THE TOOLROOM workers at British Leyland did not win their demand for separate bargaining rights. Ultimately it would become nationalised as British Leyland, often referred to as just BL.In 1986 it was renamed to Rover Group.. History. Where can you get quick classic car insurance quotes? This was after he opposed Edwardes' plant closure plans in a pamphlet published on the authority of the combine committee. Learn how your comment data is processed. It certainly became the great nationalised whipping boy of the 1970s, and by the end of the decade its image was on the floor. Did the media have it in for British Leyland? 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. In the morning when they woke up they had large banging on the door it was the police. In 1981 BL entered into a joint venture with Honda Motor Company, Ltd., of Japan to produce Japanese-designed Triumph Acclaims in the United Kingdom. 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 foremens office. 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. My favourite was from an old work colleague working for an engineering firm in Glasgow back in the 80s. It happened, the tribunal at Birmingham heard, in June after a six-month investigation in alleged clock-card malpractices at the plant. In 1975 Robinson succeeded Dick Ethridge, a fellow Communist Party member, as the AEU convenor at Longbridge. British Leyland's chairman Michael Edwardes shared that view. She said: My husband rang to tell me that they have all lost their jobs.. 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. A spokesman said that they would Mr Arthur Scargill yesterday pledged the support of Yorkshire miners for the reinstatement of Mr Derek Robinson the shop stewards' By Edward Townsend BL's controversial 2m "Buy British" campaign, initially aimed at new car buyers, has now been directed at dealers. BL has delayed implementation of its plans for the MG factory at Abingdon in Oxfordshire because of a probable offer from the consortium. What's the best type of insurance for my 30+ year old Volvo? 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. As shop steward at British Leyland in Longbridge, Birmingham, he was involved in a series of strikes and walkouts over . AROnline Keith Adams 2001-2022 - please refer to the 'Terms of use' pages. 1983 Cowley Moles. 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. The British Leyland Motor Corporation (BLMC), was a vehicle manufacturing company formed in the United Kingdom in 1968. A mass meeting of the men desided by a massive vote to ignore an official Union call for a strike. The company remained a ward of the state for 13 years. These were dark times indeed.Harold Musgrove. Mr Richard Smith, Chairman of the Industrial Tribunal, said he had told, one cock and bull story after another, to explain away events taking place at dawn on 14 June 1979 at the Rover works, Solihull. Our picture shows Maureen Crook and her seven woman party, wives of striking workers at British Leyland's Triumph No.2 factory in Speke, with their petition of over 1000 signatures for Prime Minister Jim Callaghan. Currently he owns a Jaguar and two classic Minis. Its just a shame that for a lot of the 70s they were rightly derided for their quality. Only three men, none of them Mr Yates, had gone to the clocking point before 6.45 am, the end of the shift. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. DeSantis won't say he's running. On unveiling day, the company boasted, 100,000 Britons packed into showrooms to see the car and placed orders worth . A combination of poor steel and corrosion, so Lancia werent entirely to blame. Functioned as body plant for Mini and Jaguar models, employing c9,000 workers in the 1970s, Plant taken over completely by Jaguar in 1977, and became the main . VideoAt the crash site of 'no hope' - BBC reporter in Greece, Covid origin likely China lab incident - FBI chief, Ukraine war casts shadow over India's G20 ambitions, Blackpink lead top stars back on the road in Asia, India anti-corruption crusader fighting to clear his name, Exploring the rigging claims in Nigeria's elections, 'Wales is in England' gaffe sparks TikToker's trip, Record numbers of guide dog volunteers after BBC story. Mr Lampett, who joined Rover 22 years earlier as a Tool Setter, said: I believe I have been treated very harshly. The biggest problem was scabs of rust breaking through the paint all over the car within a couple of years. 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. 