British Leyland in the Times - 1974 - Waterloo

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September 3rd 1974

A mass meeting at British Leyland's Washwood Heath transmissions factory voted to continue the 10 day dispute which has halted output of all Austin-Morris cars except the Maxi.
British Leyland now face the prospect of more lay-offs to swell the 18,500 already idle at Longbridge, Cowley, Castle Bromwich, Abingdon, Swindon and Llanelli. Shop stewards representing the 2,000 transmission workers on strike are meeting management on Thursday to try to press again for an increase on the £4 a week offer. The company has so far rejected a suggested approach to the Government's new conciliation and arbitration service because it believes it is too early for outside intervention. There was better news of a smaller strike within the group. Eighty inspectors at the Alvis military vehicle factory at Coventry voted to end their two-week strike which has made a further 1,500 workers idle. The stoppage also threatened production of Rover 3500 models through lack of engine components.

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September 5th 1974

Leyland strikers go back

By Edward Townsend

Workers at British Leyland's Birmingham transmissions plant, whose strike has caused. 18,500 car workers to be laid off, returned to work last night. The 2,000 strikers agreed to resume despite the lack of a new wages offer from the company.'Mr. Arthur Harper, convener at the Washwood Heath factory, said:

"Nothing concrete has been laid down in terms of cash, but the management know our aspirations and are prepared to talk on those lines."

British Leyland said that further negotiations could now take place. Full resumption of work at the Oxford and Birmingham assembly plants is expected today. Mr Harper denied that the return to work vote had been influenced by the company's indication earlier this week that it might be willing to make one lump sum payment to all 160,000 BLMC hourly paid workers instead of threshold payments, in return for union assurances of better industrial relations. The company has estimated that a full threshold payment would cost £45m a year. The company's lump sum offer could bring a swift end to the month-long strike by 450 clerical staff at the commercial vehicle factory at Bathgate, West Lothian, which has made 4,500 production men idle.. Shop stewards yesterday travelled to Brighton to discuss the issue with national officials attending the TUC conference.

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September 6th 1974

Goodbye Dick, hello Derek ?

The legendary Dick Etheridge, union convener at British Leyland's Longbridge car plant, is retiring. Remarkably enough for a man who has been described as the most militant shop steward in the car industry, his bosses will mourn his departure as much as his workmates. For the truth is that for several years now Etheridge has played a highly responsible role. Such is his standing with the volatile labour force employed in the biggest British Leyland car factory that his word is law. But more and more he has come to realize that strikes are not always in the interests of the men he affectionately refers to as "my lads ". It was not always so. A former manager at Longbridge is said to have once told his secretary:
"If that bloody man comes in here again keep him waiting for half an hour and then tell him I am too busv."
Etheridge solved that one by taking the men out and then sending a message to the manager;
" Now see who lies waiting."'
Etheridge held court in a wooden hut on land adjoining the plant. It is now a works car park. His "lads" used to recount with glee the number of times they had seen bosses sneaking in to await his pleasure. Today, as the only full-time shop steward at Longbridge, he has the permanent use of an office and telephone inside the factory and the industrial relations department "provides secretarial services when required ".
Etheridge, who will be 65 in December has been a Communist since 1929 "but not a Soviet Communist".
In what he now refers to as the bad old days management and some news- papers tried to isolate him from his members by labelling him a "Red agitator". But their attacks only served to strengthen his position. In recent years when journalists have chided him about his more mellow approach to management, Etheridge has answered:

" Circumstances change and anybody who does not change along with them is no bloody good to himself or the people he represents. In the old days it was open war between them and us. I am not saying it is all love and kisses today but at least there is a lot more mutual respect."

The man being tipped to succeed him is 46-year-old Derek Robinson, chairman of the engineering union's shop stewards committee and a Communist like Etheridge.

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September 14th 1974

JAGUAR-In the week ending September 14th 1974, Jaguar produced the last E-Type. Due to the large amount of unsold cars in dealers showrooms, the event was not publicised at the time.


September 16th 1974

A wage strike involving 450 clerical staff has ended after six weeks at the British Leyland truck and tractor factory in Bathgate, West Lothian. The men will be back at work today along with 4,500 shopfloor workers who were laid off during the stoppage.


