British Leyland in the Times -1984-It's A Miracle

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July 13th 1984

AUSTIN ROVER - The Mini 25 limited edition is announced.

July 26th 1984

Jaguar on sale next month for £297m
By Jonathan Davis, Financial Correspondent

Jaguar, the luxury saloon manufacturing subsidiary of BL, is to be sold to the public early next month at a price which values the business at £297m. The terms of the offer for sale, the latest step in the Government's privatization programme, were announced ,yesterday, along with profit figures showing that Jaguar continues to benefit from the strong dollar and booming sales in the United States. Jaguar's entire share capital of 180 million shares is being sold at 165p a share, a relatively conservative price that is designed to take account of the recent weakness in the stock market and still leave some prospect for capital appreciation for. those who invest. The £297m valuation of the company compares with recent brokers' estimates that it could be valued at between £300m and £350m. The prospectus for the issue will be published on Monday and applications for shares have to be in by Friday, August 3. Dealings in the new shares will start shortly after that. The issue has been underwritten by five different banks led by Hill 'Samuel, the issuing house, and sub-underwriting by professional City investment institutions was completed yesterday afternoon.
Jaguar's 9,500 employees, other employees of the BL group and BL's surviving minority shareholders have been given preferential rights to apply for up to 15 per cent of the shares. This is in addition to the 2.12 million shares which Jaguar is paying for itself to distribute to its employees as a profit-sharing bonus. The prospectus shows that Jaguar made an unaudited prom in the second quarter of this year of around £23m, making a total for the year so far of £41m. The comparable figure in the first half of last year was £25m. Jaguar says that it will be paying a single dividend for this year of 4.75p, though on full- year basis it would expect to pay out 7.75p a share, which would leave the shares yielding 6.7 per cent. The shares are being sold on a multiple of 6.9 times proforma earnings in the last 12 months. Though the flotation is an integral part of the Government's privatization programme, the proceeds will go to BL, which has said it will use the money to pay off borrowings and invest in other parts of the group.

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August 4th 1984

Jaguar sale rush starts outcry on private profits
By Philip Robinson and Philip Webster

The Jaguar sell-off caused a traffic jam in the City yesterday as hundreds of investors rushed to buy the company from state-owned BL. Between £2,000m and £2,500m was estimated to be chasing the shares on offer by the 10am deadline yesterday. When dealing starts on Thursday, the shares are expected to be priced far higher than the 165p each which BL will receive for them. Holders are likely to be able to sell them for between 205p and 230p. The likelihood yet again of big profits being made by private investors from the sale of public assets brought renewed protests against the Government.
Mr Peter Shore, Opposition spokesman on trade and industry, said the taxpayer had been swindled and the speculator enriched by the cut-price Jaguar offer. BL had been forced to sell the company "for a song".
Mr Paddy Ashdown, Liberal spokesman said it was a "knockdown sale" which was
"bad news for the millions of ordinary taxpayers who will end up footing the bill".
The Government, which masterminded yesterday's sale, refused to comment last night. But it is likely to be severely embarrassed by suggestions that it set the price for the shares too low, possibly as a compensation for recent failures in its privatization programme, when shares such as Enterprise Oil have failed to sell.

August 10th 1984

Call for Cowley unions to end unofficial strikes
By Clifford Webb

Senior officials from the two biggest unions have been called into Austin Rover's car plant at Cowley, near Oxford, to try to put an end to the outbreak of unofficial strikes there. There are fears that they are being co-ordinated by militant shop stewards and could explode into another confrontation like last year's month long "tea-break" strike which cost £120m worth of cars, mainly new Maestros.
A long-running strike now would be even more damaging because Maestro has been joined at Cowley by Montego, Austin Rover's contender in the key medium-saloon sector. Since Cowley re-opened two weeks ago after summer holidays it has been bedevilled by walkouts, causing lost production of 2,000 cars.

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August 22nd 1984

News in Brief

Cowley dispute halts Rover output

BL laid off 400 workers at its Austin Rover assembly, plant in Cowley, Oxford, yesterday halting all Rover production.
BL said they took the action because two workers out of 70 who were asked to transfer from the Rover lines to Montego and Maestro production refuted to move on Monday, and some of their colleagues stopped work in support. The men in dispute were due to meet early today.

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August 24th 1984

Production of Rover cars at BL's assembly plant at Cowley, Oxford, stopped again yesterday in a continuing dispute over movement of workers. Production was halted on Monday and Tuesday when two men refused to transfer to other jobs. It restarted on Wednesday when the two men were absent, but yesterday there was another stoppage when one of them again refused to move and was suspended.

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August 25th 1984

Unipart buys AE network
By Ian Griffiths

Unipart, BL's components subsidiary, has taken an important step towards its planned privatization with the announcement of a £1 5m deal to take over the distribution network of AE, which operates in the same industry.
Mr Ray Horrocks, Unipart's chairman, said:

"BL has the objective of returning its constituent businesses to the private sector as soon as it is practical to do so. The acquisition of Edmunds Walker Holdings is a necessary step towards achieving that objective for Unipart."

