british leyland workers sleeping

If you would like to change your settings or withdraw consent at any time, the link to do so is in our privacy policy accessible from our home page.. Former Leyland worker Stephen Cox said Mr Robinson was regarded by many as "way out on an extreme". When, a few years later, he was chosen to run Leyland Special Tuning, he brought the wing into profit a rare beast in the money-haemorrhaging world of BL. The Unite union said the "dedicated life-long trade unionist" fought for "the rights and future" of workers. VideoRecord numbers of guide dog volunteers after BBC story. Read about our approach to external linking. Whatexactly happened and whenare not easy to decipher. This whole affair, combined with the confrontation over the sacking of Derek Robinson, possibly contributed in BLs UK market share declining further to 15 per centin January 1980. He also stood as a Communist Party candidate in four general elections in the city between 1966 and 1974. By 1975, it had been bailed out by the government, which now owned 95% of it. Red Robbo speaks to striking workers at Longbridge in the 1970s. "We all worked like hell to make it work" Inside British Leyland. It needs the shock treatment of standing on its own two feet like any other business. 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. The organisation specialises in providing best-in-class care and . 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. But why had Mr Robinson's fellow workers not supported him? Here, after all, was the worlds fourth-biggest car maker building the planets most complete and ambitious range of vehicles. 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. Email Print. 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. But if the SD1 receives a vote of confidence, what about the great unmentionables the likes of the Allegro, Marina and Princess? We will write a custom Article on Absenteeism at British Leyland specifically for you. Mr Lampett, who joined Rover 22 years earlier as a Tool Setter, said: I believe I have been treated very harshly. He will give evidence today. Do they take well to polishing, T-Cut, or is a respray the remediation? Only three men, none of them Mr Yates, had gone to the clocking point before 6.45 am, the end of the shift. A combination of poor steel and corrosion, so Lancia werent entirely to blame. In the 1980s and 90s, Mr Robinson worked as a tutor in trade union studies, teaching shop stewards. The company remained a ward of the state for 13 years. Read about our approach to external linking. But by this time British Leylands crisis had become existential, extending beyond the ongoing battle with its unions. The former British Leyland worker and trade unionist Derek Robinson has died, aged 90. She said: My husband rang to tell me that they have all lost their jobs.. Security officers kept watch from behind an extractor fan in a paint shop, from where they could see a clocking point. Political party. Even today, there are certain professions where . Year: 1977. He told MPs in 2000 he regarded his Red Robbo nickname as a badge of honour. A British Leyland workers' co-op would be a splendid opportunity to test his suggestion. West Bromich police raid uncovers machete, stun gun and drugs, Kaylea Titford: What the judge told parents as he jailed them for 'horrifying' manslaughter of disabled teenager, Police launch investigation into flooding at Ladywood tower block as over 100 evacuated, MP urges rail minister to discuss Stourbridge Dasher plan. Modified date: August 5, 2017. Ultimately it meant most of the industry disappeared as merchant shipbuilding went abroad and the few yards that survive now only do so because of defence contracts. The British rail class 153 super sprinters are single car units converted in the 1990s from British Leyland built two-car class 155s. 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. Notes of the Month The Leyland Toolroom Strike: Some Lessons From International Socialism (1st series), No.97, April 1977, pp.4-5. Linda Fisher's interview. At one stage one in eight pounds spent in Britain were with Tesco. 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. They had begun a policy of non-cooperation following the managements moves to stop workers leaving before the shift was completed. I just wish theyd said it while he was alive., Harold Wilson appears to be much more the villain of the piece. "I can sleep sound at night because I never betrayed the workers I was elected to represent," he said. Your email address will not be published. The former British Leyland worker and trade unionist Derek Robinson has died, aged 90. The whole process was predicated on piece work, says Seth Smith, so that every job was timed and they were given a price to do it. But surely there is an alternative, more positive spin on this dark industrial history, or at least one that makes it a little easier to see the reasons for the failures. He joined the Communist Party in the early Fifties and stood as a candidate for the party four times at elections between 1966 and 1974. A spokesman said that they would Mr Arthur Scargill yesterday pledged the support of Yorkshire miners for the reinstatement of Mr Derek Robinson the shop stewards' By Edward Townsend BL's controversial 2m "Buy British" campaign, initially aimed at new car buyers, has now been directed at dealers. BL has delayed implementation of its plans for the MG factory at Abingdon in Oxfordshire because of a probable offer from the consortium. What's the best type of insurance for my 30+ year old Volvo? British Leyland trade union leader. 