TRIUMPH NEWS- On this day BLMC had a product planning meeting. One of the matters discussed was the Triumph SD2.
Continuing evaluation of the programme and its implications came to a head on the 16th September 1974, when the Director of Product Planning, John Bacchus held a meeting of the management team behind the SD2 in order to address the fact that it looked like the car would not return a favourable profit. The idea was to continue with the SD2 but wherever possible, make as many savings as possible – the engine choice was fixed with twin-carburettor versions of the O-Series engine, and after much deliberation on the matter of the gearbox, the plan was to use the 77mm gearbox as used in the SD1. Production targets were also dropped in order to give Rover-Triumph the option of selling the car for more, thus raising its profitability.

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September 19th 1974

At British Leyland's bus and truck headquarters in Lancashire more than 1200 white collar workers called a two-week strike yesterday over a wage claim. Five plants at Chorley and Leyland are affected.

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September 21st 1974

Walk-out halts Austin-Morris as pay agreement accepted by 17,700

R. W. Shakespeare
Within 24 hours of a ballot at British Leyland's Austin-Morris car plant at Longbridge, Birmingham, in which 17,701 workers voted to accept a new pay deal and just 1,544 voted against, car production was brought to a standstill by unofficial strikes yesterday. The shutdown followed a walkout by two separate groups of workers, 300 men in the forge shop, and another 350 who handle body panels and body shells, protesting that the increases they will receive under the new pay agreement are too low.
This flare-up of fresh trouble at Longbridge, which meant the loss of more than £1lm worth of car output yesterday, leaves British Leyland in an uncertain situation, as the Birmingham plant and others closed last night for the September week's holiday in most of the car industry. The men involved in the strike are apparently objecting to the fact that in the two- stage pay deal, they will get only 85 per cent of the rises of £3 and £4.50 that will go to the main production workers. By November, when the second stage takes effect, the main production grade will be getting a basic rate of £55.50 a week, while the ",semi-direct" workers will get just over £47 a week.
The strikers say this differential must go. During the shutdown yesterday 3,000 of the rest of the 20,000 workers at Longbridge had to be sent home. However, like the entire labour force at the plant, they are covered by a guaranteed shift agreement, and will in any event have to be paid for the full day. There was no night shift last night because of the holiday shutdown.

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September 24th 1974

Stokes denial of government aid

Talks of Government aid for British Leyland was "foolish chatter ", Lord Stokes, the chairman, said yesterday.

"We have neither sought nor been offered any monies from the Government other than normal regional grants. Conjecture of this sort is entirely hypothetical and, frankly, is just foolish chatter which unfortunately tends to create unnecessary anxieties among our work force."

One Sunday newspaper report suggested that Whitehall was drawing up plans to inject up to £100m in the company to finance future investment. Lord Stokes said there was no difference of opinion between himself, his directors or the corporation's top executives on the question of government loans or on the broad question of nationalization.




Leyland strike off:
The unofficial strike by 1,800 clerical workers at British Leyland's five bus and truck factories in Lancashire was called off yesterday. It had been planned to continue the strike for another week, but the workers concerned have accepted guidance from the Association of Professional, Executive, Clerical and Computer Staff (APEX) their union, to end the action so that a pay agreement could be concluded.

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OCTOBER 1974

AUSTIN MORRIS- BLMC investigate a comprehensive re-jig of the ADO20 Mini, giving it a full tailgate, folding rear seats and wrap around bumpers. Also a 2 door model without the tailgate. Also a 5 door Clubman fronted saloon sitting on a wheelbase 10 inches longer than the estate. The plans were finally killed off by the 1975 Ryder report.

October 1st 1974

Thousands of workers in the Midlands had to be laid off within hours of returning from the industry's autumn holiday. Car production was brought to a standstill at British Leyland's Austin/Morris plant at Longbridge, Birmingham, because of strikes by minority groups from the 20,000 strong labour force who have rejected a new pay deal offering increases of up to £7.50 a week. By last night 10,000 workers at the Longbridge plant had been laid off and a company spokesman said there would be no car production today and it was possible that the lay-off figure could rise.

British Leyland's fresh troubles at Longbridge centre on a pay agreement which the company spent four months negotiating with the car unions. Just over a week ago it was put to a ballot of all workers at Longbridge and there was an 11-1 majority in favour of its acceptance. However, a small group of indirect " workers whose job is mainly to feed components to the assembly lines protested that the differential in wages between themselves and the main production workers must be closed and they walked out in protest. Without them no car assembly or engines production is possible.