Edmunds Walker lost £2.5m for AE last year and was on target to do the same again in 1984. Unipart is confident, however, that it can stem the losses. The great attraction is Edmunds Walker's extensive connexions with the independent motor trade. This will complement Unipart's existing operations, which are dominated by BL franchises. It is part of a general restructuring in an industry where it is widely recognized that there is significant overcapacity.
About 100 jobs at Edmunds Walker's warehousing facility in Rugby are expected to go as a result of the takeover, but Unipart is hoping to integrate the remaining 1,300 employees The acquisition, which beside the Edmunds Walker distribution network also includes Truck & Trailer Components and Cardan Electrics, will initially stand on is own as a division in the Unipart group structure. It has been estimated that the group is worth about £100m but the figure is difficult to establish because of the lack of specific financial information. Last year Unipart made an operating profit of £17m on sales of £346m.

August 26th 1984

100,000 people attend the Mini's 25th birthday party at Donington race circuit.

I wuz there in AKX611F !

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August 28th 1984

Jaguar to recruit 530 more staff
By Jonathan Davis,
Financial Correspondent

Jaguar the former BL subsidiary which was privatized earlier this month, is taking on 530 new workers in the Midlands and introducing a night shift at its main assembly plant in order to meet the surging demand for its cars. The company said yesterday that its aim was to boost annual production from the present capacity of 32,000 cars a year to more than 36,000. Three years ago, Jaguar was selling fewer than 14,000 cars a year. Mr John Egan, chief executive and managing director, said

''By increasing production we can take advantage of our overwhelming sales demand, especially in Germany and the US. Sales of Jaguars in Germany are 65 per cent up on the corresponding period last year, while American demand is 16 per cent up."


"Although a high percentage of the vacancies are for skilled people, we do not expect to have any difficulty in attracting a big enough response",
a Jaguar spokesman said.
The company expects to take on 320 new workers at its main Browns Lane, Coventry, plant, 160 at its Radford engine and axle plant, also in Coventry; and 50 at its Castle Bromwich factory in Birmingham. Apart from assembly workers, Jaguar is looking for skilled machinists, trimmers and woodworkers. The night shift is being introduced on one of the two saloon tracks at the Browns Lane plant. The other two plants already operate a night shift. The recruiting drive is expected to be completed by the end of next month. Although demand for the cars has been outstripping what the company can produce for some time, Jaguar has delayed increasing production or taking on more workers until it could be sure of guaranteeing them secure employment for at least two to three years. Jaguar's shares caused a stampede on the stock market when they were sold off at the beginning of August. The company made a profit of £50m last year, and the rising demand means it is on target to make at least £75m this year, according to City analysts. Jaguar employs about 9,500 people at the moment.

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September 14th 1984

2,000 are laid off at Cowley

From Our Correspondent, Oxford

After seeing its hopes of a return to work dashed by two decisive rejections of peace moves, Austin Rover reacted swiftly yesterday by laying-off 2,000 men, and women in Cowley until further notice.
The union claimed that its members were. being locked out. Proposals that 44 paint-shop cleaners should be exempt from a ban on overtime were rejected at mass meetings of day and nightshift workers. The decisions led to Austin Rover also laying off 350 workers from its engine building plant at Longbridge.
The Cowley controversy has kept Montego and Maestro production at the assembly plant at a standstill for a week, causing the company to lose 5,000 cars this week. In the showrooms they would be worth £27m. Mr Ivor Braggins, senior shop steward for the Transport and General Workers Union, said the workers vote

"showed there is a tide of anti-management feeling sweeping through the factory"


Leyland to launch 'baby truck'
By Clifford Webb
Motoring Correspondent

Leyland Vehicles is to attack the fastest-growing sector of the commercial vehicle market with a "baby truck" that is so easy to drive that its office secretaries took part in its road test programme. Dealers and fleet owners attending a private viewing of the 7.5-tonne Roadrunner yesterday were told that 1,000 of the company's 6,500 staff at the Leyland, Lancs plant took part in its roadtest.
Mr Rodney England, Leyland's. marketing director, said Roadrunner, which cost £10m to develop; was vital to the company's recovery. There had been a big growth in that sector of the market since legislation was introduced eight years ago permitting trucks up to 7.5 tonnes to be driven with an ordinary car licence. It is now the most popular weight range in Britain and accounts for one in three of all trucks sold compared with one in twenty 10 years ago.
The Roadrunner completes the five-year revamping of Leyland's entire truck range. The Leyland plant will build 1,500 Roadrunners this year and 3,000 next year.

September 18th 1984

Austin Rover to resume work at Cowley

Under pressure from the manual unions, Austin Rover has decided to recall 2,000 workers and resume production of Montego and Maestro cars at its plant at Cowley, Oxford. A meeting of more than 100 shop stewards yesterday voted to ask the company to re-open the gates so that production of the two models could restart while discussions on the impact of an overtime ban continue. There were hopes of a settlement before 4.15 pm today.