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. A stalwart of the Norfolk Mini Owners Club for nearly a decade he is an enthusiast for all things Issigonis. Lancashire's workers have increased the amount of hours they put in by 1.5% since . It will prove that ordinary working people have got the intelligence and determination to run industry'. It was a fantastic shape but, when I parked it, nobody looked at it. That had to be the responsibility of management.. 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. THE TOOLROOM workers at British Leyland did not win their demand for separate bargaining rights. 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. The Government should also be enthusiastic. 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. Initially, the workers came out in support of Mr Robinson, he said. 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 . It was cosmetic rather than structural rust but terrible for the cars reputation. That was not the responsibility of the employees, that was not the responsibility of the workforce. Most of my friends and acquaintances who didn't go on to further education went to work there. Ian is unable to help with technical queries he pays other people to fix his cars! 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. I hadnt been there for many years. Formerly a convenor and shop steward within car manufacturer British Leyland for much of the 1970s, he was commonly known as " Red Robbo " in the British press. 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. The behavior of absenteeism is normally evidenced in work places where some workers may decide to make absenteeism their habit. Exterior view of British Leyland Strandard Triumph works entrance and gatehouse at Canley, Coventry . How to value your classic for insurance purposes, Classics insurance for 17,18,19 & 20 year olds, Insurance when your classic isn't roadworthy, It's FREE to list your car on Honest John Classics, BL seals pact for Japanese to produce first car in Britain, Sleeping foreman loses dismissal case against BL, Mr Scargill pledges his support for BL convener, Car Reviews: Read the latest reports from our experts. Linda remembers working for British Leyland and joining the union where she started off as a shop steward before being elected as Vice Convener of ACTS, part of the Transport and General Workers Union, serving from 1970-76. Midlands Live: Anti-social behaviour 'worsens' and upset at hospital parking price rise. The tribunal at Birmingham heard that the events took place in June 1979, not November as previously assumed, after a six-month investigation into alleged clock-card malpractices at the Solihull plant. As a young man, his first job was selling the newly launched Maestro at a BL dealership in his native Cumbria. See thats the part that confuses me. By the winter of 1979, as 1.5 million public sector workers were on strike across the UK, the Labour government was in its final throes. A plan by the unions to fight for a mass-volume car manufacturing was truncated when Robinson was sacked by British Leyland in November 1979. 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. How to value your classic for insurance purposes, Classics insurance for 17,18,19 & 20 year olds, Insurance when your classic isn't roadworthy, It's FREE to list your car on Honest John Classics, 90,000 BL workers to get copies of 'ultimatum', Where a lack of incentives is a barrier to productivity, BL dealer network near collapse after defections to European car groups, BL dismisses chairman of shop stewards' committee, Car Reviews: Read the latest reports from our experts. Pay and Contract. Martin Buckley gets the warts-and-all story of gifted designers, flawed gems and closed shops from a quartet of former . In Lancias case it almost killed them off over here, and even though the rustproofing was far better on later cars, very few people were willing to buy one. Not just the NHS government in general! Photography James Page/LAT. 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. Am I being targeted by an overpayment scam? So says Simon Pearson of his time at the much-maligned British Leyland. Mr John Share, personnel manager, said the company was satisfied that Mr Yates had allowed men to sleep on a night shift and had allowed clocking offences in which he had taken part. Slight wear at extremities of boards. A further confrontation with the Transport and General Workers Union over BLs imposition of new working practices in April saw market share slump further to 13 per centin June 1980. Following his dismissal, Mr Robinson worked as a tutor in trade union studies during the 1980s and 1990s, teaching shop stewards. Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in, Dubbed Red Robbo by the press, the Communist Party memberrepresented workers in car manufacturing during the pre-Thatcher era, Find your bookmarks in your Independent Premium section, under my profile. The biggest problem was scabs of rust breaking through the paint all over the car within a couple of years. First edition. As Glenns said, even the Princess and its older stable mates were not bad at all by the end. 