That had to be the responsibility of management.. Undermining the shopfloor Manage Settings Statement from a Lucas representative who confirms the Lucas toolroom . 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. Security officers kept watch from behind an extractor fan in a paint shop from where they could see a clocking point. Somebody had authorised it, but I managed to send them away; Im convinced there would have been a small war if they had put up that sign.. Opinion : Derek Robinson: Victim or villain? "He's to be hugely respected.". But at Drews Lane we still have an extraordinary situation. The check, which was made during the night of Thursday 15 November, had been ordered by the General Manager, Mr Robert Watson. Seven years ago Tony Cliff wrote, 'The aim of the . 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. Following his dismissal, Mr Robinson worked as a tutor in trade union studies during the 1980s and 1990s, teaching shop stewards. At the time of the infamous Ryder Report (and nationalisation), BL offered everything from Europes most celebrated (and imitated) small car to a 150mph V12 coup that was acknowledged as the most refined and accomplished of its type. Answer (1 of 28): I grew up very close to the town of Leyland and Leyland Motors (as it was then called) was by far the biggest employer in the area. The long-standing custom and practice of allowing men to go home early once they had completed their quota of work was a thorny industrial relations issue. Hello there we are looking for witnesses to the fire next door can you help. 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. Where can you get cheap classic car insurance? Not to mention any management off home by 3pm.Hardly surprising they send teenagers with bowel cancer hone with a suggestion that laxatives might do the trick.. Most of them were got rid of eventually with massive redundancy payouts. Its just a shame that for a lot of the 70s they were rightly derided for their quality. Learn how your comment data is processed. Initially, the workers came out in support of Mr Robinson, he said. A firebrand union leader and former British Leyland worker has died aged 90. Williams Lyons. By the winter of 1979, as 1.5 million public sector workers were on strike across the UK, the Labour government was in its final throes. acquired by BMC in 1953. 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. Did the media have it in for British Leyland? . The Unite union said the "dedicated life-long trade unionist" fought for "the rights and future" of workers. NICKNAMED Red Robbo, Derek Robinson became one of the most famous trade unionists of the 1970s and as the shop stewards' convener at British Leyland was the man responsible for no fewer than 523 . The men said that, under BLs Measured Day Work system of payment, they were entitled to leave as soon as they had completed their output target for the day. He will give evidence today. Calling for him to step in to end the 12 week . British Leyland trade union leader. The former British Leyland worker and trade unionist Derek Robinson has died, aged 90. In my opinion Stokes was let down by his board. Christopher Lunt worked at Longbridge until MG Rover - the successor company to British Leyland - went into administration in 2005. Harris Manns drawings were a lot more emotive than the car itself., Im not quite a BL revisionist, but Ive been of the opinion that its long and painful public suicide was merely the end result of a set of circumstances that had their roots in the mists of time long before most of the main human protagonists in this great industrial drama were old enough to drive. We all worked like hell to make it work Inside British Leyland. AROnline Keith Adams 2001-2022 - please refer to the 'Terms of use' pages. Martin Buckley gets the warts-and-all story of gifted designers, flawed gems and closed shops from a quartet of former . Mr Robinson, one of the most famous trade unionists of the 1970s, was dubbed Red Robbo by the media. 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. Only three men, none of them Mr Yates, had gone to the clocking point before 6.45 am, the end of the shift. 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. Officers discovered Lai was sleeping in a squalid property . . Vilified by the media as "Red Robbo" he was also betrayed, in the eyes of his supporters, by trade union bosses. 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. Some of our partners may process your data as a part of their legitimate business interest without asking for consent. British Leyland was an automotive engineering and manufacturing conglomerate formed in the United Kingdom in 1968 asBritish Leyland Motor Corporation Ltd . No mention was made of any disciplinary action against the workers. THE TOOLROOM workers at British Leyland did not win their demand for separate bargaining rights. The tribunal at Birmingham heard that the events took place in June 1979, not November as previously assumed, after a six-month investigation into alleged clock-card malpractices at the Solihull plant. 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. The night shift came in and went to sleep. 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. 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. I realised that it wasnt going to sell somehow it had no presence. Once part of the sprawling British Leyland automotive empire that epitomised Britain's industrial decline . BLMC was created in 1968 by the merger of British Motor Holdings (BMH) and Leyland Motor Corporation (LMC), encouraged by the Wilson . See thats the part that confuses me. After two days of disciplinary hearings and . Robinson was involved in some 500 walkouts at the British Leyland plant in Longbridge, Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in, Please refresh your browser to be logged in, Fats Domino: rock n roll legend who faced down Hurricane Katrina, Dennis Banks: founder of the American Indian Movement, Jane Juska: memoirist who broke taboo of older women having sex, Paul Weitz: Nasa Skylab and space shuttle astronaut, Derek Robinson: Giant of the trades union movement in the Seventies, Extra 20% off selected fashion and sportswear at Very, Up to 20% off & extra perks with Booking.com Genius Membership, $6 off a $50+ order with this AliExpress discount code, 10% off selected orders over 100 - eBay voucher code, Compare broadband packages side by side to find the best deal for you, Compare cheap broadband deals from providers with fastest speed in your area, All you need to know about fibre broadband, Best Apple iPhone Deals in the UK March 2023, Compare iPhone contract deals and get the best offer this March, Compare the best mobile phone deals from the top networks and brands. ( Somehow an orchestra trying to perform a punk record would be comical). DAILY MIRROR. This support saved brands such as Jaguar, Land Rover and Mini from . Email Print. He left school aged 14 to begin work at the Austin plant at Longbridge, initially as an apprentice toolmaker. I had a