September 22nd 1984

BL cuts losses to £22m

By Jonathan Davis

BL, the state-owned motor group, gave a warning yesterday that its trading prospects remain uncertain, despite a further cut in its losses in the first half of the year. BL's interim figures show that its loss before extraordinary items was more than halved from £46.6m to £22.2m. At the operating level, BL made a profit of £17.9m but this included the contribution from Jaguar, which was privatized last month and whose profits will no longer be available to the group. Without Jaguar's contribution, BL would have made an operating loss of £23-2m in the first half according to the board. This admission is bound to be seized on by those critics in Parliament and among BL's surviving private shareholders who have argued that it makes no commercial sense for BL to sell its most profitable division. BL's sales revenue was up by £160m to £1831.
Austin Rover and Unipart made small profit advances.

October 3rd 1984

AUSTIN ROVER - The MG Maestro 2.0 EFi is announced.

October 5th 1984

Cowley 'agitators' fear

By Barrie Clement
Labour Reporter

Trotskyist groups at Austin Rover's assembly plant at Cowley have helped to cause more than 160 unofficial stoppages this year according to management sources. The company dismissed 13 ultra-left wing activists last year for deceiving about their previous employment, but others are still thought to retain membership of the shop stewards committee. The car manufacturer is unable to get rid of the remaining "agitators" because they have not broken any company rules, it said. But Mr David Buckle, Oxford secretary of the Transport and General Workers' Union, denounced the accusation as an "nice easy answer" to the plant's industrial problems.

October 12th 1984

THE GUARDIAN

Jaguar men reject 21 pc pay offer

By John Ardill, Labour Correspondent

Jaguar car workers yesterday backed their shop stewards recommendation to reject the company's offer of a 21 per cent pay rise over two years. Negotiations are to resume next week on their demand for a £25-a-week increase. There were overwhelming votes against the offer at separate mass meetings at the Browns Lane assembly plant and Radford engine plant in Coventry and the Castle Bromwich body plant in Birmingham. Mr Bob Ainsworth , secretary of the joint shop stewards committee at Browns Lane , said the workers felt that theyhad been largely instrumental in creating Jaguar's new wealth and it was time their efforts were rewarded.

"The present offer is only worth about 7 per cent in terms of new money and that is just not enough ," he added.

The company, newly privatised , had a £40 million operating surplus in the first six months of the year after a £55 million profit last year. A spokesman said yesterday :

" We believe that this was a generous and sensible offer with achievable objectives

which would have maintained Jaguar's position as the best paid workforce in the British motor industry. "


October 16th 1984

AUSTIN ROVER - The revised "MK2" Austin/MG Metro is announced.

October 23rd 1984

Strike threat looms at Austin Rover

AUSTIN ROVER'S 28,000 car workers are to be asked to give their union leaders a mandate to call a strike over a two-year pay offer worth 7-8 per cent this year and 7-2 per cent next.
A conference of more than 100 plant delegates, union officials and shop stewards decided in Coventry to hold meetings on Thursday of the whole workforce. They want a one-year deal and an extra £22 a week. The offer would take the basic weekly pay of an average worker from £116- 60 to £125-70 on Nov. 1, and to £134-80 in a year's time. But productivity would have to be increased before the full amount is paid.

October 25th 1984

Jaguar workers vote to strike

By Barrie Clement
Labour Reporter

Workers at the newly and profitable privatized Jaguar car company yesterday voted to strike from next Thursday in support of a £25a week pay rise. The company said that would deal a massive blow to its financial performance and jeopardize its growing share of the United States luxury car market.
Management insisted that there was no question of the company being forced into a higher offer. Union leaders claimed the 22 per cent offer over two years was worth about 14 per cent in new money and would not allow the 7,000 workers to share in the company's success. But management said the workers were the highest paid in the motor industry and the offer would keep them top of the league.
Meanwhile, Austin Rover appealed to its 28,000 workers to vote against industrial action.

October 26th 1984

Austin Rover men vote for strike
By Barrie Clement and Clifford Webb

Austin Rovers 28000 car workers yesterday voted overwhelmingly to strike in support of their 20 per cent pay claim. Union leaders had asked for a mandate for industrial action to back their arguments in new negotiations next Monday. The company's offer of a 4.9 per cent wage increase spread over two years has been rejected.
Shopfloor leaders will insist on a one-year deal. The company made clear last night that it was prepared to get back to serious negotiations, and implied that its offer might be increased. But a spokesman said that the vote had not changed its attitude.

"We have always said we are willing to negotiate and that is still the case."

Mr Jack Adams union convenor at Longbridge, West Midlands, the company's biggest car plant said.

"The offer is ridiculous and a scandal. There used to be twice as many workers in this plant producing the same number of cars."

October 30th 1984

Workers at Austin Rover get strike call

By Our Labour Correspondent

The motor industry moved further towards conflict yesterday after union leaders of 28,000 Austin Rover car workers rejected an improved pay offer and urged their members to strike from Monday.
More than 7000 production men at Jaguar are due to down tools on Thursday in support of a £25 a week pay rise.
Mass meetings this week throughout Austin Rover will decide whether workers will walk out. Union negotiators have a strike mandate for the previous offer of about 9-9 per cent spread over two years. An extra 50p a week during the next 12 months and an extra £1 for the year after were put on the table yesterday. Austin Rover said that the old deal was worth £18.20 from November next year for the average production worker; but the new offer was worth £22.70.

