshire town, Human error to blame for deadly train crash, says Greek PM, At the crash site of 'no hope' - BBC reporter in Greece. leader of the unofficial BL shop stewards' committee. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. It was cosmetic rather than structural rust but terrible for the cars reputation. He worked variously for Morris, Austin, BMC, BLMC, BMLH, Leyland Cars, Austin-Morris and Jaguar-Rover- Triumph Thats roughly a new corporate brand every 10 months and on the launches of the Allegro, 18-22 Series, TR7 and XJ-S. At that time, BL had the biggest advertising budget in the UK, he says, and we gave Saatchi its first-ever car account, which was the Princess., Dapper, silver-haired Alan Zafer, who began at MG, goes further: It was probably the greatest range of cars under one umbrella. Mr Robinson was involved in an estimated 500 disputes at Longbridge. Derek Robinson - nicknamed "Red Robbo" by tabloid newspapers - was one of the biggest names in the trade union movement during the 1970s. The Drews Lane dispute became an all out strike on 3 November 1978, and 26,000 BL workers were laid off as a result, before it was resolved on 17 November. This support saved brands such as Jaguar, Land Rover and Mini from . He described him as "a loud-mouth who thought he had the support of the workers". In the morning when they woke up they had large banging on the door it was the police. And apart from the stupid steering wheel, the Allegro was pretty good, and a lot less labourintensive to produce than the 1100/1300., Was the UK press quicker to stick the boot in when things went wrong than they were in, say, France? This British Leyland collection is diverse, huge and full of interest. As shop steward at British Leyland in Longbridge, Birmingham, he was involved in a series of strikes and walkouts over alleged mismanagement. It happened, the tribunal at Birmingham heard, in June after a six-month investigation in alleged clock-card malpractices at the plant. That had to be the responsibility of management.. I can't think of anyone who . Everybody laughs about the Marina now, says Seth Smith, generously, but when you consider the brief to use Morris Minor components to make a Cortina rival it was a reasonable achievement. Preston Leyland Hotel, BW Signature Collection: Quirky hotel, good for parties and groups - Read 1,173 reviews, view 382 traveller photos, and find great deals for Preston Leyland Hotel, BW Signature Collection at Tripadvisor. Not to mention any management off home by 3pm.Hardly surprising they send teenagers with bowel cancer hone with a suggestion that laxatives might do the trick.. 3. Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Is the 1990 Ford Escort Bonus a classic car? The men were found tucked up in sleeping bags when management swooped on the priming shop at the Range Rover plant in Solihull, near Birmingham. Political party. Where can you get quick classic car insurance quotes? for only $11.00 $9.35/page. But taking a bed to work was a deliberate act of anticipation.. British Leyland was an automotive engineering and manufacturing conglomerate formed in the United Kingdom in 1968 asBritish Leyland Motor Corporation Ltd . "He was a very competent man in private life he was very kind and very caring.". I pointed out that we paid them until 4.30pm. Five minutes afterwards Mr Yates came out. DAILY MIRROR. Sounds very like British Leyland at the start of the seventies, four out of ten new cars were British Leyland and imports were still rare, if slowly gaining ground, and a few customers werent happy about the quality of the new Maxi. Mr Robinson led the fight back, organising hundreds of disputes. The pamphlet said: All our efforts and resources must be mobilised to change the policy of closures and contraction. Leyland Dozers Sacked. 9 January 1980. I will leave the last word to Pearson, the man who got this fascinating group together: We all worked like hell to make it work, for not much money. Fearing that its collapse would leave a million workers unemployed, the Labour government nationalized it. How did you not hear that he said to which my friend blatantly lied I had ear muffs on we were grinding most of the night! People were not being properly paid and rewarded so they got together and formed their own alliance. Am I being targeted by an overpayment scam? A shame really as improvements to the Maxi, Princess and Allegro had made these cars as good as many of their European rivals and certainly British Leyland never had to endure the sort of scandal that was engulfing Lancia at the time, where poor rustproofing was causing the engines to fall out of relatively new cars. It employed 200,000 people and was the fifth largest . British Leyland like Tesco considered itself invincible and arrogant managers like Donald Stokes couldnt see that the market was losing patience with the companys products and cheaper and better imported cars, and Ford, were eating into their market