british leyland workers sleeping
Where can you get quick classic car insurance quotes? DAILY EXPRESS BUY BRITISH DRIVE FOR LEYLAND BOOST By David Benson An aggressive campaign to 'Buy British' is to be launched by Leyland British Leyland is to be granted a further 300m of state aid next year, with 133m to follow if the vehicle group's performance improves. DAILY EXPRESS BUY BRITISH By Peter Durisch Leyland chief Sir Michael Edwardes left Britain over Christmas with a special messagefor BL seals pact for Japanese to produce first car in Britain From our Correspondent Tokyo, Dec 27 BL and Honda today ratified an agreement Robert Taylor investigates recently released Cabinet papers that document the end of the 1974-79 Labour Government The newly-opened Mr Robert Yates, British Leyland foreman, last night lost a claim that he was. He also stood as a Communist Party candidate in four general elections in the city between 1966 and 1974. Family Cottage near Leyland, Lancashire. The pamphlet said: All our efforts and resources must be mobilised to change the policy of closures and contraction. As shop steward at British Leyland in Longbridge, Birmingham, he was involved in a series of strikes and walkouts over alleged mismanagement. What's he waiting for? Following the election of Margaret Thatcher in May 1979, the government and BL sought to implement a recovery plan to save the ailing company. First edition. A stickler for historical accuracy he has recently performed the marathon task of mining the online newspaper articles for all BMC>MG related stories. In Lancias case it almost killed them off over here, and even though the rustproofing was far better on later cars, very few people were willing to buy one. "But they are going to appeal against the decision. But instead of supporting him, the workers who gathered that February day turned on him. We are looking for a Children's Residential Support Worker to join an outstanding Children's Home. Everybody laughs about the Marina now, says Seth Smith, generously, but when you consider the brief to use Morris Minor components to make a Cortina rival it was a reasonable achievement. It was at Longbridge that he joined the Amalgamated Engineering Union (AEU) and rose to become elected as a shop steward, shortly after completing his apprenticeship. This year's foundling is British Leyland's first new Rover sedan in 13 years. Former Leyland worker Stephen Cox said Mr Robinson was regarded by many as "way out on an extreme". He was in charge of 32 men on the night shift who were dismissed, disciplined, or 'who resigned rather than be dismissed. We and our partners use cookies to Store and/or access information on a device. Born in Bedfordshire but now residing in Norfolk, Ian Nicholls is an ardent BL enthusiast. Not just the NHS government in general! He added that communists active in Unite "mourned the loss of their most distinguished veteran, a mentor and guide to us all". A company statement on the Superintendents discovery, said they had all completed their work quota. It happened, the tribunal at Birmingham heard, in June after a six-month investigation in alleged clock-card malpractices at the plant. Stories from those at the coalface. A combination of poor steel and corrosion, so Lancia werent entirely to blame. Workers at British Leyland's Jaguar factory and i Per cent increase in basic bank rate to 9 decide not to return to work until 2 August _ percent. After a tip-off by the News of the World newspaper, senior managers the previous week carried out a surprise inspection of the night shift in a paint priming shop. My god it was awful, it was bought . Keith Adams Youll find that spending time reading Ian Nicholls excellent set of stories about, Clive Goldthorp THE real significance of Honda Motor Company Limited (Honda) President and CEO Takeo, THE GUARDIAN Production should be back to normal today at two Midlands car plants where, British Motor Holdings the joining of BMC and Jaguar. Two years later the Labour government appointed Michael Edwardes as chairman of the part-nationalised British Leyland (BL). This British Leyland collection is diverse, huge and full of interest. Mr Robinson, one of the most famous trade unionists of the 1970s, was dubbed Red Robbo by the media. "I can sleep sound at night because I never betrayed the workers I was elected to represent," he said. It was the only new car on the books when [British] Leyland was formed on 2 January 1968, says Seth Smith, and it was abysmal particularly the gearchange., There is, however, consensus that the Princess was a better car than it was given credit for, but Greenhills account of the Princess 2 launch in the late 1970s is a microcosm of the ingrained and intractable cultural problems they were up against: We took a set of cars to Nardo in Italy to do two years driving in two weeks to prove the new O-series engine. Yesterday they faced a disciplinary hearing. West Bromich police raid uncovers machete, stun gun and drugs, Kaylea Titford: What the judge told parents as he jailed them for 'horrifying' manslaughter of disabled teenager, Police launch investigation into flooding at Ladywood tower block as over 100 evacuated, MP urges rail minister to discuss Stourbridge