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October 2nd 1974

by R. W. Shakespeare

British Leyland's Austin-Morris plant at Longbridge, Birmingham, yesterday was still at a standstill with about 10,000 workers laid off because of the unofficial strike by 800 men employed in the body-handling and forge shop areas. They have refused to accept a new pay deal covering all workers at the plant. Under this offer, accepted by an overwhelming majority by a ballot of workers over a week ago, there would be two-stage wage increases, the first back- dated to May and the second paid from next month. The "indirect" workers-who include the men on strike-would get a total of £6 a week more compared with up to £7.50 for the main production grade. The strikers want this differential eliminated. The shutdown at Longbridge means that Mini, Allegro and 1800 car ranges are out of production. The plant is losing output of about 1,500 vehicles a day worth nearly £2m. The workers sent home get no lay-off pay because the shutdown results from an internal dispute.
At Longbridge, full-time union officials will attend sectional meetings today of the men who are on strike. Last night a British Leyland spokesman said:
" We hope that this means that there will be some moves to resolve this problem. The position at the moment is that we are prevented from making cars and 10,000 workers have had to be sent home because certain small groups of men are refusing to abide by a settlement that was arrived at in negotiation with the unions and then accepted by a democratic vote of all workers ".

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October 3rd 1974

Leyland Australia seeking state aid

BY Clifford Webb

British Leyland's loss making subsidiary has asked the Australian Government for financial assistance to protect the jobs of its 5,000-strong labour force. It is the largest private employer in the Sydney area. The approach follows a top management shakeup.
Less than three months ago Mr David Abell, BL's treasurer and a key figure in its finance staff, was appointed managing director of the Leyland Motor Corporation of Australia. He replaced Mr Peter North, who had held the post for less than two years. It is understood that Mr Abell began talks with Australian Government ministers about the need for urgent financial assistance more than a month ago.
Leyland Australia is reliably reported to have lost between $A11m (£6.18m) and $A13m in the past four years. Mr Jim Cairns, the Australian Deputy Prime Minister, disclosed the request for assistance yesterday. He said:

" Certain proposals have been put by Leyland to the Government and we are giving consideration to them."

Last night British Leyland issued a statement which was interpreted in some quarters as hinting at a total pullout. It said:

" While commercial vehicle and luxury car sales have been doing reasonably well in Australia, volume car sales have been experiencing difficulties due to a change in circumstances arising from the Australian Government's re-view of its attitude to indigenous car manufacturing. As a result of this, we are reviewing our situation in this market."

The changing circumstances are a sharp increase in the local content needed in cars manufactured in Australia. This means that the Australian subsidiary is now almost cut off from the low-cost high volume production in its United Kingdom factories.




Longbridge car men vote to end strike

At the British Leyland plant in Longbridge, Birmingham, unofficial strikers whose walkout has stopped all car production and made 10,000 other workers idle were given a direct instruction by union officials yesterday to return to work immediately. Without any management commitment about further negotiations on their demands for bigger increases under a new plant pay deal, they at once voted to call off their strike. Last night the company announced that it wvas immediately recalling all laid-off workers.

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October 7th 1974

Coventry wage rates also figure largely in a dispute at British Leyland's plant at Wellingborough in Northamptonshire. Five hundred workers who walked out on Friday over a wage claim are due to meet today to discuss their next move. They are claiming "comparable earnings" with BLMC workers at Coventry and Birmingham.

October 6th 1974

JAGUAR - Italian styles for the XJ40 saloon.








October 10th 1974

The day of the general election.
It was the second of two United Kingdom general elections held that year. Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson, having taken power in a hung parliament after the February election, returned to the polls and won a tiny majority of 3.

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October 14th 1974

Daimler and Jaguar output at 12-month peak
Nearly 33,000 Jaguar and Daimler cars were produced in the 12 months to September 30, a record despite the three- day week, British Leyland reported at the weekend. Production was almost 10 per cent up on the previous year.

" Jaguar is aiming to make at least a similar increase in output over the next year ",
a spokesman said.

October 15th 1974

On the eve of the London Motor Show Lord Stokes tells the media;

" We are still a bloody good country with some bloody good engineers'.........I do not understand what has become an
almost hypnotic death wish in this country. Speculation, not only about our company but many others equally important to the
national economy, causes unrest and demoralisation at work as well as doing untold damage by eroding confidence in British products overseas. It must make our overseas
competitors jump with joy............There has been too much talk of conflict between Government, industry and trades unions. I believe that we are all on the same side and the sooner everybody realises this the
better.........We have to face up to at least two years during which car markets will remain roughly at their present
modest level. Thereafter we believe demand will start to climb again. We are also committed next year to our biggest export programme ever."

