Absenteeism is simply defined as an individual's frequent pattern of evasion from an obligation or duty. Read about our approach to external linking. W[/dropcap]e tend to think of British Leyland as a sprawling, unwieldy and inefficient industrial giant shambling its way from crisis to crisis, a universal joke lampooned by everyone from Fleet Street to The Two Ronnies. Mr Lampett, who joined Rover 22 years earlier as a Tool Setter, said: I believe I have been treated very harshly. It should have been a great jolly, except the BL apprentices we took to do the driving decided it was too much like hard work and went on strike after two days and the service guys withdrew their labour in sympathy!, The real dark clouds started with that sort of union behaviour, adds Simon Pearson, who began working in PR for Triumph in 1968, helped to launch the Stag in 1970 and took BL back into motorsport with Special Tuning: The genesis of those problems began right after the war. 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. 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. 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. 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. Former Leyland worker Stephen Cox said Mr Robinson was regarded by many as "way out on an extreme". Continue with Recommended Cookies. 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. Judge for yourself. Following his death on Tuesday aged 90, BBC News examines his legacy. 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. It was cosmetic rather than structural rust but terrible for the cars reputation. 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. 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. Hello there we are looking for witnesses to the fire next door can you help. The statement added that the company regarded the investigation as private. In this article DAVE LYDDON analyses the forces at work in British Leyland. At one stage one in eight pounds spent in Britain were with Tesco. Tributes have been paid to former British Leyland worker and trade unionist Derek Robinson, who has died, aged 90. 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. Mr Robinson, one of the most famous trade unionists of the 1970s, was dubbed Red Robbo by the media. Read about our approach to external linking. Following his dismissal, Mr Robinson worked as a tutor in trade union studies during the 1980s and 1990s, teaching shop stewards. Mr Robinson, one of the most famous trade unionists of the 1970s, was dubbed Red Robbo by the media. Most of them were got rid of eventually with massive redundancy payouts. 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. 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. Calling for him to step in to end the 12 week . 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 dressed. He left school aged 14 to begin work at the Austin plant at Longbridge, initially as an apprentice toolmaker. Permanent Salary: 27,043 - 33,453pa; Hours: Monday - Friday 09:00-17:00 Friday 09:00 - 14:00; Person Specification When we walked the shop floor, I think 90 per cent of the employees had actually gone home. 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.. The Daily Mail claimed that the car firm British Leyland was paying bribes, and was exposed for printing a ludicrous hoax. 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. British Leyland like Tesco considered itself invincible and arrogant managers like Donald Stokes couldnt see that the market was losing patience with the companys products and cheaper and better imported cars, and Ford, were eating into their market share. "I can sleep sound at night because I never betrayed the workers I was elected to represent," he said. Tesco is the same, they thought they could dominate the market forever as they pioneered the pile em high, sell em cheap style of supermarket, but were caught out by smaller continental rivals who beat them on price and quality. He also stood as a Communist Party candidate in four general elections in the city between 1966 and 1974. Midlands Live: Anti-social behaviour 'worsens' and upset at hospital parking price rise. 2023 BBC. 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. Classic car tax exemption: what you need to know. He was sitting opposite Mr Robinson when the union convenor was finally dismissed. Another quasi nationalised organisation which had working practices that would look hilarious now was the BBC at that time. 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. Not really, its just moved from BL to the NHS. The organisation specialises in providing best-in-class care and . When I asked, What happened? I was told Well, theyve finished their stint. In fact, some had finished by one oclock. At the crash site of 'no hope' - BBC reporter in Greece. International Socialism, April 1977. Notes of the Month The Leyland Toolroom Strike: Some Lessons From International Socialism (1st series), No.97, April 1977, pp.4-5. "I can sleep sound at night because I never betrayed the workers I was elected to represent," he said. The hours I spent with Simon, Richard, Alan and Tim confirm that belief. The British Leyland Motor Corporation (BLMC), was a vehicle manufacturing company formed in the United Kingdom in 1968. 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. She said: "My husband rang to tell me that they have all lost their jobs.". 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. Ray Horrocks (right), the head of BL Cars, told Chairman Michael Edwardes: We talk of regaining management control and applying proper discipline. The quota system mentioned seems to have been a relic of the deal to end piecework in the early 1970s. Communist Party of Great Britain, Communist Party of Britain [1] Derek Robinson (1927-2017) was a British trade unionist. 