bright orange one as my company car a year before anyone had one over here, says Greenhill. These were blamed by managers for delays to production of 62,000 cars and 113,000 engines, costing the business an estimated 200m. We and our partners use cookies to Store and/or access information on a device. We are looking for a Children's Residential Support Worker to join an outstanding Children's Home. It seemed that if they werent being caught sleeping on the night shift they were standing on a picket line, the enduring images of TV news bulletins if your memory goes back that far. British Leyland's Truck and Tractor Plant, Bathgate, 1980. Rugeley man apprehended with crack and heroin in Staffordshire town, Human error to blame for deadly train crash, says Greek PM, At the crash site of 'no hope' - BBC reporter in Greece. They had begun a policy of non-cooperation following the managements moves to stop workers leaving before the shift was completed. Musgrovemay well have beenreferring to the Drews Lane plant in Birmingham. This has not happened easily and Black and Asian people have often had to fight for their rights. Ray Horrocks (right), the head of BL Cars, told Chairman Michael Edwardes: We talk of regaining management control and applying proper discipline. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. document.getElementById("ak_js_1").setAttribute("value",(new Date()).getTime()); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. 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. By 1975, it had been bailed out by the government, which now owned 95% of it. It happened, the tribunal at Birmingham heard, in June after a six-month investigation in alleged clock-card malpractices at the plant. After two days of disciplinary hearings and appeals, BL dismissed 13 Land Rover car workers, who had been caught sleeping on the night shift. 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. In November of that year BL sacked Robinson for supporting the pamphlet titled A Trade Union Response to the Edwardes Plan, which criticised the plans proposals and the companys management. Five minutes afterwards Mr Yates came out. 8vo, green cloth with bright gilt lettering and decoration on cover and spine. Strikes co-ordinated by Mr Robinson cost British Leyland 200m in lost production, according to chairman Michael Edwardes Former Leyland worker Stephen Cox said Mr Robinson was regarded by many . Currently he owns a Jaguar and two classic Minis. A Supervisor who was sleeping was also dismissed, along with a Foreman. 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. Yet surely using cheap steel on what was classed as an upmarket product was a big mistake and the Lancia joined the lesser Fiat Strada on the list of cars to avoid due to premature rust. Often this meant DJs talked too much to keep within the restrictions, which annoyed listeners, until finally in 1987 needletime was axed. Security officers kept watch from behind an extractor fan in a paint shop, from where they could see a clocking point. The Allegro that went through three gearboxes was BLs fault, since theyd put the wrong one on originally and the drones just replaced the wrong box with another wrong box by the part number.. And reduced my dads colleague to tears.. Two of them had clocked 24 or 25 cards. Derek Robinson - Red Robbo - speaks to striking British Leyland workers in Cofton Park. In this article DAVE LYDDON analyses the forces at work in British Leyland. He was a controversial figure throughout his lifetime but Derek Robinson remains a working class hero to many. 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.. Five minutes afterwards Mr Yates came out. The UCPI is a damage limitation exercise by the British state, established in 2015 after the exposure of widespread use of undercover police agents against political organisations. A shame really as improvements to the Maxi, Princess and Allegro had made these cars as good as many of their European rivals and certainly British Leyland never had to endure the sort of scandal that was engulfing Lancia at the time, where poor rustproofing was causing the engines to fall out of relatively new cars. Ideal business/holiday rental Perfect for families, friends and work colleagues (a pet friendly home) The cottage is an attractive Grade ll listed property recently totally refurbished to a high standard maintaining its character and charm, an unusual build with Venetian type windows and a . 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. It needs the shock treatment of standing on its own two feet like any other business. Fearing that its collapse would leave a million workers unemployed, the Labour government nationalized it. 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. Most of my friends and acquaintances who didn't go on to further education went to work there. The spokesman at the Land Rover plant in Solihull: We do not condone sleeping or dozing in working hours.. 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. BL described this as potentially dangerous. Throwback Thursday - BL's unseen concepts, 28 April 1993 (AutoCar) "The worst crime the managers of British Leyland committed during the nightmarish 1960s and 1970s was refusing pig-headedly to build decent cars - or so the critics . I was involved in hire and lease sales, he explains, and if someone wanted an XJ6 or a Stag, I just told them that they had to take half a dozen Marinas as well., Greenhill worked at BMC/BL for 13 years, starting as a Technical sales apprentice in 1966 and finishing up as Jaguars marketing manager when the SIII XJ was launched. In this occasional series Ian Nichollsrevisits some of these stories, using the newspaper articles of the time as the main source of information. 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.. Is the 1990 Ford Escort Bonus a classic car? Workers were to occupy and work in to prevent closures. These were dark times indeed.Harold Musgrove. 1990s Vauxhalls seemed to have red paint that faded quickly, so most surviving ones look more pink than red these days. This kind of thing was riff everywhere. He was dressed. For Mr Stevenson, the dismissal of Red Robbo was "the first shot in the war that Thatcher began against working people and their families". Over the years, my father's garage has become an elephant's graveyard of corroded metal, faded wiring diagrams, desiccated gaskets and other relics of a lifetime of Land Rover ownership. Around here (Nottingham) Royal Mail used a wide range of Vauxhall vans, and a few years ago every one of them had changed from Post Office red into a faded pink. However, someone should have really gone at Lyons (head of Jag) and put him firmly in his place. Anyone had one over here, says Greenhill the BBC is not for! Nationalized it unionist '' fought for `` the rights and future '' of workers decoration on cover and spine many. Was made of any disciplinary action against the workers other business christopher Lunt worked at Longbridge initially... 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