October 16th 1974

Lay-offs after walk-out halts Rover plant

By R. W. Shakespeare Northern Industrial Correspondent

British Leyland has again run into labour troubles. All production at the Rover plant at Solihull, Birmingham, came to a standstill last night, with 4,000 workers laid off indefinitely because of an unofficial walk-out by 150 engineering inspectors from all the assembly areas.
The shut down means that all output of cars, Land Rovers and Range Rovers will be stopped today. The Solihull plant normally produces about 4,000 vehicles a week and is one of British Leyland's top' export earners. The inspectors' dispute over pay began more than two months ago when they demanded an improvement in their wage grade which now ,gives them a basic rate of £46 for a 40 hour week. Since then talks between the management, union and inspectors have been going on but yesterday afternoon these broke down and the inspectors walked out. A company spokesman said yesterday:

"Because we cannot work without the inspectors we have had to lay off the entire labour force from 4.30 this afternoon. The lay-offs are for an indefinite period."

MG - On this day the rubber bumper MGB and Midget are announced at the Earls Court motor show.


October 17th 1974

THE GUARDIAN

ROVER NEWS
Rover production at Solihull, Warwickshire, was halted by a strike of 150 inspectors. Talks between management and shop stewards failed to resolve the dispute over a regrading claim, which has made 4,000 workers idle.


October 19th 1974

DAILY EXPRESS
At Solihull production at Rover car factory was at a standstill again yesterday because of a walk-out last Tuesday by 150 inspectors over a pay claim. And 3,000 men were laid off at the Triumph plant at Coventry where vehicles have been stockpiled as they come off the production line because of' a stoppage by delivery men. Union leaders yesterday urged them to end their action pending talks about their grievance over the allocation of work. In Oxfordshire, more than 800 men walked out of British Leyland's main spares depot yesterday because of what they claimed were " unsafe " working conditions. The dispute brought the depot, which serves British Leyland distributors and dealers throughout the world to a standstill.

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October 22nd 1974

INNOCENTI-The Innocenti 90/120 hatchback Mini is announced.



October 24th 1974

THE GUARDIAN

TRIUMPH NEWS
Two hundred and sixty workers at the two Triumph car factories at Speke, Liverpool, were laid of because of a delivery drivers strike at Coventry. They make parts for assembly in the Midlands where, because of the strike, cars and parts have accumulated.


October 26th 1974

THE GUARDIAN

TRIUMPH NEWS
At the Triumph car plant in Coventry, where 4,000 workers have been idle because of a strike by delivery drivers employed by an independent contractor, production is expected to resume on Monday. The delivery drivers have accepted proposals for ending their strike, over a work allocation dispute. The resumption of work in Coventry should mean a recall to work early next week for 1,000 employees at the firm's at the firms Merseyside factory.

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November 1st

Production Expert Quits BLMC

One of the British motor industry's most successful production experts is looking for a job.
Yesterday Frank Tilston, British Leyland's 43-year-old director of manufacturing plans, left the company after a reported clash with Bill Davis, 54, the group's manufacturing chief. There has been no official announcement of his departure but a spokesman at British Leyland's London headquarters confirmed to Business Diary that Tilston had resigned with effect from yesterday.
The break will not surprise close observers of the motor industry. Both men are extremely strong characters and since Tilston joined Davis's new central manufacturing team at Coventry there has been speculation about the outcome of an inevitable clash of personalities. A close colleague of both men said yesterday

" Frank is how looking for a job."

Tilston, a native of Liverpool, has a remarkable record. He was with Chrysler in Canada and the United States from 1954 to 1961, and obtained a master's degree in business administration at Detroit University. He returned to Britain in 1961 to join Ford at Dagenham as financial' controller and later production manager. Five years later he was on the move again, this time- back' to Chrysler,' as manufacturing director, with the specific task of producing and launching the Avenger. It was the first Chrysler car to be built at Ryton, Coventry, with its own body. Previous bodies had been supplied by Pressed Steel, now part of British Leyland. Tilston did it so successfully that when British Leyland planned to introduce a similar model , the Marina - they sought Tilston's help. He became, first, director and general manager of Austin Morris, Cowley, and, later, managing director of the body and assembly division. He moved to the new Coventry office block a few months ago.