"We would question the motives of some of the people on the union side. They seemed to be keen to pursue strike action."

The new Austin Rover offer was made in seven hours of talks yesterday. A strike would cost the company about £12m a day in lost production. The unions have demanded a 20 per cent increase in a one year deal to replace the present two-year agreement, which runs out on Thursday: The company has said that it will consider legal action if a strike goes ahead without a ballot. Mr Norman Haslam, company negotiator, said Austin Rover was also offering to include an extra £1.50p a week from bonuses into the wages structure and to increase sick pay.

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November 1st 1984

The Jaguar pay strike begins today.



November 2nd 1984

Austin Rover pay dispute

At the Cowley assembly plant, missiles were thrown when Mr Douglas Dickson, the plant director, tried to address a meeting of workers.



THE GUARDIAN

Austin Rover plants halted by protests over strike votes

By Patrick Wintour,Labour Staff

Production at Austin Rovers assembly plants at Cowley and Longbridge, stopped for about two hours yesterday after some workers claimed that their shop stewards had rigged majorities in favour of a strike at morning mass meetings.

A strike over the company's 10 per cent , two-year offer now seems likely from Monday, despite the furore over the voting. At one point yesterday wood, stones , and concrete were thrown at Cowley's assembly plant director , Mr Doug Dixon, when he attempted to hold a mass meeting on the shop floor after a meeting of 5,000 workers conducted by the Transport and General Workers Union, had, shown a contested majority for a strike.

Mr David Buckle, the TGWU district secretary, accused the management of stirring up "a civil war as part of a political attempt to create distrust of the union movement and of mass meetings."

Shop stewards at Cowley said that the vote in favour of a strike had been 3 to 1, but about 100 protesters maintained that the vote was 60 to 40 against. Mr Buckle said the management at Cowley deliberately came on to the shop floor to stir up the small minority who were disputing the vote and refusing to work. Journalists were allowed into the plant to meet the protesters.

A management spokesman said that Mr Dixon only addressed the men to persuade them to return to work on the Montego and Maestro assembly lines. He added that the senior stewards had refused to come out of their office to talk to the protesters.

At Longbridge there were similar scenes after shop stewards ruled that the 11,000 strong workforce had voted 2 to 1 to strike. Management sources, who had offered to pay for a secret ballot , judged the vote was 50-50. Demands for a secret ballot and protests then came from track workers employed on the Metro , Mini, and Rover 200 lines. The company said there were also strikes among engine workers, and in two of the three paint shops. In a statement yesterday Austin Rover said that the clear disarray had

" totally discredited mass meetings as a means of accurately assessingthe feelings of the majority of our workforce. There is obviously a groundswell of opinion among our employees in favour of a secret ballot. They now have no faith in mass meetings as a means of making decisions affecting their livelihood. The whole future of mass meetings within British industry must now be called into question."

The company said that it is now considering more seriously seeking an injunction against the unions in an attempt to force a secret ballot under the Trade Union Act.

On a plant-by-plant basis those in favour of the company's offer were Swindon (2,700 workers), Dunstable (100), (100), Castle Bromwich (750), Drews Lane (1,500), Llanelli (1,100), West Yorkshire Foundry (180), Fuel Systems Erdington (350), Radford, Coventry (200), Canley engine plant (500).

Plants against the company's offer were Blans Foundry (500), Cowley body plant (4,000, although 600 engineers meeting separately voted against a strike ), Cowley assembly (5,000), and Longbridge (11,000).

The unions , which meet today to consider the votes, traditionally do not split plant votes, but count all the employees in the plant as either for or against the strike. The company's offer would raise basic rates from the current figure of £116.60 to £139.30 by November 1985.

All production at Jaguar's three plants stopped yesterday as the strike by the company's 7,500 workers began. Mass meetings on Wednesday voted to reject the company's marginally improved offer of 22 per cent over two years.


NEW YORK TIMES

Auto Strikes In Britain
UPI
Published: November 2, 1984

Thousands of automobile workers went on strike today, halting production of luxury Jaguar cars and Austin Rover models.

Workers at Austin Rover walked out ahead of schedule at two plants.

The strike, affecting 28,000 workers, was scheduled to start on Monday. The union has called for an immediate wage increase of 20 percent; the company has offered 10 percent over two years.

At Jaguar, which the Government sold to the private sector in August, all 7,400 workers at three plants walked out to press demands for a 20 percent pay increase this year. They rejected an offer of 22 percent over two years and the option of taking $500 worth of shares due them next spring.

The automobile stoppage came a day after efforts to settle the nation's eight-month coal strike collapsed following 10 hours of talks.

November 3rd 1984

Jaguar Cars was at a standstill yesterday for. the second day due to the pay strike by its 7,000 labour force (the Press Association reports). Production stopped on Wednesday after disagreement over voting procedures at mass meetings at the three plants, two in Coventry and the other at Castle Bromwich, Birmingham.
The company said the procedures were unsatisfactory and would not rule out the possibility of conducting its own secret ballot.

