Archive for May, 1969
Archive : 89 men strike and five car plants stop
DAILY EXPRESS By David Jack A “who does what” dispute by 89 pipe fitters crippled production at five car plants yesterday making 6,000 men idle, and threatening the jobs of many more. The pipe fitters and their mates walked out of the Pressed Steel Fisher car body plant in Cowley, Oxfordshire, claiming it was their [...]
May 31, 1969
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Archive : Unions in threat to British Leyland
MIDLANDS INDUSTRY By CLIFFORD WEBB In the midst of the toughest rationalization progrramme the car industry has seen, Sir Donald Stokes, vice-chairman and managing director of the newly merged British Leyland, faces a clash with an unofficial but extremely powerful union, body. Its outcome could affect the new giant’s labour relations for years to come. [...]
May 28, 1969
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Archive : Leyland strikers to stay out
Len Brindle, chairman of the Leyland joint works committee, addressing the meeting of workers at Leyland Motors yesterday. He told them that the A.E.F. district committee had recommended to the union’s national executive that the strike be made official. A mass meeting of most of the 8.500 workers who have been on unofficial strike from [...]
May 23, 1969
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Archive : Rover adds to Leyland labour troubles
By Business News Staff More serious labour troubles hit British Leyland yesterday when a walk out by 3,000 workers stopped all production at the main Rover assembly plant at Solihull. The group’s five truck plants in Lancashire,at Leyland and Chorley have been at a standstill for three days with 8,500 men and women on strike. [...]
May 22, 1969
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Archive : Strike at Leyland is deadlocked says management
By R. W. SHAKESPEARE, Northern Industrial Correspondent An unofficial strike by about 8,500 production workers kept British Leyland’s five Lancashire factories idle for a second consecutive day yesterday. A management spokesman described the position as “deadlock” and said the company could not resume discussion of any kind until there was a return to work. Meanwhile, [...]
May 21, 1969
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Archive : Massive strike hits motor works
DAILY EXPRESS Picket lines were abandoned at five factories yesterday – when 8,500 car workers gave an unofficial strike full support. Two hundred pickets were on the gates when the first major strike in 40 years began at Leyland Motors five plants at Leyland, Lancashire. But at lunchtime, after no one had tried to break [...]
May 20, 1969
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Archive : Leyland clerks veto union agreed pay rate
A negotiated pay rise of £2 a week for 5,000 clerks employed in British Leyland factories in the Midlands and Oxford ran into trouble yesterday-within 24 hours of its acceptance by union officials. A mass meeting of clerks at the big Cowley, Oxford. assembly plant voted overwhelmingly against accepting the increase. They are sticking out [...]
May 17, 1969
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Archive : Drivers at Pressed Steel end strike
By CLIFFORD WEBB, Midland Industrial Correspondent Internal truck drivers at Pressed Steel Fisher’s Coventry car body plant yesterday called off their 10 day old strike over a claim for additional payment for emptying refuse bins. The strike threatened thousands of jobs at other British Leyland plants and hurried arrangements were being made last night to [...]
May 16, 1969
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Archive : Coventry strike vote critical to Leyland
By CLIFFORD WEBB, Midlands Industrial Correspondent Ten internal truck drivers meet this afternoon to vote on whether or not to call off the week old strike which has shut Pressed Steel Fisher’s car body plant at Coventry and left British Leyland assembly plants at Abingdon and Cowley dangerously short of body panels. One thousand men [...]
May 15, 1969
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Archive : Night shifts to cope with Maxi orders
By CLIFFORD WEBB British Leyland is to introduce night shift working on its Maxi assembly lines to cope with the flood of orders received since it was introduced three weeks ago. The present order book-worth over £31m. is already sufficient to keep the assembly lines going non stop for the next five months. To prevent [...]
May 14, 1969
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Archive : Dustbin strike threat to thousands of car workers
DAILY MIRROR By PAUL CONNEW A wildcat strike by by ten men in a row over who empties dustbins was threatening the jobs of thousands of car production workers last night. The ten strikers—internal transport drivers at the Pressed Steel Fisher plant in Coventry—yesterday defied their unions advice to return to work . The men [...]
May 13, 1969
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Archive : Europe to wait six months for the Maxi
DAILY EXPRESS By David Jack British Leyland is delaying the Continental launching of its new “Maxi” model for six months – to avoid complaints of late deliveries and inadequate after sales servlce The 1500 c.c. family saloon, launched on the home market three weeks ago, is the first model to come under the new delayed [...]
May 9, 1969
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Archive : Leyland will spend £45m to double Cowley car output
By GILES SMITH British Leyland, Britain’s biggest car maker, yesterday announced plans costing £45m. for major expansion of the Cowley, Oxford, car-making facilities. The expansion centres on the adjoining plants of Pressed Steel Fisher, Europe’s biggest car body maker, and of the Austin-Morris Division. It will double car output to make the Cowley complex one [...]
May 9, 1969
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Archive : Leyland Plans 900 More Jobs
GLASGOW HERALD Expansion of Albion Motors Ltd will soon be concentrated in additional space at the former Harland & Wolff premises , Scotstoun, Glasgow , it was announced yesterday in Bathgate. The acquisition of the additional space at Scotstoun, confirmed at a news conference at Bathgate , means that development there will take priority over [...]
May 3, 1969
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Archive : May Day Protest Strikes
DAILY MIRROR Thousands of workers obeyed the call to strike against the Government’s plans for union reform. Most factory workers ignored the strike call—although the stoppage closed two British Leyland car plants. British Leyland’s Austin works at Longbridge, Birmingham, and the Morris factory at Oxford were closed down. The firm said more than £1,250.000 worth [...]
May 2, 1969
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Archive : Strikes disrupt car factories, docks and newspapers
By MICHAEL THOMAS Docks, national newspapers, and sections of the car industry, were worst affected by widespread May Day strikes yesterday in protest at the Government’s proposed strike control legislation. But the trouble was less serious than had been feared. The strikes brought work in the Port of London to a halt, only six ships [...]
May 2, 1969
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Archive : Charles Griffin interview
HIGH ROAD BLMC Magazine Charles Griffin , Director of Engineering at the Austin Morris Division , discusses the Austin Maxi with the Editor . Charles Griffin – This car has been a general talking point for a long time in that the big market place outside has been shouting at us to produce a 1½ [...]
May 1, 1969
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Archive : Interview – Charles Griffin
HIGH ROAD Charles Griffin, Director of Engineering at the Austin Morris Division, discusses the Austin Maxi with the Editor. Charles Griffin – This car has been a general talking point for a long time in that the big market place outside has been shouting at us to produce a 1½ litre car to fill the [...]
May 1, 1969
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