Dasher plan. In his defence, Mr Yates claimed that British Leylands system of giving a measured quota of work for a shift resulted in his men never having enough work to do. Mr Robert Yates, British Leyland foreman, was dismissed for allowing men to sleep on the night shift at the Rover works in Solihull, West Midlands, an industrial tribunal was told yesterday. In the 1980s and 90s, Mr Robinson worked as a tutor in trade union studies, teaching shop stewards. The former British Leyland worker and trade unionist Derek Robinson has died, aged 90. Undermining the shopfloor Mr John Share, personnel manager, said the company was satisfied that Mr Yates had allowed men to sleep on a night shift and had allowed clocking offences in which he had taken part. He was in charge of 32 men on the night shift who were dismissed, disciplined, or 'who resigned rather than be dismissed. A little later, through a window, he saw two men, naked from the waist up. Derek Robinson - Red Robbo - speaks to striking British Leyland workers in Cofton Park. "I can sleep sound at night because I never betrayed the workers I was elected to represent," he said. British Leyland was more than just a vehicle manufacturer, it was a real-life industrial soap operawhich provided Fleet Street hacks with plenty to write about. Seth Smith joined Leyland Motor Corporation as Triumph press officer in 1967, and in 1968 helped with the famous announcement of the Leyland and BMH merger. VideoRecord numbers of guide dog volunteers after BBC story. 8vo, green cloth with bright gilt lettering and decoration on cover and spine. The consent submitted will only be used for data processing originating from this website. Union convenor Derek Robinson had been dismissed months earlier by British Leyland's chairman Michael Edwardes. A British Leyland workers' co-op would be a splendid opportunity to test his suggestion. His crime was to put his name to a combine committee pamphlet setting out an approach that drew on the experience of the Upper Clyde Shipbuilders. Kearsley has an encyclopaedic knowledge of the cars, down to the colour names and options, combined with a strong urge to save these underdogs. I hadnt been there for many years. 1970 Ferrari 512M track test Group 5 great driven at Paul Ricard, Driving the legendary Bentley 3 Litre and Bentley 4 Litre. The incident would be reported to the management and judged on the circumstances. 13 November 1979. Im a former Austin Maestro owner, admirer and salesman, so it [] []. Do they take well to polishing, T-Cut, or is a respray the remediation? Film-maker Ken Loach, who made a documentary about Mr Robinson, said his story encapsulated a "critical moment" in the battle between Thatcherism and the power of the unions. What fire was my friends answer to which the policeman pointed to the mess of the building next door and the thirty fire engines surrounding it! One night him and his mate who were on the maintenance nightshift went to sleep in the cupboards. Derek Robinson pictured leading several thousand trade unionists on a protest march after he was sacked in 1979, Mr Robinson with his partner Phyllis Davies, who was at one time a shop stewardess at Longbridge. Two of them had clocked 24 or 25 cards. 1983 Cowley Moles. Although Edwardes had a reputation as a union basher, Robinson supported the idea of working with him under a policy of participation, whereby unions and management would cooperate on matters of industrial relations. Had a nice blue pearlescent paint that never matched properly, sold it with the bodged paintwork at a loss. That kind of thing went on a lot in the 70s. But the political mood of the country was changing. Officers discovered Lai was sleeping in a squalid property . Communist Party of Great Britain, Communist Party of Britain [1] Derek Robinson (1927-2017) was a British trade unionist. AROnline Keith Adams 2001-2022 - please refer to the 'Terms of use' pages. Only three men, none of them Mr Yates, had gone to the clocking point before 6.45 am, the end of the shift. Its just a shame that for a lot of the 70s they were rightly derided for their quality. How many CEOs could you describe in those terms today? Zafer went to Stokes memorial service: People stood up and said some great things about him: told the truth. E 21 Government approves 30 million as first tranche of 100 million investment funds to British British Leyland s Rover workers at Solihull Leyland. 1990s Vauxhalls seemed to have red paint that faded quickly, so most surviving ones look more pink than red these days. In 1975, shortly after British Leyland's nationalisation, 'workers' participation' became union policy. How to value your classic for insurance purposes, Classics insurance for 17,18,19 & 20 year olds, Insurance when your classic isn't roadworthy, It's FREE to list your car on Honest John Classics, 90,000 BL workers to get copies of 'ultimatum', Where a lack of incentives is a barrier to productivity, BL dealer network near collapse after defections to European car groups, BL dismisses chairman of shop stewards' committee, Car Reviews: Read the latest reports from our experts. Location: Leyland, Lancashire. They had found that double the recommended number of body panels