November 5th 1984

DAILY EXPRESS

Austin Rover boss Harold Musgrove made it clear that there will be no improvement on the company's two-year pay package.

" It is a stark, staring fact of life that there is no more money," he said.


November 6th 1984

Austin Rover Pay Strike begins
Austin shop stewards to defy strike ballot call

By Clifford Webb A delegate meeting of 120 Austin Rover shop stewards' voted yesterday to defy the company's intention to use new legislation to force secret balloting, and gave their backing to a strike which halted all the company's car production. They had been encouraged by the news that 25,000 of the 28,000 manual workers had obeyed the strike call issued by their leaders when pay talks broke down on Friday night.


GLASGOW HERALD

Court Move To Halt Strike by car Workers

The strike by Austin Rover Car workers began yesterday as the company carried out its threat to go to the courts to stop it .
Austin Rover issued a High Court writ requiring the nine unions involved to withdraw their strike call until a ballot had been held .
Its application for a court order is expected to be heard today , and will be the first test of the governments 1984 Trade Union act which came into effect in September .
The stoppage was widespread on the first day of the strike . The two major plants – Cowley in Oxford and Longbridge in Birmingham – were at a standstill .
However , 3000 workers went to work at smaller plants .
Shop stewards from all 14 of the company’s car plants voted at a three hour meeting in Coventry to reject the company’s pay offer of 10% over two years and continue the strike .
Later Austin Rover said in a statement :
“This is an incredible decision . The company has made its final offer and there is no possibility that it will be improved further .”
“We believe that the responsible members of the joint negotiating committee recognise this , but they have been thwarted by the militants who have even gone so far as to distort voting figures at their disorderly mass meetings .”
The company statement added :
“They have no mandate from our employees to strike action . The only valid way to obtain the views of our employees is through a properly conducted secret ballot while normal working continues .”
“In the light of the disruptive and cynical tactics endorsed today by the delegates , who seem determined not to consult employees on whether there should be a strike , Austin Rover is convinced ever more firmly of the need to use the due process of the law to bring the strike to a speedy end .”
Under Section 11 of the 1984 Trade Union Act , the unions are liable to court action and damages up to £250000 if they do not hold a secret ballot before calling a strike .
The Austin Rover unions called the strike after a show of hands at mass meetings of the 28000 workers .
The company’s writ seeks to stop each of the nine unions “inducing , persuading , directing , instructing or in any other way encouraging “ the company’s employees to strike . The writ also suggests that damages might be sought .
Today’s hearing is expected to be heard in private , in the absence of the unions . Any injunction granted would be temporary , until the unions case was heard .
At the Longbridge plant yesterday about 30 workers were led past the pickets by a group of women amid pushing , shoving and some bitter arguments .
However , at both Longbridge and Cowley only a few workers crossed the picket lines and no cars were produced .
A mass meeting of about 1500 workers at the Drews Lane plant in Birmingham has been called today .
Mr John Allen , the engineering unions Birmingham East district secretary , said his members had a right to be consulted before a dispute .
“We are not going to have Scargillism at the factory gates in East Birmingham ,” he said .
However , the chief union negotiator , Mr Grenville Hawley , said after the shop stewards meeting that the unions would call no more mass meetings nationwide until the company puts forward an offer they could recommend . The offer of 5% each year was unacceptable .
He said the vote to continue the stoppage was overwhelming .



November 7th 1984

Austin Rover unions fail to meet judge's strike deadline
By Clifford Webb

The first controntation over the new secret ballot legislation loomed nearer last night as six unions at Austin Rover failed to meet a deadline imposed by the High Court.
Mr Justice Stuart-Smith sitting in camera has ordered them to withdraw before 6 pm instructions directing their members to strike. But that deadline passed without news of any move by union leaders to comply. Austin Rover had issued writs against nine unions under Section II of the Trade Union Act. 1984. which became law on September 26. It requires unions to hold secret ballots before taking strike action. After a two-hour hearing Mr Justice Stuart-Smith granted temporary injunctions against six of the nine unions requiring them not to induce, persuade, direct, instruct or in any way encourage members to stay on strike. The injunctions will be in force until a secret ballot is held or the case is heard in full. Unions defying the court could face fines of up to £250,000. The hearing of writs against two unions who were represented in court, the Engineering and Foundry Sections of the Amalgamated Union of Engineering Workers and the electricians' union were adjourned until Thursday. Individual union leaders could also face heavy fines if Austin Rover make a second approach to the High Court by issuing writs against named union officials.
In a statement last night Austin Rover said it now expected the trade unions to instruct their members to return to work immediately and to take no part in strike action which had not been approved in a secret ballot. It encouraged employees to cross picket lines because
"they are not official and should be ignored...........In accordance with the injunction granted by the High Court , we now expect the trade unions to instruct any of their members who are on strike to resume normal working and to take no part in any further action which has not at first been approved in a secret ballot .”

