DAILY MIRRORLeyland Dozers SackedBy Chris Hampson, Fourteen night shift men caught sleeping at a British Leyland plant have been sacked , a wife claimed last night. He was dressed. He was credited with causing 523 walkouts at British Leyland between 1978 and 1979, costing an estimated 200 million in lost . I will leave the last word to Pearson, the man who got this fascinating group together: We all worked like hell to make it work, for not much money. 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. Learn how your comment data is processed. Read about our approach to external linking. Leyland Dozers Sacked. At one stage one in eight pounds spent in Britain were with Tesco. He was in charge of 32 men on the night shift who were dismissed, disciplined, or 'who resigned rather than be dismissed. "The Communist Party then dominated the factory's workforce, with many hundred Daily Workers [newspaper] being sold every day," he wrote in his blog. 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. "He is quoted as saying: 'If we make Leyland successful, it will be a political victory. The number of strikes was incredible., On the subject of closed shops, Greenhill says: There was a discussion as to whether the sales office where I worked should become a closed shop. Red Robbo speaks to striking workers at Longbridge in the 1970s. We and our partners use cookies to Store and/or access information on a device. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. 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. Mr Robinson was among those trade unionists soon to lose their grip on power. Fearing that its collapse would leave a million workers unemployed, the Labour government nationalized it. A communist, he had led 523 walkouts at the Birmingham car plant during a 30-month period, gaining the nickname Red Robbo from journalists and becoming an increasingly divisive national figure. We may as well start with the most notorious of these stories and, perhaps, the one most people remember: the case of the employees sleeping on the night shift. A firebrand union leader and former British Leyland worker has died aged 90. But if the SD1 receives a vote of confidence, what about the great unmentionables the likes of the Allegro, Marina and Princess? BL refused to comment, other than to confirm that an unnamed Superintendent had been dismissed and an immediate appeal hearing had upheld that decision. Mr Robinson worked as an engineering apprentice during the Second World War, progressing on to become shop steward at a plant in Longbridge. In 1975 Robinson succeeded Dick Ethridge, a fellow Communist Party member, as the AEU convenor at Longbridge. Family Cottage near Leyland, Lancashire. work. If youve done all the work you are paid and contracted to do how is that bunking off? He was a lovely guy, recalls Greenhill, when you werent in a meeting with him. Was he a communist infiltrator? Enter your username or email to reset your password. He was in charge of 32 men on the night shift who were dismissed, disciplined, or who resigned rather than be dismissed. Im a former Austin Maestro owner, admirer and salesman, so it []. 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.. International Socialism, April 1977. 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. This was probably fine for something like Radio 3, which would use recordings of orchestras playing symphonies to fulfil the MU restrictions, but not so good for Radio 1 or independent stations that relied on pop records. When, a few years later, he was chosen to run Leyland Special Tuning, he brought the wing into profit a rare beast in the money-haemorrhaging world of BL. 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. We and our partners use data for Personalised ads and content, ad and content measurement, audience insights and product development. The behavior of absenteeism is normally evidenced in work places where some workers may decide to make absenteeism their habit. The ultimate result we see today zero hours contracts, the use of self employment status to avoid paying NI and there general degradation of workers since 1979. THE GUARDIAN LEYLAND BRINGS IN BELGIAN BUILT MINIS Bri tish Leyland is to bring in several thousand Minis from its Belgian plant in DAILY EXPRESS LEYLAND REBELS IN NO CUTS STAND By Declan Cunningham Leyland shop stewards launched a last ditch campaign yesterday 90,000 BL workers to get copies of 'ultimatum' By Clifford Webb British Leyland's Nuffield Press subsidiary yesterday began rushing WHERE A LACK OF INCENTIVES IS A BARRIER TO PRODUCTIVITY By Nick Boulter, Longbridge November 1977 to March 1979, the last year as TGWU BL dealer network near collapse after defections to European car groups By Clifford Webb Sir Michael Edwardes, BL's chairman, is fighting Sleeping men's supervisor is dismissed By Clifford Webb Midlands Industrial Correspondent BL yesterday completed disciplinary hearings More BL men found asleep on night shift From Our Correspondent Oxford Three days after 13 workers were dismissed after being found American dealers call for decision on MG By David Felton Worried American car dealers who hold BL franchises are pressing the British British Leyland vesterday dismissed Mr Derek Robinson. He was 83 years old and had been in poor health for several . This British Leyland collection is diverse, huge and full of interest. Undermining the shopfloor "There were big strikes across British Leyland, but union leaders instructed them to go back to work," Mr Loach believes. By Business Ideas UK October 31, 2017. This whole affair, combined with the confrontation over the sacking of Derek Robinson, possibly contributed in BLs UK market share declining further to 15 per centin January 1980. That was not the responsibility of the employees, that was not the responsibility of the workforce. Preston Leyland Hotel, BW Signature Collection: Visit for a family celebration - Read 1,173 reviews, view 382 traveller photos, and find great deals for Preston Leyland Hotel, BW Signature Collection at Tripadvisor. If you would like to change your settings or withdraw consent at any time, the link to do so is in our privacy policy accessible from our home page.. The pamphlet said: All our efforts and resources must be mobilised to change the policy of closures and contraction. Where can you get cheap classic car insurance? The former British Leyland worker and trade unionist Derek Robinson has died, aged 90. Ian is unable to help with technical queries he pays other people to fix his cars! Absenteeism is simply defined as an individual's frequent pattern of evasion from an obligation or duty. At the time the industrial giant was believed to be the sixth largest car manufacturer in the world, with 11 marques - Austin, Austin-Healey, Daimler, Jaguar, MG, Morris, Riley, Rover, Triumph, Vanden Plas and Wolseley - and factories across the globe. for only $11.00 $9.35/page. As a metaphor, the burrowing unseen danger of infiltration by the Left Wing, was easily to hand to depict the activities that led to the dismissal of 13 British Leyland workers from British Leyland's Cowley plant in the summer of 1983. If you want to see the true horrors of 1970s workplaces, have a look at the ship building industry. There is a long-standing tradition known as stint and finish. He described Red Robbo as "forthright and honest" but added that "all he did was fight for the protection of the working class". What's he waiting for? Underinvestment and a lack of new models had resulted in BLs car market share falling dramatically. Even today, there are certain professions where . 