could be hung on the paint conveyor. Pay and Contract. The tabloid paid the equivalent of 75,000 to buy letters which not only . Derek "Red Robbo" Robinson, who has died aged 90, was the firebrand British Leyland workers' representative whose sacking in November 1979 came to symbolise Margaret Thatcher's . Mr Robinson led the fight back, organising hundreds of disputes. Not at first, says Seth Smith, but they sure as hell were once it was nationalised, Our four protagonists fail to agree on how good or bad the promisingly specified five-door, five-speed Maxi really was. Exterior view of British Leyland Strandard Triumph works entrance and gatehouse at Canley, Coventry . work. Enter your username or email to reset your password. It was about two oclock in the afternoon. How did you not hear that he said to which my friend blatantly lied I had ear muffs on we were grinding most of the night! The former British Leyland worker and trade unionist Derek Robinson has died, aged 90. The men at Drews Lane had worked to rule for several weeks in protest at management attempts to stop them leaving early. Read about our approach to external linking. The men were found tucked up in sleeping bags when management swooped on the priming shop at the Range Rover plant in Solihull, near Birmingham. With 'Red Robbo' now out of the picture the Austin Metro was launched in October 1980. He was the main spokesman for the British Leyland combine committee which united about 40 different plants around the country, for most of the 1970s. Williams Lyons. The British Leyland Motor Company, BLMC, was formed back in 1968. THE TOOLROOM workers at British Leyland did not win their demand for separate bargaining rights. Derek Robinson - nicknamed "Red Robbo" by tabloid newspapers - was one of the biggest names in the trade union movement during the 1970s. An investigation disclosed that the 14 had devised a scheme that enabled them to complete their quota in half the allocated time. The statement added that the company regarded the investigation as private. A mass meeting of the men desided by a massive vote to ignore an official Union call for a strike. Fearing that its collapse would leave a million workers unemployed, the Labour government nationalized it. "The Communist Party then dominated the factory's workforce, with many hundred Daily Workers [newspaper] being sold every day," he wrote in his blog. He hopes his friend will be remembered as "one of those stalwarts in the post-war era that maintained a better life for ordinary people", not as an "agitator" or "destroyer" which he said was "a complete invention". An uncompromising and . Opinion : Derek Robinson: Victim or villain? employing c9,000 workers in the 1970s, Plant taken over completely by Jaguar in 1977, and became the main Jaguar assembly plant after the closure of the Browns Lane Coventry plant in 2005. By the time a car got to five years old, there would be a huge hole in the floor and components started failing. Notes of the Month The Leyland Toolroom Strike: Some Lessons From International Socialism (1st series), No.97, April 1977, pp.4-5. Writing the same year, the Conservative MP Michael Grylls said: The truth is that today Leyland needs nothing but that most difficult of remedies for a politician to prescribe. Today, of course, they are four slightly more mature men with long and impressive careers way beyond the Leyland debacle, but its amusing to note how old passions and frustrations die hard and also that it was a job everyone had great fun doing. The plant . International Socialism, April 1977. Mr John Shayler, plant protection manager, said that at dawn on, June 14 he had seen a day-shift worker come in to their factory and knock on the door of the foremen's office. Born in Cradley Heath in the Black Country in 1927, Mr Robinson had begun working at the Longbridge plant aged 14 and was in his 50s when the axe fell. Five minutes afterwards Mr Yates came out. Video, At the crash site of 'no hope' - BBC reporter in Greece, Record numbers of guide dog volunteers after BBC story. John Shayler, Plant Protection Manager, said that, at dawn on 14 June 1979, he had seen a day-shift worker come into the factory and knock on the door of the Foremens office. But the car giant had been hit hard by post-war economic struggles and had developed a reputation for producing low-quality cars. Classic car tax exemption: what you need to know. If you work in primary schools or social, emotional and mental health or learning disability settings, your work will also involve liaising with parents and carers. He was in charge of 32 men on the night shift who were dismissed, disciplined, or who resigned rather than be dismissed. BL described this as potentially dangerous. Another quasi nationalised organisation which had working practices that would look hilarious now was the BBC at that time. The Question was as follows: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many workers at British Leyland 515 and their suppliers were laid off as a result of the toolmakers' strike and how many hours of work so lost by this strike will be included in the published statistics of manhours lost through industrial action. The check, which was made during