Mr Terry Duffy, president of the AUEW , said he feared the dispute would develop into another open clash with the Government because it was the paymaster. He said that he had instructed solicitors to oppose the writ and was keeping the TUC informed of developments. Last night there were signs that the strike is hardening. The numbers on strike increased during the day from 25,000 to 26,000 of the company's 28,000 employees. There was some dissent however. The 1000 workers at the Drews Lane components plant, Birmingham, defied the strike call and returned to work immediately.



GLASGOW HERALD

Austin Rover said about 150 of the 3000 strong nightshift at its Longbridge , Birmingham , plant had reported for work .However there were not enough workers to begin production .
Pickets were at the factory gates attempting to persuade the men not to enter . Longbridge convener Mr Jack Adams said about 12 men decided not to cross the picket line .
“Judges don’t build motor cars . Our members build motor cars and they’ve decided they’re on strike ,” he said .]
Meanwhile , Austin Rover management received some comfort yesterday when figures of the number of new cars sold in Britain last month were released .
Although total sales were down 8% on October last year , Austin Rover won 23% of the market and led sales for the first time in 13 months .
Ford took 19% and General Motors 12% . The Metro was the top selling car with 9.2% of the market followed in order by the Ford Escort , Austin Maestro , Vauxhall Cavalier , Ford Sierra , Ford Fiesta , Austin Montego , Vauxhall Nova , Datsun Sunny and Datsun Micra .




November 8th 1984

Austin union chiefs pull back from showdown
By David Felton and Clifford Webb

Union leaders. last night appeared. to be pulling back from a legal confrontation over the pay strike by 25,000 Austin Rover workers after the second- largest union declared the dispute unofficial.
The decision by the executive of the Amalgamated Union of Engineering Workers, called into emergency session yesterday to disown the display of defiance by shop stewards and local officials earlier in the day seeking to continue the strike, caused problems for the more militant Transport and General Workers' Union, which is the largest at the company. It was not clear what attitude the union would adopt but it is unlikely to be represented at a High Court hearing today when Austin Rover will inform the court that six unions had refused to obey an order to call off the strikes by 6pm on Tuesday. The AUEW decision was taken after the electricians' union ordered its 800 members back to work. It did so because its policy is not to oppose the 1984 Trades Union Act under which Austin Rover has brought the action. Mr Eric Hammond, general secretary of the Electrical, Electronic, Telecommunications' and Plumbing Union, will appear in the High Court today to emphasize the union's willingness to cooperate with the court. Affidavits sworn by Mr Terry Duffy, president of the AUEW and Mr Ken Cure, the executive member responsible for the motor industry, will be read to the court. Austin Rover won an order in the High Court on Monday that the strike which started on Monday, should be. called off until a ballot of the 28,000 members had been held.
When news of the union split reached pickets at Longbridge, the biggest plant in the group, there were angry shouts of

"let them try. Nobody goes in until we get more money".

Earlier in the day Mr Cure had been chased through the streets of Coventry by strikers who had travelled from Cowley to picket the meeting.

November 9th 1984

11 go in Dunlop board shake-up

By Ian Griffiths

Sir Michael Edwardes, the former BL chairman, yesterday won his battle to take over as chairman and chief executive of Dunlop Holdings, the ailing tyre group, and immediately started one of the biggest boardroom shake-ups in corporate history with 11 of the 13 directors leaving. Four executive directors were dismissed at Sir Michael's request.

Austin Rover fails in court to make union end strike

By David Felton and Clifford Webb

Austin Rover yesterday lost its High Court action to order Britain's second largest union to lift a strike at the company's car plants to allow a ballot of the workers to be held.
In a decision, which apparently granted legitimacy to a union tactic of disowning the strike in order to comply with the provisions of the Trade Union Act 1984. Mr Justice Stuart-Smith refused to grant the company an injunction against the Amalgamated Union of Engineering Workers. Earlier during the hearing in chambers the company decided not to pursue a similar action against the Electrical, Electronic Telecommunication and Plumbing Union which had ordered its 800 members at Austin Rover back to work. In spite of that instruction a mass meeting of about 250 electricians at the Longbridge plant near Birmingham yesterday voted to continue the strike. The court decision could have a significant impact on union policies towards the Act which became law in September. Some observers were last night predicting that it may be sufficient for unions to disown a strike in order not to fall foul of the law. Six other unions at Austin Rover led by the Transport and General Workers' Union, which is the largest at the company have refused to comply with an injunction ordering them to call off their action by last Tuesday and hold a ballot.
The company was last night reticent on what action it planned although it is unlikely to seek contempt of court proceedings before Monday.
Mr Eric Hammond, general secretary of the EETPU, said after the company decided not to proceed with its action against the union:

"We feel very sore about, this because we have always made clear that we are prepared to obey the law. "

In affidavits laid before the court Mr Terry Duffy, AUEW president, said the Austin Rover joint national council, on which eight unions are represented, did not have authority to call a strike without reference first to his union's executive. Since the strike started on Monday, only 3,000 of the company's 28,000 employees have gone to work. If Austin Rover had been successful in its action against the two unions yesterday they would have been forced to hold a ballot or risk fines of up to £250,000.