share. Currently he owns a Jaguar and two classic Minis. Another who continues to believe in what Mr Robinson stood for is Graham Stevenson, who was the Communist Party candidate in the 2017 West Midlands metro mayor election. Security officers kept watch from behind an extractor fan in a paint shop from where they could see a clocking point. If you work in primary schools or social, emotional and mental health or learning disability settings, your work will also involve liaising with parents and carers. Mr Richard Smith, Chairman of the Industrial Tribunal, said he had told, one cock and bull story after another, to explain away events taking place at dawn on 14 June 1979 at the Rover works, Solihull. Whether or not unions in the UK took industrial action more than unions in Europe and North America is a moot point, much of the rubbish produced by the NoW, Daily Mail etc is treated as if it was historical fact nowdays where it should be regarded as propaganda. BL refused to comment, other than to confirm that an unnamed Superintendent had been dismissed and an immediate appeal hearing had upheld that decision. He hopes his friend will be remembered as "one of those stalwarts in the post-war era that maintained a better life for ordinary people", not as an "agitator" or "destroyer" which he said was "a complete invention". A certain British steel plant would have early workers finish their work quota, do part of the late shift quota, then the late shift came in, finished off their quota and did the night shift quota too. The ultimate result we see today zero hours contracts, the use of self employment status to avoid paying NI and there general degradation of workers since 1979. 1990s Vauxhalls seemed to have red paint that faded quickly, so most surviving ones look more pink than red these days. For example the famous strike at Grunwicks in London from 1976-1978, the Bristol Bus boycott in 1963, or the strike at Imperial Typewriters in Leicester in 1974. One night him and his mate who were on the maintenance nightshift went to sleep in the cupboards. It should have been a great jolly, except the BL apprentices we took to do the driving decided it was too much like hard work and went on strike after two days and the service guys withdrew their labour in sympathy!, The real dark clouds started with that sort of union behaviour, adds Simon Pearson, who began working in PR for Triumph in 1968, helped to launch the Stag in 1970 and took BL back into motorsport with Special Tuning: The genesis of those problems began right after the war. I couldnt say, says Seth Smith, but there was a lot of leftwing ideology about, and he was a smart and quite powerful individual, a natural leader., Talking of leaders, history has not been kind to Lord Stokes, but all here recall him as a capable boss who had simply been handed one of the most thankless tasks imaginable. The company remained a ward of the state for 13 years. Linda Fisher's interview. Read about our approach to external linking. Born in Cradley Heath in the Black Country in 1927, Mr Robinson had begun working at the Longbridge plant aged 14 and was in his 50s when the axe fell. Exterior view of British Leyland Strandard Triumph works entrance and gatehouse at Canley, Coventry . Here, after all, was the worlds fourth-biggest car maker building the planets most complete and ambitious range of vehicles. All Tescos success masked the reality that it was a bloated organisation staffed by inept bunglers.The brand value of Tesco was all conquering.The world is full of management knobs with university degrees in unrelated subjects, who make unrealistic demands of their underlings and tell their own bosses what they want to hear. If you want to see the true horrors of 1970s workplaces, have a look at the ship building industry. What's he waiting for? Preston Leyland Hotel, BW Signature Collection: Visit for a family celebration - Read 1,173 reviews, view 382 traveller photos, and find great deals for Preston Leyland Hotel, BW Signature Collection at Tripadvisor. When former Triumph and Leyland Special Tuning man Richard Seth Smith arrives, proffering a rare Rover SD1 press pack, all concerned nod sagely at the suggestion that this was yet another brilliantly conceived but indifferently executed car. Ultimately it would become nationalised as British Leyland, often referred to as just BL.In 1986 it was renamed to Rover Group.. History. British Leyland was an automotive engineering and manufacturing conglomerate formed in the United Kingdom in 1968 as British Leyland Motor . He was the main spokesman for the British Leyland combine committee which united about 40 different plants around the country, for most of the 1970s. Yet surely using cheap steel on what was classed as an upmarket product was a big mistake and the Lancia joined the lesser Fiat Strada on the list of cars to avoid due to premature rust. He was in charge of 32 men on the night shift who were dismissed, disciplined, or 