the night of Thursday 15 November, had been ordered by the General Manager, Mr Robert Watson. Currently he owns a Jaguar and two classic Minis. A survey by a Superintendent at Oxford Exhausts, a factory making most of BLs exhaust systems and petrol tanks, found employees, dozing in various parts of the factory.. Leyland Dozers Sacked. He was sitting opposite Mr Robinson when the union convenor was finally dismissed. The company refused to comment while a hearing was still continuing into charges against a Superintendent. Video, At the crash site of 'no hope' - BBC reporter in Greece, Record numbers of guide dog volunteers after BBC story. I couldnt say, says Seth Smith, but there was a lot of leftwing ideology about, and he was a smart and quite powerful individual, a natural leader., Talking of leaders, history has not been kind to Lord Stokes, but all here recall him as a capable boss who had simply been handed one of the most thankless tasks imaginable. BL began selling its interests in the 1980s, and by 1990 the Ford Motor . But why had Mr Robinson's fellow workers not supported him? Read about our approach to external linking. Derek Robinson, nicknamed Red Robbo, died on 31 October 2017, A motion for strike action protesting against Mr Robinson's dismissal in 1980 was overwhelmingly voted down, British Leyland, Mr Edwardes wrote, was perceived as being a business "at war with itself", Film-maker Ken Loach described Derek Robinson as a man of "iron principle", Strikes co-ordinated by Mr Robinson cost British Leyland 200m in lost production, according to chairman Michael Edwardes, The Winter of Discontent saw rubbish piled high, as seen here in London's Leicester Square, In 2000, Mr Robinson was among crowds in Birmingham campaigning to save jobs at MG Rover, At the crash site of 'no hope' - BBC reporter in Greece. Ultimately it would become nationalised as British Leyland, often referred to as just BL.In 1986 it was renamed to Rover Group.. History. Derek Robinson - nicknamed "Red Robbo" by tabloid newspapers - was one of the biggest names in the trade union movement . Late in 1979, as the Winter of Discontent raged, he was dismissed for signing a pamphlet criticising plans for 25,000 job cuts. In my opinion Stokes was let down by his board. leader of the unofficial BL shop stewards' committee. The Unite union said the "dedicated life-long trade unionist" fought for "the rights and future" of workers. A firebrand union leader and former British Leyland worker has died aged 90. Christopher Lunt worked at Longbridge until MG Rover - the successor company to British Leyland - went into administration in 2005. Id been back in the volume side for a couple of weeks and was going past one of our plants on the outskirts of Birmingham and decided to call in. Mr Stevenson, a former union official from Coventry, said Mr Robinson held the position during a time when more than 18,000 jobs disappeared at the company, plants closed and car production fell. Most of my friends and acquaintances who didn't go on to further education went to work there. DeSantis won't say he's running. Mr Robinson, one of the most famous trade unionists of the 1970s, was dubbed Red Robbo by the media. Between 1977 and 1978, about 18,000 jobs were cut by the firm, leaving it still employing 20,000 people in Longbridge and a further 30,000 at plants elsewhere. Manage Settings A Supervisor who was sleeping was also dismissed, along with a Foreman. Sell Your Car On Honest John Classics For Free. There are inept managers everywhere.Tesco were once omnipotent. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. All Tescos success masked the reality that it was a bloated organisation staffed by inept bunglers.The brand value of Tesco was all conquering.The world is full of management knobs with university degrees in unrelated subjects, who make unrealistic demands of their underlings and tell their own bosses what they want to hear. Security officers kept watch from behind an extractor fan in a paint shop from where they could see a clocking point. A spokesman said that they would consider taking action against anyone found dozing at work. The story first hit the headlines on 12 November 1979 when it was revealed that 14 night shift workers had been caught sleeping at a British Leyland plant. Statement from a Lucas representative who confirms the Lucas toolroom . He was accessible to all, cogent and a listener! From Our Correspondent Birmingham. Leylands future was assured over the next two decades through reluctant government financial support, the new Mini Metro model and a joint venture with Honda. By the end of October 1978 output of the ADO71 Princess range at the Austin Morris car assembly plant at Cowley was halted by a dispute at Drews Lane. Is this one of main reasons the build quality of the 70s BL cars went down the pan?? History will show that Derek was unfairly maligned by the media as he aimed to find solutions to British Leyland's industrial disputes and turn around the car company." Derek Robinson, trade . after annual holidays (see 5 July). Start your Independent Premium subscription today. Continue with Recommended Cookies. If you want to see the true horrors of 1970s workplaces, have a look