The eight-day strike which has stopped all car production at Jaguar could end today (our Motoring Correspondent writes). Shop stewards will recommend mass meetings at the three Coventry plants to accept an improved offer.

[nicholls1966uk]

November 10th 1984

Improved offer ends strike at Jaguar

By Clifford Webb

The eight-day strike at Jaguar, Coventry, which has cost the newly privatized company 800 cars worth more than £15m, is over.
Mass meeting of the 7,000 employees voted overwhelmingly yesterday to accept an improved offer. Jaguar has brought forward £120 of the pay rise due next November, and given other concessions, including cash for shares due to employees .

Meanwhile, Austin Rover claimed a steady drift back during the day had increased numbers at work to 6,000 of its 28,000 manual employees. A mass meeting of 2,700 workers at the Swindon body pressing plant, the third biggest after Longbridge and Cowley voted to return to work on Monday.
Austin Rover has no intention of soft pedalling its legal battle with the unions despite losing the first round to the engineering union. It will return to the High Court next week to seek contempt proceedings against the six unions which have defied the court's order to call off the strike until a secret ballot has been held. Jubilant strike leaders claimed yesterday that Mr Justice Stuart-Smith's refusal to grant an injunction against the Amalgamated Union of Engineering Workers, because it had publicly disowned the strike, had "'driven a coach and horses" through the Trade Union Act 1984.

November 14th 1984

The Austin Rover Dispute

Austin Rover called in British Telecom yesterday to install emergency telephone lines at its Longbridge and Cowley assembly plants to handle calls which it said, were flooding in from workers who want to return.
Yesterday another 1,000 workers voted to return making nearly 10,000 in all, Austin Rover said last night. At Longbridge 850 had returned, and at Cowley, 650. The company has 28,000 manual workers.

November 19th 1984

New signs of car strike collapse

Support for the two-week old BL pay strike showed fresh signs of collapse during the weekend at Austin Rover's body and assembly plants at Cowley, Oxford.
Skilled pipe fitters and pattern makers decided yesterday to cross picket lines today; a similar decision was taken on Saturday by 450 engineering union craftsmen. The craftsmen had previously accepted the company's pay offer of 10 per cent spread over the next two years, but were unwilling to cross picket lines. Their change of mind means that the previously quiet picket lines at Cowley are likely to see some form of confrontation today.
BL's resistance to any climbdown was emphasized by Mr Norman Haslam, the company's director of employee relations.

Austin Rover is due to return to the High Court today to begin contempt proceedings against defiant union leaders (the Press Association reports). It plans to ask for damages from those unions which have not rejected the strike in line with the injunction granted a fortnight ago.

[nicholls1966uk]

November 20th 1984

Another 4,500 defy Austin picket lines

By Clifford Webb The tough stance adopted by Mr Harold Musgrove, the chief executive of Austin Rover, is having its desired effect.
Faced by his refusal to increase the, company's pay offer and his use of the courts, another 4,500 workers crossed union picket lines yesterday at the key Longbridge and Cowley car assembly plants. Last night more than 15,000 of the company's 28,000 manual workers were back at work and 11 of the 14 plants were working normally.
The biggest breakthrough came at Longbridge where 3,200 workers, nearly half the day shift, returned allowing reduced production to resume on Metro and Rover 200 assembly lines together with engine building in the east works.
About 1,300 day shift workers returned at Cowley including 550 members of the Amalgamated Union of Engineers Workers (AUEW) who had voted to return at a mass meeting last Friday. Restricted production of Maestros started for the first time since the strike began a fortnight ago. An Austin Rover spokesman said last night:

"The strike is crumbling. We shall have over 15,000 back before tonight is out. They include about 5,000 AUEW members, and about the same number of transport union members."

But union leaders pointed out last night that modern car assembly plants cannot run efficiently if one cog is missing. A shop steward picket at Longbridge said:

"If only a few hundred workers stay out it will cost the company a fortune to make every single motor car. They cannot keep doing that for long and despite what the company claims they are only playing at making cars until we all go back."

British Leyland started to run down its Bathgate truck factory, at west Lothian, yesterday. The plant is to close in 1986. Axle assembly was transferred to the company's Albion works at Scotstoun, Glasgow.

November 21st 1984

Court battle set as Austin men go back
By Clifford Webb

The 16-day strike in Austin Rover car factories collapsed yesterday when mass meetings at two Cowley plants voted overwhelmingly to return to work.
Workers at Longbridge, the only plant still on strike, are expected to acknowledge their isolation and vote to return at a mass meeting today.
In spite of the notable victory for a determined management, Mr Harold Musgrove, Austin Rover chairman, said last night that he still intends to press ahead with the High Court hearing set for Monday against the transport union, the only one to declare the strike official and defy the High Court order that it should call off the strike pending a secret ballot. Mr Musgrove told The Tirnes:

"I did not resort to the courts lightly. We shall continue with the action because of the considerable amount of damage done to this company. I believe that the evidence shows conclusively that some of the mass meetings which supposedly called for a strike were rigged and I owe it to the majority of our employees to do something about that. They are clearly being led into strikes they do not want. Secret ballots are the only fair way of deciding such crucial issues as a man's livelihood."