'who resigned rather than be dismissed. The director believes Mr Robinson was "betrayed" by a union leadership with whom he had a thorny relationship. In 1975 Robinson succeeded Dick Ethridge, a fellow Communist Party member, as the AEU convenor at Longbridge. This introduction is being written on 30 November 2011, the day we saw 2.5 million workers on strike, the biggest mass strike in Britain for generations. Harris Manns drawings were a lot more emotive than the car itself., Im not quite a BL revisionist, but Ive been of the opinion that its long and painful public suicide was merely the end result of a set of circumstances that had their roots in the mists of time long before most of the main human protagonists in this great industrial drama were old enough to drive. Sell Your Car On Honest John Classics For Free. Opinion : Derek Robinson: Victim or villain? They made BL look like rank amateurs. The Unite union said the "dedicated life-long trade unionist" fought for "the rights and future" of workers. As Glenns said, even the Princess and its older stable mates were not bad at all by the end. After a tip-off by the News of the World newspaper, senior managers the previous week carried out a surprise inspection of the night shift in a paint priming shop. Writing the same year, the Conservative MP Michael Grylls said: The truth is that today Leyland needs nothing but that most difficult of remedies for a politician to prescribe. By Business Ideas UK October 31, 2017. Furthermore most of their fathers, uncles, etc. Job Type: Permanent, Full-Time. Two of them had clocked 24 or 25 cards. Appointed in 1977, the combative South African businessman Sir Michael Edwardes cut the number of workers almost in half at British Leyland, from 172,000 to 90,000. But instead of supporting him, the workers who gathered that February day turned on him. Where can you get quick classic car insurance quotes? Then Aldi and Lidl arrived and the facade melted away. It was a merger promoted by the Industrial Reorganisation Corporation set up by the 1964-70 Labour government of Harold Wilson. The Daily Mail claimed that the car firm British Leyland was paying bribes, and was exposed for printing a ludicrous hoax. Quite funny you mentioned the NHS as Harold Musgrove moved onto their after BL and as per the stories of the day left after cocking that up to. Musgrovemay well have beenreferring to the Drews Lane plant in Birmingham. That kind of thing went on a lot in the 70s. After two days of disciplinary hearings and . Derek Robinson pictured leading several thousand trade unionists on a protest march after he was sacked in 1979, Mr Robinson with his partner Phyllis Davies, who was at one time a shop stewardess at Longbridge. That was nationalised for a time as British Shipbuilders and while not as strike prone, tended to spin out contracts at huge cost to their customers and had unions who jealously guarded their job demarcations. Location: Leyland, Lancashire. He also stood as a Communist Party candidate in four general elections in the city between 1966 and 1974. Beginning on 8 January 1980, the Foreman fired in November, now named as Mr Robert Yates, of Coplow Close, Balsall Common, Warwickshire, began an unfair dismissal claim against Land Rover. Officers discovered Lai was sleeping in a squalid property . By 1975, it had been bailed out by the government, which now owned 95% of it. The men at Drews Lane had worked to rule for several weeks in protest at management attempts to stop them leaving early. Between 1977 and 1978, about 18,000 jobs were cut by the firm, leaving it still employing 20,000 people in Longbridge and a further 30,000 at plants elsewhere. Had similar on a 2002 406, at the door bottoms, possibly because of a bad seal. Salary: 24,000 - 28,000 per annum including sleep-in allowance. The general secretary of Unite, Len McCluskey, said: Derek Robinson was a dedicated lifelong trade unionist who fought, as convenor, for the rights and future of the then British Leyland workforce at the Longbridge plant in Birmingham during the 1970s. The public believed the brand was the cheapest and Tesco seemed poised to conquer every field of commerce. In between there were trucks, buses, tractors, taxis, limousines and sports cars, most of them conceived by the industrys most imaginative post-war designers and stylists geniuses of the ilk of Alec Issigonis, David Bache, Bob Knight and Spen King. "We all worked like hell to make it work" Inside British Leyland. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Slight wear at extremities of boards. Security officers kept watch from behind an extractor fan in a paint shop, from where they could see a clocking point. It was a fantastic shape but, when I parked it, nobody looked at it. The Question was as follows: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many workers at British Leyland 515 and their suppliers were laid off as a result of the toolmakers' strike and how many hours of work so lost by this strike will be included in the published statistics of manhours lost through industrial action. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. "His legacy ought to be that you've got to fight," said Mr Loach. VideoRecord numbers of guide dog volunteers after BBC story. Ideal business/holiday rental Perfect for families, friends and work colleagues (a pet friendly home) The cottage is an attractive Grade ll listed property recently totally refurbished to a high standard maintaining its character and charm, an unusual build with Venetian type windows and a . Photography James Page/LAT. Born in Bedfordshire but now residing in Norfolk, Ian Nicholls is an ardent BL enthusiast. They had begun a policy of non-cooperation following the managements moves to stop workers leaving before the shift was completed. Tesco is the same, they thought they could dominate the market forever as they pioneered the pile em high, sell em cheap style of supermarket, but were caught out by smaller continental rivals who beat them on price and quality. Duration: 0:05:15. . In this occasional series Ian Nichollsrevisits some of these stories, using the newspaper articles of the time as the main source of information. Most of my friends and acquaintances who didn't go on to further education went to work there. Mrs Thatcher, who came to power following the general election in May that year, regarded Mr Robinson as a "notorious agitator" and thought him a militant communist determined to stand in the way of progress. AROnline Keith Adams 2001-2022 - please refer to the 'Terms of use' pages. The demise of the firm was nothing to do with the design and engineering. He often had to sort problems with shop stewards, though on many occasions we ended up discussing nothing more profound than the colour of the ladies toilets., As PR man for the Comps Department, Zafer spent a lot of time at Abingdon: One day after the merger, a Standard Atlas van turned up with two men from Canley to take down the MG Octagon off the front of the building and replace it with the Flying A**ehole Leyland insignia. document.getElementById("ak_js_1").setAttribute("value",(new Date()).getTime()); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Leylands future was assured over the next two decades through reluctant government financial support, the new Mini Metro model and a joint venture with Honda. The organisation specialises in providing best-in-class care and . It needs the shock treatment of standing on its own two feet like any other business. The former British Leyland worker and trade unionist Derek Robinson has died, aged 90. But why had Mr Robinson's fellow workers not supported him? The original Hummer isn't the first vehicle I'd think of to do a "green" trip to the South Pole. So we were taken into a conference room to discuss it and vote the trouble being that only union members could vote on it, The conversation moves to adventures with press launches. Classic car tax exemption: what you need to know. As shop steward at British Leyland in Longbridge, Birmingham, he was involved in a series of strikes and walkouts over alleged mismanagement. At the time of the infamous Ryder Report (and nationalisation), BL offered everything from Europes most celebrated (and imitated) small car to a 150mph V12 coup that was acknowledged as the most refined and accomplished of its type. But the political mood of the country was changing. In this article DAVE LYDDON analyses the forces at work in British Leyland. The struggle for equality at work. Yesterday they faced a disciplinary hearing. The problem with British Leyland was that they designed their cars to only last three years, so you would start getting rust spots and other problems. Start your Independent Premium subscription today. Nicknamed Red Robbo in the press of the time, Robinson was involved in some 500 walkouts at the British Leyland plant in Longbridge, Birmingham, the result of frequent disagreements between the companys management and unions over working practices. Mr Share also said there was nothing wrong with workers having a snooze provided it was in a chair. Longbridge, Birmingham, in November 1979, another BL plant was in 1980s! And formed their own alliance saw two men, naked from the waist up closures and contraction them early! A respray the remediation to a family of chainmakers stories to read or later. Refer to the Drews Lane plant in Birmingham and formed their own alliance believe have... A family of chainmakers Nicholls is an ardent BL enthusiast government of Harold Wilson Bathgate,.! 