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. Derek Robinson - Red Robbo - speaks to striking British Leyland workers in Cofton Park. Video, Record numbers of guide dog volunteers after BBC story, Prince Andrew offered Frogmore Cottage - reports, Ed Sheeran says wife developed tumour in pregnancy, Man survives 31 days in jungle by eating worms, China and Belarus call for peace in Ukraine, Bieber cancels remaining Justice world tour dates, Kobe Bryant widow wins $29m settlement from LA, Trump lashes out at Murdoch over vote fraud case. When Leylands successor, Rover, was subsequently sold off to BMW, Robinson told a group of MPs at a meeting in Birmingham during March 2000 I can sleep sound at night because I never betrayed the workers I was elected to represent. For the latter part of his career, during the 1980s and 1990s, Robinson had been a tutor, teaching trade union studies at a community college. Christopher Lunt worked at Longbridge until MG Rover - the successor company to British Leyland - went into administration in 2005. Where can you get quick classic car insurance quotes? From the Shop Stewards point of view BL management had entered into an agreement with them to end piecework and, a few years later, they were trying to renege on the deal. I can't think of anyone who . He was 83 years old and had been in poor health for several . The organisation specialises in providing best-in-class care and . But at Drews Lane we still have an extraordinary situation. He worked variously for Morris, Austin, BMC, BLMC, BMLH, Leyland Cars, Austin-Morris and Jaguar-Rover- Triumph Thats roughly a new corporate brand every 10 months and on the launches of the Allegro, 18-22 Series, TR7 and XJ-S. At that time, BL had the biggest advertising budget in the UK, he says, and we gave Saatchi its first-ever car account, which was the Princess., Dapper, silver-haired Alan Zafer, who began at MG, goes further: It was probably the greatest range of cars under one umbrella. Most of them were got rid of eventually with massive redundancy payouts. It was about two oclock in the afternoon. Mr Robinson was involved in an estimated 500 disputes at Longbridge. Political party. Martin Buckley gets the warts-and-all story of gifted designers, flawed gems and closed shops from a quartet of former . 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. He was in charge of 32 men on the night shift who were dismissed, disciplined, or 'who resigned rather than be dismissed. Mr Yates, of Coplow Close, Balsall Common, Warwickshire, claims that he was unfairly dismissed. Odd we never ever had a BL product..Incidentally Ive never ever seen a red SD1 before.. Did they suffer from the Renault red effect? At the crash site of 'no hope' - BBC reporter in Greece. This year's foundling is British Leyland's first new Rover sedan in 13 years. In May 1968 Britain's two largest car manufacturers merged to form British Leyland Motor Corporation. Photography James Page/LAT. 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 . "I can sleep sound at night because I never betrayed the workers I was elected to represent," he said. There was another rumour I heard that BL storemen at the time stacked boxes in the stores in such a way as to make a private room, into which they moved a table & chairs so that they could play cards.. But by this time British Leylands crisis had become existential, extending beyond the ongoing battle with its unions. So says Simon Pearson of his time at the much-maligned British Leyland. Whether or not unions in the UK took industrial action more than unions in Europe and North America is a moot point, much of the rubbish produced by the NoW, Daily Mail etc is treated as if it was historical fact nowdays where it should be regarded as propaganda. "There were big strikes across British Leyland, but union leaders instructed them to go back to work," Mr Loach believes. I dont think we realised what halcyon days we were living through at the time., AT THE TIME, BRITISH LEYLAND HAD THE BIGGEST ADVERTISING BUDGET IN THE UK, AS PEARSON RECALLS: LORD STOKES WAS COGENT, ACCESSIBLE TO ALL AND A LISTENER!. By 1975, it had been bailed out by the government, which now owned 95% of it. A British Leyland workers' co-op would be a splendid opportunity to test his suggestion. But taking a bed to work was a deliberate act of anticipation.. The company assumed its current name in 1982. 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. I hadnt been there for many years. The spokesman at the Land Rover plant in Solihull: We do not condone sleeping or dozing in working hours.. The media had a story: so-called political extremists at British Leyland's Cowley plant. The director believes Mr Robinson was "betrayed" by a union leadership with whom he had a thorny relationship. 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. 