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November 8th 1974

Jaguar lay-offs:
Two thousand assembly workers at Jaguar's Coventry plant were laid off yesterday because of a strike at another British Leyland factory. The strike in the paint shop at the corporation's car body plant at Castle Bromwich, Birmingham, at first involved 250 paint shop men in an argument over a shift payment. They were yesterday joined by about 1,000 production workers.

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November 9th 1974

Almost 10,000 British Leyland workers idle as Birmingham strike spreads

Almost 10,000 British Leyland workers in the Midlands were idle yesterday as the effects of the strike at the company's Castle Bromwich body plant in Birmingham spread. The strike by 1,300 men has already led to 5,500 workers being laid off. A company spokesman said yesterday that the shortage of car bodies meant that Jaguar production at Coventry was running at half its normal rate with 2,000 men laid off. Production of minis at Longbridge, in Birmingham, had been halted with another 2,000 lay-offs. The Castle Bromwich strike started on Monday as a walkout by 250 paint shop men in a pay dispute. They were later joined by more than 1,000 members of the former National Union of Vehicle Builders, now part of the Transport and General Workers' Union.

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November 12th 1974

At British Leyland's Triumph plant, also in Coventry, production is still halted by a strike of 25 control room operators who are demanding an interim pay increase. Another 3,000 production workers are laid off. Settlement of the strike by 1,300 workers at the British Leyland car body plant at Castle Bromwich, where another 5,000 men were laid off, last week, enabled production to resume yesterday. This in turn meant that 2,000 Jaguar car workers at Coventry could be recalled with another 600 day shift workers from the Longbridge plant in Birmingham.

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November 13th 1974

Strike bv 27 men makes thousands idle at Rover Triumph

Production was at a standstill again yesterday at Rover Triumph in Coventry because of a strike by 27 men. The company has laid off 3,500 workers in Coventry, several hundred more at its Liverpool supply plant, and is losing production of 500 cars daily at a showroom value of £750,000.


November 15th 1974

THE GUARDIAN

TRIUMPH NEWS
A strike by 45 key workers at the Triumph car plant at Coventry which has paralysed all production, moved into its second week. Strikers voted to continue a stoppage in support of demands for an interim pay increase. The dispute has stopped all car output in Coventry, making 4,300 workers idle and has led to the lay-off of 1,100 on Merseyside and another 250 at a body plant in Birmingham.





November 16th 1974

By R. W. Shakespeare

All of British Leyland's Triumph car production is at a standstill and 5,650 workers are laid off in the Midlands and on Merseyside.
British Leyland's present problems centre on a strike directly involving only 12 men at the Coventry car assembly plant. They operate the central control room and are demanding an interim pay increase.
Thirty more workers employed on associated jobs have stopped work in sympathy, and this has led to the lay-off of 4,200 production workers in Coventry, 1,100 in Liverpool and 250 at the body pressing plant in Birmingham.

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November 19th 1974

British Leyland recalls Coventry workers, but sends them home when pay talks fail

By R. W. Shakespeare

Within hours of recalling 5,000 workers laid-off from the British Leyland Triumph car plant in Coventry Yesterday the management had to send them home again for an indefinite period.
In all more than 8,250 workers are now laid off at the Coventry plant, at the Triumph car plant in Liverpool and at the body pressing factory in Birmingham. All car production has been at a standstill for eight working days and output losses total some 4,000 cars.
British Leyland recalled the Coventry workers yesterday morning in the hope that fresh negotiations would lead to a settlement of the strike by control room workers. Only 12 men are directly involved in a dispute over pay demands, but another 30 workers on associated jobs have stopped work. After talks between management and union representatives a British Leyland spokesman said:

"There is no settlement, The control room workers are still on strike and we have had to lay off the rest of the labour force again."

He said the number of lay-offs at the Liverpool plant had risen from 1,100 to more than 3,000.

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November 21st 1974

On this day the Birmingham pub bombings ocurred.

November 22nd 1974

Triumph strikers plan next move

By R. W. Shakespeare Northern Industrial Correspondent

Strikers at British Leyland's two Triumph car plants in Coventry and Liverpool, where all production is at a standstill, meet today to discuss their next moves. The stoppages, by control room workers in Coventry and paint-shop men in the Merseyside plant, have made some 6,000 other workers at the two car assembly plants and a further 250. at the Birmingham pressing factory idle, for the past two weeks and more than £7m worth of vehicle production has been lost.