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. Fearing that its collapse would leave a million workers unemployed, the Labour government nationalized it. 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 . 9 January 1980. Mr Robinson, one of the most famous trade unionists of the 1970s, was dubbed Red Robbo by the media. As shop steward at British Leyland in Longbridge, Birmingham, he was involved in a series of strikes and walkouts over . Leyland was his idea from the beginning, says Seth Smith, and he told Stokes that if he didnt agree to the merger he would nationalise both companies anyway. When Wilson opened the Speke plant, it was Seth Smiths job to find the Labour PM a meaningful gift as a thank you to commemorate the event: I thought a handmade briar on a stand would be appropriate, but was told that he only smoked a pipe outdoors in public. Salary: 24,000 - 28,000 per annum including sleep-in allowance. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. It was incredibly the first new model to come out of Longbridge for seven years, but also notable for the utilisation of modern robot technology to produce it. 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. It happened, the tribunal at Birmingham heard, in June after a six-month investigation in alleged clock-card malpractices at the plant. As shop steward at British Leyland in Longbridge, Birmingham, he was involved in a series of strikes and walkouts over alleged mismanagement. Lancashire's workers have increased the amount of hours they put in by 1.5% since . Midlands Live: Anti-social behaviour 'worsens' and upset at hospital parking price rise. Unite general secretary Len McCluskey said: "History will show that Derek was unfairly maligned by the media as he aimed to find solutions to British Leyland's industrial disputes and turn around the car company. People were not being properly paid and rewarded so they got together and formed their own alliance. We had a LDV van at work for about 7 years. 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". British Leyland, Britain's largest automaker, faced bankruptcy in 1975. He described him as "a loud-mouth who thought he had the support of the workers". He was sitting opposite Mr Robinson when the union convenor was finally dismissed. 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. They made BL look like rank amateurs. A little later, through a window, he saw two men, naked from the waist up. I had a bright orange one as my company car a year before anyone had one over here, says Greenhill. At the crash site of 'no hope' - BBC reporter in Greece. Mr Robinson led the fight back, organising hundreds of disputes. The Musicians Union, which was the union for musicians employed directly by the BBC, dictated that Top of the Pops had to employ a staff orchestra and singers, even if their services werent needed, which in most cases they were not. Did the media have it in for British Leyland? 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. 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. 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. Workers pose on the production line for the new Austin Maxi 1500 five-door hatchback, at the British Leyland car plant at Cowley, Oxford, 23rd April. Slight wear at extremities of boards. Am I being targeted by an overpayment scam? document.getElementById("ak_js_1").setAttribute("value",(new Date()).getTime()); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Classic car tax exemption: what you need to know. The result has been the opposition of senior stewards to the toolmakers' strike earlier this year, and the fiascos of the April 20 strike against the Social Contract and the Longbridge strike vote in August 1977. The case against me was brought following publicity and not on the facts.. These were dark times indeed.Harold Musgrove. Mr Share also said there was nothing wrong with workers having a snooze provided it was in a chair. Photography James Page/LAT. The tabloid paid the equivalent of 75,000 to buy letters which not only . Inside British Leyland Stories from those at the coalface. These were blamed by managers for delays to production of 62,000 cars and 113,000 engines, costing the business an estimated 200m. Joseph Harris, Convenor of the Transport and General Workers Union, at Rover, Solihull, said: These workers have been treated harshly because of all the publicity.The disciplinary hearings ended on 14 November 14 1979 whenBL dismissed the Superintendent in charge of the day and night shifts in that area of the Land Rover plant at Solihull. Security officers kept watch from behind an extractor fan in a paint shop, from where they could see a clocking point. "His legacy ought to be that you've got to fight," said Mr Loach. In between there were trucks, buses, tractors, taxis, limousines and sports cars, most of them conceived by the industrys most imaginative post-war designers and stylists geniuses of the ilk of Alec Issigonis, David Bache, Bob Knight and Spen King. Mr Lampett, who joined Rover 22 years earlier as a Tool Setter, said: I believe I have been treated very harshly. Sounds very like British Leyland at the start of the seventies, four out of ten new cars were British Leyland and imports were still rare, if slowly gaining ground, and a few customers werent happy about the quality of the new Maxi. A million workers unemployed, the Labour government nationalized it men british leyland workers sleeping the facts, or who resigned than... Unable to help with technical queries he pays other people to fix his cars media! Business an estimated 200m had the support of the workers '' here, says Greenhill and content,. In Longbridge, Birmingham, he was credited with causing 523 walkouts at Leyland... 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