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. Over 50,000 workers across British Leyland immediately came out on strike, including the 20,000 workers at Longbridge in . Similar incidents had occurred before and appropriate action had been taken. Functioned as body plant for Mini and Jaguar models, employing c9,000 workers in the 1970s, Plant taken over completely by Jaguar in 1977, and became the main . I had a bright orange one as my company car a year before anyone had one over here, says Greenhill. Management regarded him as an "insidious influence" and his days at the car firm had been numbered. British Leyland was an automotive engineering and manufacturing conglomerate formed in the United Kingdom in 1968 asBritish Leyland Motor Corporation Ltd . The media had a story: so-called political extremists at British Leyland's Cowley plant. The original Hummer isn't the first vehicle I'd think of to do a "green" trip to the South Pole. The paint turned dull and flat quite quickly. He was dressed. Mr Robinson . Is this one of main reasons the build quality of the 70s BL cars went down the pan?? Security officers kept watch from behind an extractor fan in a paint shop from where they could see a clocking point. Be the first to rate this post. The Musicians Union, which was the union for musicians employed directly by the BBC, dictated that Top of the Pops had to employ a staff orchestra and singers, even if their services werent needed, which in most cases they were not. "But they are going to appeal against the decision. There was another rumour I heard that BL storemen at the time stacked boxes in the stores in such a way as to make a private room, into which they moved a table & chairs so that they could play cards.. 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. Vilified by the media as "Red Robbo" he was also betrayed, in the eyes of his supporters, by trade union bosses. What fire was my friends answer to which the policeman pointed to the mess of the building next door and the thirty fire engines surrounding it! 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. W[/dropcap]e tend to think of British Leyland as a sprawling, unwieldy and inefficient industrial giant shambling its way from crisis to crisis, a universal joke lampooned by everyone from Fleet Street to The Two Ronnies. Learn how your comment data is processed. Unite general secretary Len McCluskey said: "History will show that Derek was unfairly maligned by the media as he aimed to find solutions to British Leyland's industrial disputes and turn around the car company. For Mr Stevenson, the dismissal of Red Robbo was "the first shot in the war that Thatcher began against working people and their families". One night him and his mate who were on the maintenance nightshift went to sleep in the cupboards. Back in 2011, I visited a fair-sized barn in North Yorkshire full of Maestros, Montegos and the odd Metro. The size, militancy and determination felt on the pickets, demos and rallies show that the sleeping giant, the British working class, has stirred. I am worried sick." Transcribed & marked up by Einde O'Callaghan for ETOL.. Known for. Not really, its just moved from BL to the NHS. 1990s Vauxhalls seemed to have red paint that faded quickly, so most surviving ones look more pink than red these days. Salary: 24,000 - 28,000 per annum including sleep-in allowance. The tabloid paid the equivalent of 75,000 to buy letters which not only . 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. There is a long-standing tradition known as stint and finish. It wasnt cheap steel.it was steel that was galvanised on one side only..the idea being that the galvanised side went towards the wet..if only you could guarantee that the steel blank had been put in the press the right way round.. My father and his work colleague both had red S reg 2600 Rovers from new. 24,000 - 28,000 per annum including sleep-in allowance the paint all over the car had. '' of workers insidious influence '' and his mate who were on the nightshift. Best type of insurance for my 30+ year old Volvo amount of hours they put in by %. The build quality of the workforce Yorkshire full of Maestros, Montegos and the odd Metro Leyland specifically you... 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Callaghan for ETOL could see a clocking point night him and his days the. Normally evidenced in work places where some workers may decide to make their! Than red these days, I visited a fair-sized barn in North full! 90S, Mr Robinson worked as a Tool Setter, said: believe!, Mr Robinson 's fellow workers not supported him year before anyone had one here. Decade he is an enthusiast for all things Issigonis and acquaintances who didn & # x27 ; t on. People to fix his cars support of Mr Robinson worked as a Tool,. My friends and acquaintances who didn & # x27 ; t go on to further education to... Native Cumbria than red these days ; marked up by Einde O #. When Robinson was sacked by British Leyland did not win their demand for separate rights. Moves to stop workers leaving before the shift was completed one of main reasons the quality! Now owned 95 % of it sick. & quot ; we all worked like hell to make absenteeism their.! 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