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November 23rd 1974

Car workers demand removal of republicans

From Clifford Webb Midland Industrial Correspondent, Birmingham

In a massive demonstration said by those taking part to be "expressing sympathy with the victims and disgust and revulsion with the bombers",
4,000 workers walked out at six British Leyland car factories in the Birmingham area yesterday. Fights involving Irish workers disrupted production at the giant Longbridge plant where more than 20,000 are employed. Car assembly was stopped at Longbridge shortly after midday when 1,500 assembly line workers left the factory.
Production was also stopped by walkouts at five Rover factories manufacturing car engines and transmissions.
Men taking part in the Longbridge demonstration said the trouble started in the engine dispatch department soon after the morning shift arrived. One worker said:

"You could cut the atmosphere with a knife right from the time we clocked in. One of the lads had a daughter injured and other victims are friends or relatives of men here. Some bloody stupid Irishman started shouting the odds for the IRA and got a bunch of fives in his teeth; The trouble spread to the assembly line and there were more fights. It stopped the line for about an hour before we decided to walk out."

Other workers said they had told the management that they would not return until known Irish republican sympathizers among the many Irish workers had been removed.

"We know who they are and we have told the management", they said.

British Leyland refused to comment on the disturbances. At Rover's Tysley engine works all hourly-paid workers and some staff walked out when the news reached them that one of their colleagues, a foreman electrician, was among the dead. They were joined by workers at Acocks Green, Garrison Road, Perry Barr and Tyburn Road. It is understood that Irish workers at the factories were advised by management to go home. None of the factories affected is required to work this weekend, but when the men return on Monday they are expected to refuse to work unless certain Irish republican sympathizers have been refused admission.

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November 25th 1974

Fresh peace moves at British Leyland today

By R. W. Shakespeare. Northern Industrial Correspondent

Renewed attempts are being made today to resolve labour disputes which have halted all of British Leylands Triumph car production for the past two weeks, and cost some £8m in lost output. Key control room workers at Triumph's Coventry plant have agreed to a return to work from this morning.
Meanwhile, fresh negotiations are being held with the management on their demand for an interim pay settlement in advance of any moves to implement the results of a recent work study exercise in their department. Only 12 men have been directly involved in the dispute which has made more than 4000 other workers idle in Coventry, but another 30 associated workers have been staging a sympathy strike. All of the workers who have been laid off in Coventry are being recalled today in the hope that production can be resumed. A week ago, British Leyland called in the production men when fresh talks began with the control. room staff. However, before the day was out they had to be, sent home again, and all production remained at a standstill.
At Triumph's Liverpool plant, men in the paint shop who have been on strike over a manning dispute will also go back to work today pending the outcome of further negotiations. Another 3,000 have been involved in lay-offs at Liverpool and the management is hoping for a phased return to normal production provided the paint shop men remain at work.
The disputes in the two car assembly plants have also caused the lay-off of 250 workers at the Triumph body pressing factory in Birmingham. There prospects now depend on settlements emerging from the two sets of negotiations.


On this day the Triumph Coventry strikers returned to work and production resumed.

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November 26th 1974

THE GUARDIAN

NEW DISPUTE AS CAR PLANT TALKS BEGIN
By Geoffrey Whitely

Three separate sets of negotiations opened yesterday at Triumph car plants in Coventry and on Merseyside in an attempt to settle the labour troubles which stopped production for two weeks. Car output resumed at the Coventry plants to enable talks to open on a pay dispute involving 45 workers in the control room, whose stoppages made nearly 5,000 other employees idle. Almost immediately the management was presented with a fresh dispute. Some of the workers made idle by the dispute claimed lay-off pay for the period when they had been unable to work. Although the claim appeared to fall outside the company's agreement with the unions — which says that there can be no lay-off pay for workers made idle by a dispute in their own plant — the management agreed to negotiate.
Meanwhile, the Triumph management on Merseyside began talks with leaders of paint-shop workers at the Speke factory who have been on strike over a manning dispute. About 3,000 workers have been idle at the plant because of the disputes disputes there and at Coventry. Another 250 workers have been laid off at the company's car body factory in Birmingham.