Workers have been crossing picket lines in increasing numbers since the strike began on November 5. By Monday night 15,000 of the 28,000 workers were back at their benches. But the breakthrough came yesterday when mass meetings of more than 7,000 employees at the Cowley body and assembly plants defied their shop stewards and voted overwhelmingly to return last night.
About 5,200 Longbridge workers, more than half the plant's labour force, crossed picket lines yesterday, but Mr Jack Adams, the plant's union convener, refused to say if he would recommend calling off the strike at the mass meeting planned for today.

November 22nd 1984

Longbridge workers vote to end strike.

A mass meeting of workers at Austin Rover's Longbridge car plant yesterday ignored a rearguard action by shop stewards and voted overwhelmingly to end their pay strike.
Shop stewards had tried to persuade the 11,000 workers that although every other plant had returned to work these could not continue if Longbridge stayed out. Mr Jack Adams, the plant convener, said:

" Longbridge is central to the whole Austin Rover operation. No one can work for long without Longbridge."

But when the vote was taken, only a few workers supported him. Austin Rover said:

"We are satisfied that all plants will now resume full production, since we are confident that is what the majority of employees wanted all along."

November 24th 1984

Austin woman dismissed for strike assault

By Clifford Webb, Motoring Correspondent

Austin Rover yesterday dismissed a woman employee for allegedly assaulting three other women who crossed a picket line she was manning during the recent pay strike.
Two of the women were treated in the Longbridge plant medical centre and the third was sent to hospital with a suspected broken arm. Mrs Sheila McGreavy, a sewing machinist, was suspended on full pay, pending an appeal, immediately she returned to work on Thursday, after the collapse of the two and a half week strike.
A disciplinary hearing took place yesterday. Reports suggest that the alleged incident took place on November 6, the second day of the strike. A handful of workers tried to enter Longbridge and found their path blocked by pickets, including Mrs McGreavy. She at first remonstrated with three sewing room colleagues and when they ignored her, followed them into the factory and committed the alleged assault. The injured women made a formal complaint to the company.

November 26th 1984

Workers involved in wildcat strikes at Austin Rover's Cowley plant have been warned that from now on they could face instant dismissal.

[nicholls1966uk]

DECEMBER 1984

Former ACV and Leyland chairman Sir William Black dies at the age of 93 years in south west Surrey .
Also passing on is former BMC director Alec Layborn .

December 28th 1984

Austin Rover to recruit 600

By Clifford Webb Motoring Correspondent

Austin Rover is recruiting 600 more workers in the new year to increase production of four new models; the five door Metro. the 1.6 Rover, the Montego estate car and the Maestro van. Four hundred workers will be taken on at Longbridge, Birmingham, to increase output of Metros from 3,800 a week to 4,100 and to prepare for the launch of the 1.6 litre Rover 200. That car is a more powerful version of the 1.3 litre Rover which appeared in June and it will use an Austin Rover engine in place of the Japanese power unit. Its introduction will enable production of the mid- range Rover family to be increased from 1,200 a week to 1,600.
Two hundred workers will be taken on at Cowley, Oxfordshire, where the management has been struggling unsuccessfully to reach production targets for most of the year. The additional workers will enable Cowley to be brought into line with the much more efficient Longbridge plant. Traditional tea breaks with the assembly tracks halted are estimated to cost nearly 10 per cent of Cowley's output. Now they will be replaced by phased tea breaks taken without stopping the tracks. A few workers at a time will be relieved by employees known as "slip men". Many of the 200 new workers will become "slip men".
Delays in building up production of the Montego estate at Cowley have cost the company dearly since the car was launched nearly three months ago. It is being hailed as the estate car of the year.

December 29th 1984

BL asks for more state cash

By Clifford Webb Motoring Correspondent

BL has told the Government that if the steady improvement of its Austin Rover group is to continue, in the face of a growing challenge from General Motors of America, more public funding will be necessary to develop the next generation of new cars.
The warning is contained in the BL corporate plan covering 1985 to 1990, which has just been submitted to the government. The news will come as a shock to government supporters who thought that the taxpayer had made his last contribution to a company which has received £2.3 billion of state aid since 1975. The final tranche of government aid was drawn by BL 18 months ago. Since then Jaguar has been sold for £297 million and the profitable Unipart subsidiary is expected to be privatized next year.
In the past five years Austin Rover has, with one exception, replaced its range. Project XX, the replacement for the big Rover saloon, which will be launched jointly with Honda of Japan late next year, will be the last model developed with existing government funding. To maintain a rolling programme of at least one new model every two years, it is estimated Austin Rover will need to invest a minimum of £150 million a year, increasing to £200 million within three years.
Despite continuing losses BL's balance sheet has been basically strong. Thanks to state aid it has not been saddled with heavy interest payments on privately-raised loans. However, that position is changing and it must now go the City and pay competitive rates for funds. A public commitment from the Government to provide further funding on evidence of urgent need, would provide the additional backing BL needs when it goes to the banks.

[nicholls1966uk]

That then is the news for 1984.
1985 to follow.

[kadams1970]

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