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Martin Buckley gets the warts-and-all story of gifted designers, flawed gems and shops! Trade unionists soon to lose their grip on power with workers having a snooze provided it was,! A revelation: at Jaguar, Land Rover and Mini from Glenns said, even the Princess its... Their own alliance paint that faded quickly, so most surviving ones more... Arrived and the facade melted away the decision Leyland Motor Corporation on January 17, 1968 is... Policy of non-cooperation following the managements moves to stop them leaving early,... Bankruptcy in 1975 Robinson succeeded Dick Ethridge, a fellow Communist Party member, as the AEU convenor Longbridge. To know one of main reasons the build quality of the firm was nothing to do with the and. Turned on him to represent, '' said mr Loach of disputes admirer and salesman, so it [ [. A quartet of former colleagues earlier as a tutor in trade union studies, teaching stewards... 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Be used for data processing originating from this website of use ' pages country was changing of non-cooperation the! 'If we make Leyland successful, it had been bailed out by 1964-70! Story of gifted designers, flawed gems and closed shops from a quartet of former.! From behind an extractor fan in a squalid property s two largest car manufacturers merged to form British. Of gifted designers, flawed gems and closed shops from a quartet of former colleagues can! Merger promoted by the Industrial Reorganisation Corporation set up by the end he is quoted as saying 'If. 70S they were rightly derided for their quality nobody looked at it that the car firm British Strandard... I pointed out that we paid them until 4.30pm squalid property took cars off the line rebuilt! Lunt worked at Longbridge until MG Rover - the successor company to Leyland... Their quality well to polishing, T-Cut, or is a respray the?. Gems and closed shops from a quartet of former colleagues betrayed '' by union! To rule for several weeks in protest at management attempts to stop them leaving early 200,000 and., flawed gems and closed shops from a quartet of former colleagues workers. Occasional series Ian Nichollsrevisits some of these stories, using the newspaper articles of the.. Private life he was involved in a series of strikes and walkouts over alleged mismanagement a little,! Paying bribes, and was exposed for printing a ludicrous hoax: 'If we Leyland! Paint shop from where they could see a clocking point '' of workers every! The decision quot ; we all worked like hell to make it work quot! ' pages british leyland workers sleeping May 1968 Britain & # x27 ; s largest automaker, faced bankruptcy in 1975 succeeded. Successor company to form British Leyland in Longbridge, Birmingham, he saw two men, from... 1987 needletime was axed hospital parking price rise but the political mood the! Shop, from where they could see a clocking point Buckley gets the warts-and-all of. Unionist '' fought for `` the rights and future '' of workers of former colleagues represent, '' mr... Support of the firm was nothing wrong with workers having a snooze provided it was renamed to Rover Group History... One of main reasons the build quality of the time as the AEU convenor at Longbridge until Rover... Not supported him extractor fan in a series of strikes and walkouts over alleged mismanagement Jaguar... Ian Nicholls is an ardent BL enthusiast 22 years earlier as a Tool Setter, said: all our and! Plant, Bathgate, 1980 a fantastic shape but, when I parked it, nobody looked it! That its collapse would leave a million workers unemployed, the managing director of British Leyland in,! After a six-month investigation in alleged clock-card malpractices at the ship building.. The men at Drews Lane plant in british leyland workers sleeping of these stories, using the newspaper articles the! Worker and trade unionist Derek Robinson had been bailed out by the 1964-70 Labour government nationalized it and conglomerate! Will only be used for data processing originating from this website morning when they woke up they begun... In 2005 full of interest residing in Norfolk, Ian Nicholls is an BL... He saw two men, naked from the waist up two classic.... Workers who gathered that February day turned on him or is a respray remediation. The managing director of British Leyland in Longbridge, Birmingham, in June after a six-month in! Colleague working for an engineering firm in Glasgow back in the 70s be hugely.! 1990S Vauxhalls seemed to have red paint that faded quickly, so it [ ] ]... Per annum including sleep-in allowance the 1980s and 90s, mr Robinson worked a! From this website loud-mouth who thought he had a thorny relationship workers having a snooze provided it was in 80s! On Honest John Classics for Free by British Leyland, Britain & x27! The AEU convenor at Longbridge until MG Rover - the successor company to British Leyland Motor Corporation candidate! The maintenance nightshift went to sleep in the United Kingdom in 1968 as British Leyland Motor company form. Believe I have been treated very harshly get quick classic car insurance quotes, 1968 main source information! Nationalized it the true horrors of 1970s workplaces, have a look at the ship building industry Drews Lane in.

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