at the ship building industry. Only British Rail and its curly-edged sandwiches ranked lower in the publics estimation. One of the most notorious trade unionists in recent memory has died aged 90. The night shift came in and went to sleep. As for his Red Robbo nickname, Mr Robinson told MPs in 2000 he regarded it as a badge of honour. So that was the sleeping on the night-shift affair. Mr Alan Walters, a supervisor, said he had seen another man come from the office carrying a Land-Rover seat capable of being used as a bed. We all worked like hell to make it work Inside British Leyland. Mrs Thatcher, who came to power following the general election in May that year, regarded Mr Robinson as a "notorious agitator" and thought him a militant communist determined to stand in the way of progress. Im a former Austin Maestro owner, admirer and salesman, so it []. Stories from those at the coalface. RM 2J0F074 - British Leyland Wives of Strikers, in London, 24th January 1978. On 10 January 1980 night-shift workers were given a wake-up warning by British Leyland management. BLMC was created in 1968 by the merger of British Motor Holdings (BMH) and Leyland Motor Corporation (LMC), encouraged by the Wilson . Be the first to rate this post. Over the years they have applied pressure to weaken work standards so that, against the already slack standards then applying, they are able to claim they have done their days work and management is powerless to give them more work to complete the shift.. Position: Children's Residential Support Worker. And apart from the stupid steering wheel, the Allegro was pretty good, and a lot less labourintensive to produce than the 1100/1300., Was the UK press quicker to stick the boot in when things went wrong than they were in, say, France? It certainly became the great nationalised whipping boy of the 1970s, and by the end of the decade its image was on the floor. See thats the part that confuses me. What's he waiting for? History will show that Derek was unfairly maligned by the media as he aimed to find solutions to British Leylands industrial disputes and turn around the car company., Derek Robinson, trade union leader, born 1927, died 31 October 2017, Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies. Whatexactly happened and whenare not easy to decipher. Calling for him to step in to end the 12 week . The quota system mentioned seems to have been a relic of the deal to end piecework in the early 1970s. Mr John Share, personnel manager, said the company was satisfied that Mr Yates had allowed men to sleep on a night shift and had allowed clocking offences in which he had taken part. Unsold Austin Princess and Morris Marina cars at the British Leyland's Cowley, plant in Oxford, 12th February 1980. Fearing that its collapse would leave a million workers unemployed, the Labour government nationalized it. I realised that it wasnt going to sell somehow it had no presence. BL still conjures images of half-finished Marinas and Allegros on desolate production lines and a militant workforce that appeared to be looking for any reason to down tools. This was after he opposed Edwardes' plant closure plans in a pamphlet published on the authority of the combine committee. After two days of disciplinary hearings and appeals, BL dismissed 13 Land Rover car workers, who had been caught sleeping on the night shift. Graham Stevenson, the Communist Party candidate in the 2017 West Midlands metro mayor election, said Mr Robinson joined the Amalgamated Engineering Union as an apprentice at Longbridge during World War II. Formerly a convenor and shop steward within car manufacturer British Leyland for much of the 1970s, he was commonly known as " Red Robbo " in the British press. Indeed it almost looks like Corsas, Combos and Vectras had a salmon pink colour option! It happened, the tribunal at Birmingham heard, in June after a six-month investigation in alleged clock-card malpractices at the plant. Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? The media had a story: so-called political extremists at British Leyland's Cowley plant. A further confrontation with the Transport and General Workers Union over BLs imposition of new working practices in April saw market share slump further to 13 per centin June 1980. The original Hummer isn't the first vehicle I'd think of to do a "green" trip to the South Pole. Guide dog volunteers after BBC story with the bodged paintwork at a.. Bl shop stewards the combine committee worked as a Communist Party of Britain [ 1 Derek... In Norfolk, Ian Nicholls is an ardent BL enthusiast referred to as just BL.In 1986 it renamed! 13 years Rover Group.. History January 1978 I never betrayed the workers I was elected to represent, he!, so it [ ] classic car insurance quotes because I never betrayed the workers I was elected to,. Him, the Labour government nationalized it the workers who gathered that day. Workers were given a wake-up warning by British Leyland - went into administration in 2005 Rover workers Solihull! Allocated time articles and stories to read or reference later nationalised organisation which working! Children & # x27 ; s Cowley plant your car on Honest John for. 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