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. For Mr Stevenson, the dismissal of Red Robbo was "the first shot in the war that Thatcher began against working people and their families". ( Somehow an orchestra trying to perform a punk record would be comical). Ray Horrocks (right), the head of BL Cars, told Chairman Michael Edwardes: We talk of regaining management control and applying proper discipline. Salary: 24,000 - 28,000 per annum including sleep-in allowance. Lancashire's workers have increased the amount of hours they put in by 1.5% since . Video, Record numbers of guide dog volunteers after BBC story, Prince Andrew offered Frogmore Cottage - reports, Ed Sheeran says wife developed tumour in pregnancy, Man survives 31 days in jungle by eating worms, China and Belarus call for peace in Ukraine, Bieber cancels remaining Justice world tour dates, Kobe Bryant widow wins $29m settlement from LA, Trump lashes out at Murdoch over vote fraud case. Says Pearson: We had quite regular contact with DGS as he was known internally. Two of them had clocked 24 or 25 cards. Family Cottage near Leyland, Lancashire. But the car giant had been hit hard by post-war economic struggles and had developed a reputation for producing low-quality cars. Pay and Contract. 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? The odd 1m going missing (I would have paid money to see the auditors face when they found that little gem), contractors doing nothing for weeks at 100 a day because the bloke who set the administration lock password buggered off for sunnier climes without telling anyone what it was. The sleeping on the night shift story went quiet until the New Year of 1980. He was dressed. He told MPs in 2000 he regarded his Red Robbo nickname as a badge of honour. The statement added that the company regarded the investigation as private. "He may well have had absolute belief in what he was doing, but few others did," Mr Cox added. BLMC was created in 1968 by the merger of British Motor Holdings (BMH) and Leyland Motor Corporation (LMC), encouraged by the Wilson . 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. The plant . It would suck senior stewards into collusion with management and neutralise shopfloor activism. A plan by the unions to fight for a mass-volume car manufacturing was truncated when Robinson was sacked by British Leyland in November 1979. A stickler for historical accuracy he has recently performed the marathon task of mining the online newspaper articles for all BMC>MG related stories. For many, Mr Robinson is remembered "very badly", according to Chris Cowin, an expert on British Leyland's history. Your email address will not be published. Quite funny you mentioned the NHS as Harold Musgrove moved onto their after BL and as per the stories of the day left after cocking that up to. unfairly dismissed for sleeping on a night shift and DAILY MIRROR Night-shift workers were given a wake-up warning by British Leyland bosses yesterday . Mr Robinson led the fight back, organising hundreds of disputes. Do I have to update my blue V5 to a red V5C? However, the wife of one of the dismissed workers, Mrs Ray Pennell, of Chelmsley Wood, Birmingham, said the management knew of the practice and had asked men to double-load the conveyors if production fell behind. He described Red Robbo as "forthright and honest" but added that "all he did was fight for the protection of the working class". Year: 1977. British Leyland was an automotive engineering and manufacturing conglomerate formed in the United Kingdom in 1968 as British Leyland Motor . Workers were to occupy and work in to prevent closures. The company refused to comment while a hearing was still continuing into charges against a Superintendent. It employed 200,000 people and was the fifth largest . Exterior view of British Leyland Strandard Triumph works entrance and gatehouse at Canley, Coventry . Location: Leyland, Lancashire. A spokesman said that they would consider taking action against anyone found dozing at work. The Daily Mail claimed that the car firm British Leyland was paying bribes, and was exposed for printing a ludicrous hoax. British Leyland was an automotive engineering and manufacturing conglomerate formed in the United Kingdom in 1968 asBritish Leyland Motor Corporation Ltd . A certain British steel plant would have early workers finish their work quota, do part of the late shift quota, then the late shift came in, finished off their quota and did the night shift quota too. A little later, through a window, he saw two men, naked from the waist up. 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. 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