The company remained a ward of the state for 13 years. He added that communists active in Unite "mourned the loss of their most distinguished veteran, a mentor and guide to us all". 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. Your email address will not be published. Tributes have been paid to former British Leyland worker and trade unionist Derek Robinson, who has died, aged 90. 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? Often this meant DJs talked too much to keep within the restrictions, which annoyed listeners, until finally in 1987 needletime was axed. Perhaps more importantly, the rational economy, which includes companies like ICJ, Racal and . The story first hit the headlines on 12 November 1979 when it was revealed that 14night shift workershad been caught sleeping at a British Leyland plant. He was credited with causing 523 walkouts at British Leyland between 1978 and 1979, costing an estimated 200 million in lost . Bits of hardware still running off BBC B computers..! Appointed in 1977, the combative South African businessman Sir Michael Edwardes cut the number of workers almost in half at British Leyland, from 172,000 to 90,000. The company assumed its current name in 1982. Six hundred workers had been laid off indefinitely because of a shortage of suspension units caused by a work to rule by 150 workers at the transmission plant at Drews Lane. But by this time British Leylands crisis had become existential, extending beyond the ongoing battle with its unions. Five minutes afterwards Mr Yates came out. Ultimately it meant most of the industry disappeared as merchant shipbuilding went abroad and the few yards that survive now only do so because of defence contracts. To view the purposes they believe they have legitimate interest for, or to object to this data processing use the vendor list link below. 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. 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. What's he waiting for? He was in charge of 32 men on the night shift who were dismissed, disciplined, or 'who resigned rather than be dismissed. 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. Initially, the workers came out in support of Mr Robinson, he said. It will prove that ordinary working people have got the intelligence and determination to run industry'. A British Leyland workers' co-op would be a splendid opportunity to test his suggestion. We ask Birmingham: How can bus services improve in the city? 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. The Government should also be enthusiastic. 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. 2023 BBC. The worker participation scheme at British Leyland was known as the Ryder Plan. 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. 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. From Our Correspondent Birmingham. 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 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. "I can sleep sound at night because I never betrayed the workers I was elected to represent," he said. We and our partners use cookies to Store and/or access information on a device. 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. Known for. Security officers kept watch from behind an extractor fan in a paint shop from where they could see a clocking point. The former British Leyland worker and trade unionist Derek Robinson has died, aged 90. Only three men, none of them Mr Yates, had gone to the clocking point before 6.45 am, the end of the shift. The director believes Mr Robinson was "betrayed" by a union leadership with whom he had a thorny relationship. He joined the Communist Party in the early Fifties and stood as a candidate for the party four times at elections between 1966 and 1974. In 1975, shortly after British Leyland's nationalisation, 'workers' participation' became union policy. The former British Leyland worker and trade unionist Derek Robinson has died, aged 90. Indeed it almost looks like Corsas, Combos and Vectras had a salmon pink colour option! Where can you get quick classic car insurance quotes? 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 . 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. "He wasn't at all like what the media portrayed him as in the 1970s," he said. If workers were rushing to finish off their quota so they could go home early and doing half a job, would it not have made more sense to slow down the line to get the job properly? 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. 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. 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. Opinion : Derek Robinson: Victim or villain? The spokesman at the Land Rover plant in Solihull: We do not condone sleeping or dozing in working hours.. Absenteeism is simply defined as an individual's frequent pattern of evasion from an obligation or duty. 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. 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. A motion for a strike in favour of his reinstatement was overwhelmingly defeated - 14,000 votes against to just 600 in favour. Heal opens up on shock mid-season move. With two successive name changes, British Leyland became BL Limited in 1979. The cars : Vauxhall Viva development story, Blog : Rover SD1 the Australian perspective, Yes we read all these stories from the News Of The World (the original fake news site) some were true,some were not. 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. My god it was awful, it was bought . Mr Robinson, one of the most famous trade unionists of the 1970s, was dubbed Red Robbo by the media. Following his dismissal, Mr Robinson worked as a tutor in trade union studies during the 1980s and 1990s, teaching shop stewards. 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. A stickler for historical accuracy he has recently performed the marathon task of mining the online newspaper articles for all BMC>MG related stories. Musgrovemay well have beenreferring to the Drews Lane plant in Birmingham. This British Leyland collection is diverse, huge and full of interest. Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in, Dubbed Red Robbo by the press, the Communist Party memberrepresented workers in car manufacturing during the pre-Thatcher era, Find your bookmarks in your Independent Premium section, under my profile. 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. The demise of the firm was nothing to do with the design and engineering. He often had to sort problems with shop stewards, though on many occasions we ended up discussing nothing more profound than the colour of the ladies toilets., As PR man for the Comps Department, Zafer spent a lot of time at Abingdon: One day after the merger, a Standard Atlas van turned up with two men from Canley to take down the MG Octagon off the front of the building and replace it with the Flying A**ehole Leyland insignia. 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. 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. Two of them had clocked 24 or 25 cards. 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