November 27th 1974

Lay-off pay strike halts Triumph car plant on day after restart

by R. W. Shakesneare

British Leyland's main Triumph car plant in Coventry was brought to a standstill yesterday within 24 hours of reopening, after a two-week shutdown because of a strike. Production was also badly hit at the company's car assembly plant in Liverpool, and in all, nearly 9,000 workers are once more idle, either because they are directly involved in strike action or have been laid off. Already Triumph has lost more than £8m worth of output over the past two weeks, and it now faces the prospect of mounting losses at a rate of about £1m a day.
The present round of troubles in Triumph plants began with a strike by a small group of key control room workers in Coventry over pay and a stoppage by paint shop men in Liverpool over a manning grievance. The two disputes led to a shutdown of production with the lay-off of all workers in the two plants, together with a further 250 at the body pressing factory in Birmingham. On Monday, both groups of strikers agreed to resume work. pending further negotiations with the management on their respective demands. When the Coventry plant reopened, however, the management was immediately faced with a claim by shopfloor workers who had been laid off during the shutdown for payment in full for the time they had lost. After a management promise of talks and a meeting of the men involved in the claim, there was a resumption of some car production on Monday, but yesterday morning 1000 assembly workers walked out and the remaining 7,000 had to be sent home.
In Liverpool, full production had not been resumed, because of the continuing effect of the internal dispute there and the earlier shutdown at Coventry, on which the Merseyside assembly line relies for vital components. Although the dispute involving paintshop workers now appears to have been settled, the new shutdown in Coventry may again lead to extensive lay-offs. In Liverpool, British Leyland's difficulty about the claim by the Coventry workers is that it had a clearly defined agreement with the car unions about how its guaranteed lay-off pay arrangements operate. This specifically excludes payment to workers who are made idle by a dispute within their plant. To abandon this principle would clearly make managements extremely vulnerable to " leap-frogging " pay demands within each plant, with militant groups being free to take strike action without exposing other workers to loss of earnings through lay-off.

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November 28th 1974

Another 1,000 laid off as Triumph troubles spread to other Plants

By R. W. Shakesneare

More than 8,000 workers were idle, either on strike or laid off, at British Leyland's Triumph car factories in Coventry yesterday. Another 700 men were laid off at the company's Liverpool plant and 250 more at a body pressings factory in Birmingham. The complete shutdown has halted production of the entire Triumph range, apart from the Toledo cars, which are still being made at Liverpool. But output of these could soon be affected by components shortages, particularly engines which are made in Coventry. The stoppage is the result of a walkout by 1,000 assembly track workers at Coventry plant on Tuesday, only 24 hours after they had been recalled from a two weeks lay-off caused by a strike of control room operators. Assembly line men, who are picketing the plant, are demanding payment for the time they lost through lay-off. Yesterday Mr Eddie McGarry, chairman of the joint shop stewards committee at Rover. Triumph, said that the stand being taken by the assembly men had the full support of other workers. He said:

"Workers who should have been earning about £55 a week have had their average earnings reduced to between £34 and £38 a week for the whole of last year, because of continuous lay-offs. It is always the track workers who. are hit most, because they are right at the end of the assembly line."

To some extent the men's claim has been reinforced by the fact that in a recent settlement at the Massey-Ferguson tractor plant in Coventry, manual workers were conceded the principle of lay-off pay; when stoppages result from industrial action among non-manual workers. Production losses for Triumph are now running at about £9m during the present troubles, and in three major disputes during the past two months, the plants have lost output of some £13.6m worth of vehicles at showroom values.

[nicholls1966uk]

November 29th 1974

The Triumph dispute rumbles on

Also in Coventry the labour troubles in British Leyland's Triumph car plant, which has brought another complete standstill in vehicle production, became even more deeply entrenched yesterday.
A mass meeting of the shopfloor workers who are laid off voted not to cross the picket lines of 1000 assembly track-workers now on strike over a demand for payment for time lost wheni they were made idle during a recent strike by control room operators. Yesterday Mr Eddie McGarry, the shop stewards' chairman for Rover Triumph, gloomily predicted:

"It looks like being a long dispute."

Mr Dick Perry, deputy managing director of Rover Triumph, appealed for a return to work and said that foreign competition also was taking a growing share of the market in Britain and overseas manufacturers had large stocks of cars here. He added:

"Our stocks are terribly low, down to a couple of weeks' supply for most models."

Triumph car production at Liverpool is also being severely affected and in all more than 9,000 workers in Coventry and on Merseyside are either on strike or laid off. Triumph is now in the third week of its shutdown, with production losses amounting to £10m.