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. By Business Ideas UK October 31, 2017. Only British Rail and its curly-edged sandwiches ranked lower in the publics estimation. 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. 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. 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 . Only three men, none of them Mr Yates, had gone to the clocking point before 6.45 am, the end of the shift. Buried deep somewhere in that automotive salmagundi: an old Punch magazine. We all worked like hell to make it work Inside British Leyland. 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. "The Communist Party then dominated the factory's workforce, with many hundred Daily Workers [newspaper] being sold every day," he wrote in his blog. The Unite union said the "dedicated life-long trade unionist" fought for "the rights and future" of workers. 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. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Only three men, none of them Mr Yates, had gone to the clocking point before 6.45 am, the end of the shift. 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. He was 83 years old and had been in poor health for several . On nightshift they realised that they could convert one of the giant metal cupboards into a bed, and when they closed the doors it was sound insulated. 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. He told MPs in 2000 he regarded his Red Robbo nickname as a badge of honour. They made BL look like rank amateurs. So that was the sleeping on the night-shift affair. See thats the part that confuses me. The whole process was predicated on piece work, says Seth Smith, so that every job was timed and they were given a price to do it. 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. 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. 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.. 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. "These words are a suitable epithet for a stalwart of the trade union movement, whose passing we mourn.". We ask Birmingham: How can bus services improve in the city? Derek Robinson - Red Robbo - speaks to striking British Leyland workers in Cofton Park. 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. They had begun a policy of non-cooperation following the managements moves to stop workers leaving before the shift was completed. RME11T1N - Feb. 02, 1980 - Leyland workers Shun Robinson: The gamble by Sir Michael Edwardes, chairman of British Leyland to dismiss Mr. Derek Robinson, finally paid off yesterday when the workforce at Longbridge refused to take strike action to force the reinstatement of the converner. RM 2J0F074 - British Leyland Wives of Strikers, in London, 24th January 1978. Belated attempts to set up acceptable new output targets had been resisted by the Shop Stewards. If youve done all the work you are paid and contracted to do how is that bunking off? This means employees can complete their daily stint, or work quota, and then go home at any time from 3.00pm onwards, but still be paid to the end of the shift. Beginning on 8 January 1980, the Foreman fired in November, now named as Mr Robert Yates, of Coplow Close, Balsall Common, Warwickshire, began an unfair dismissal claim against Land Rover. He was in charge of 32 men on the night shift who were dismissed, disciplined, or who resigned rather than be dismissed. The director believes Mr Robinson was "betrayed" by a union leadership with whom he had a thorny relationship. I hadnt been there for many years. I pointed out that we paid them until 4.30pm. Transcribed & marked up by Einde O'Callaghan for ETOL.. DeSantis won't say he's running. But instead of supporting him, the workers who gathered that February day turned on him. It employed 200,000 people and was the fifth largest . But if the SD1 receives a vote of confidence, what about the great unmentionables the likes of the Allegro, Marina and Princess? Says Pearson: We had quite regular contact with DGS as he was known internally. The Stokes-era management had paid a high price to rid themselves of piecework but, in the climate of early 1970s Britain, the Shop Stewards had the upper hand, and British Leylands finances were too weak to withstand a major dispute, so to berate management is perhaps a bit unfair. The idea was that they should be able to make triple time: do each job in a third of the time allowed which meant that by half past two everyone would pack up and bugger off home!, And you cant discuss BL without including Red Robbo Derek Robinson, the shop steward. document.getElementById("ak_js_1").setAttribute("value",(new Date()).getTime()); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Had a nice blue pearlescent paint that never matched properly, sold it with the bodged paintwork at a loss. A stickler for historical accuracy he has recently performed the marathon task of mining the online newspaper articles for all BMC>MG related stories. The company assumed its current name in 1982. 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. 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 . Initially, the workers came out in support of Mr Robinson, he said. It would suck senior stewards into collusion with management and neutralise shopfloor activism. Five minutes afterwards Mr Yates came out. The former British Leyland worker and trade unionist Derek Robinson has died, aged 90. Sell Your Car On Honest John Classics For Free. 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. 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. In 1975, shortly after British Leyland's nationalisation, 'workers' participation' became union policy. (10 seconds outside of a garage in hot sun and the paint would fade and turn into something resembling 1000 grit sandpaper..?). The following day Robert Yates lost his appeal for unfair dismissal. 20 illustrated plate. Bits of hardware still running off BBC B computers..! The men at Drews Lane had worked to rule for several weeks in protest at management attempts to stop them leaving early. 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. 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. 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 . 3. The former British Leyland worker and trade unionist Derek Robinson has died, aged 90. The night shift came in and went to sleep. Two of them had clocked 24 or 25 cards. 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? 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. Undermining the shopfloor 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. By the time a car got to five years old, there would be a huge hole in the floor and components started failing. Security officers kept watch from behind an extractor fan in a paint shop from where they could see a clocking point. So says Simon Pearson of his time at the much-maligned British Leyland. Mr Robinson led the fight back, organising hundreds of disputes. Had similar on a 2002 406, at the door bottoms, possibly because of a bad seal. Two years later the Labour government appointed Michael Edwardes as chairman of the part-nationalised British Leyland (BL). Linda Fisher's interview. We and our partners use data for Personalised ads and content, ad and content measurement, audience insights and product development. Do they take well to polishing, T-Cut, or is a respray the remediation? 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. All this was occurring at the same time as the crisis confronting BL over its decision to fire Longbridge Convener Derek Robinson. Over 50,000 workers across British Leyland immediately came out on strike, including the 20,000 workers at Longbridge in . Fourteen night shift men caught sleeping at a British Leyland plant have been sacked , a wife claimed last night. Good condition, owner's inscription on flyleaf. Once part of the sprawling British Leyland automotive empire that epitomised Britain's industrial decline . Where can you get quick classic car insurance quotes? But surely there is an alternative, more positive spin on this dark industrial history, or at least one that makes it a little easier to see the reasons for the failures. But the car giant had been hit hard by post-war economic struggles and had developed a reputation for producing low-quality cars. Manage Settings The Drews Lane dispute became an all out strike on 3 November 1978, and 26,000 BL workers were laid off as a result, before it was resolved on 17 November. To view the purposes they believe they have legitimate interest for, or to object to this data processing use the vendor list link below. The spokesman at the Land Rover plant in Solihull: We do not condone sleeping or dozing in working hours.. Fearing that its collapse would leave a million workers unemployed, the Labour government nationalized it. The great BL adventure started promisingly, as Tim Greenhill points out: When I began as an apprentice, the 1100/1300 had 15% of the UK market and BMC overall had 30%: when it joined Leyland, Rover and Jaguar, it had 60%!, In fact, there was never a problem selling Rovers, Jaguars or Triumphs, which didnt have the image problems of the more strategically important family models. document.getElementById("ak_js_1").setAttribute("value",(new Date()).getTime()); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. 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. British Leyland would once again become a privately-owned company and the size of the state sector would be reduced. Five minutes afterwards Mr Yates came out. 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. 1990s Vauxhalls seemed to have red paint that faded quickly, so most surviving ones look more pink than red these days. The British Leyland era at Longbridge became a byword for wildcat walkouts, union militancy and industrial chaos - and helped clear the path to political power for Margaret Thatcher. Then Aldi and Lidl arrived and the facade melted away. The men said that, when they had done their work, they should be allowed to go home. Where can you get cheap classic car insurance? However, someone should have really gone at Lyons (head of Jag) and put him firmly in his place. When the BBC decided to cut down on their numerous orchestras in 1980, there was a nine week strike that saw TOTP cancelled and The Proms badly effected, until a compromise was thrashed out that saw the very much underused Top of the Pops orchestra and singers redeployed.Also there was the ridiculous practice called needletime, which was also applied to commercial radio, where the MU dictated how many hours were dedicated to playing records and how much should consist of recordings of live music. 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. Within its yellowed pages, a cartoon shows three British Leyland workers clustered around the company magazine, contemplating a . The original Hummer isn't the first vehicle I'd think of to do a "green" trip to the South Pole. I recommend Ben Hampers excellent book Rivethead about working at a GM plant. 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. The Government should also be enthusiastic. A spokesman said that they would consider taking action against anyone found dozing at work. It needs the shock treatment of standing on its own two feet like any other business. 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 . A firebrand union leader and former British Leyland worker has died aged 90. British Leyland's Truck and Tractor Plant, Bathgate, 1980. 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