The biggest problem was scabs of rust breaking through the paint all over the car within a couple of years. "He's to be hugely respected.". In 1975 Robinson succeeded Dick Ethridge, a fellow Communist Party member, as the AEU convenor at Longbridge. 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. Nicknamed Red Robbo in the press of the time, Robinson was involved in some 500 walkouts at the British Leyland plant in Longbridge, Birmingham, the result of frequent disagreements between the companys management and unions over working practices. 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. He was sacked by Michael Edwardes, the managing director of British Leyland, in November 1979. 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. 2023 BBC. My god it was awful, it was bought . 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. 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 . This support saved brands such as Jaguar, Land Rover and Mini from . As shop steward at British Leyland in Longbridge, Birmingham, he was involved in a series of strikes and walkouts over . 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. Two years later the Labour government appointed Michael Edwardes as chairman of the part-nationalised British Leyland (BL). The size, militancy and determination felt on the pickets, demos and rallies show that the sleeping giant, the British working class, has stirred. A company statement on the Superintendents discovery, said they had all completed their work quota. There are inept managers everywhere.Tesco were once omnipotent. The paint turned dull and flat quite quickly. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Derek Robinson - nicknamed "Red Robbo" by tabloid newspapers - was one of the biggest names in the trade union movement . BLMC was created in 1968 by the merger of British Motor Holdings (BMH) and Leyland Motor Corporation (LMC), encouraged by the Wilson . It was about two oclock in the afternoon. Fearing that its collapse would leave a million workers unemployed, the Labour government nationalized it. 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. 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. The organisation specialises in providing best-in-class care and . Not at first, says Seth Smith, but they sure as hell were once it was nationalised, Our four protagonists fail to agree on how good or bad the promisingly specified five-door, five-speed Maxi really was. "He wasn't at all like what the media portrayed him as in the 1970s," he said. How to value your classic for insurance purposes, Classics insurance for 17,18,19 & 20 year olds, Insurance when your classic isn't roadworthy, It's FREE to list your car on Honest John Classics, BL seals pact for Japanese to produce first car in Britain, Sleeping foreman loses dismissal case against BL, Mr Scargill pledges his support for BL convener, Car Reviews: Read the latest reports from our experts. The former British Leyland worker and trade unionist Derek Robinson has died, aged 90. THE TOOLROOM workers at British Leyland did not win their demand for separate bargaining rights. Im a former Austin Maestro owner, admirer and salesman, so it [] []. When we walked the shop floor, I think 90 per cent of the employees had actually gone home. The check, which was made during the night of Thursday 15 November, had been ordered by the General Manager, Mr Robert Watson. Some of our partners may process your data as a part of their legitimate business interest without asking for consent. Enter your username or email to reset your password. I am worried sick." 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. Preventing home working in Pandemic days by nuisance noise is dire dilydaydreamnewneighbours, Opinion : Austin Maestro a tale of unfulfilled promise, Opinion : Celebrating 40 years of the Austin Maestro, Opinion : Why unrest plagued the Maestros launch, The cars : Vauxhall Cavalier Mk3 development story, eBay Find of the Week : Rover 45 with less than 2k miles on the clock, Archive : Car plant strikers go back for talks. Security officers kept watch from behind an extractor fan in a paint shop, from where they could see a clocking point. AROnline Keith Adams 2001-2022 - please refer to the 'Terms of use' pages. 1983 Cowley Moles. Its just a shame that for a lot of the 70s they were rightly derided for their quality. "He is quoted as saying: 'If we make Leyland successful, it will be a political victory. Once part of the sprawling British Leyland automotive empire that epitomised Britain's industrial decline . But if the SD1 receives a vote of confidence, what about the great unmentionables the likes of the Allegro, Marina and Princess? BL described this as potentially dangerous. Fourteen night shift men caught sleeping at a British Leyland plant have been sacked , a wife claimed last night. It happened, the tribunal at Birmingham heard, in June after a six-month investigation in alleged clock-card malpractices at the plant. Mr Stevenson, a former union official from Coventry, said Mr Robinson held the position during a time when more than 18,000 jobs disappeared at the company, plants closed and car production fell. Job Type: Permanent, Full-Time. "I can sleep sound at night because I never betrayed the workers I was elected to represent," he said. 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. 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. Location: Leyland, Lancashire. 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 . 13 November 1979. In Lancias case it almost killed them off over here, and even though the rustproofing was far better on later cars, very few people were willing to buy one. 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. 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. 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. Most of my friends and acquaintances who didn't go on to further education went to work there. The tabloid paid the equivalent of 75,000 to buy letters which not only . British Motor Holdings merged with the Leyland Motor Company to form the British Leyland Motor Corporation on January 17, 1968. 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. 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.. Musgrovemay well have beenreferring to the Drews Lane plant in Birmingham. The company assumed its current name in 1982. 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 . Mr Robinson was among those trade unionists soon to lose their grip on power. Video, At the crash site of 'no hope' - BBC reporter in Greece, Record numbers of guide dog volunteers after BBC story. Mr Robinson, one of the most famous trade unionists of the 1970s, was dubbed Red Robbo by the media. Similar incidents had occurred before and appropriate action had been taken. Year: 1977. The men at Drews Lane had worked to rule for several weeks in protest at management attempts to stop them leaving early. "His legacy ought to be that you've got to fight," said Mr Loach. VideoRecord numbers of guide dog volunteers after BBC story. An example of data being processed may be a unique identifier stored in a cookie. 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. I just wish theyd said it while he was alive., Harold Wilson appears to be much more the villain of the piece. It employed 200,000 people and was the fifth largest . 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 Communist Party then dominated the factory's workforce, with many hundred Daily Workers [newspaper] being sold every day," he wrote in his blog. 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. When the plant closed in 2,150 workers lost their jobs, The plant was knocked down in 2008. . The Unite union said the "dedicated life-long trade unionist" fought for "the rights and future" of workers. He described him as "a loud-mouth who thought he had the support of the workers". The case against me was brought following publicity and not on the facts.. He described Red Robbo as "forthright and honest" but added that "all he did was fight for the protection of the working class". 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. The problem with British Leyland was that they designed their cars to only last three years, so you would start getting rust spots and other problems. 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. 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. It was cosmetic rather than structural rust but terrible for the cars reputation. The quota system mentioned seems to have been a relic of the deal to end piecework in the early 1970s. If you work in primary schools or social, emotional and mental health or learning disability settings, your work will also involve liaising with parents and carers. 1970 Ferrari 512M track test Group 5 great driven at Paul Ricard, Driving the legendary Bentley 3 Litre and Bentley 4 Litre. The incident would be reported to the management and judged on the circumstances. Birmingham, he was alive., Harold Wilson appears to be much more villain! Leyland did not win their demand for separate bargaining rights SD1 receives vote. Ethridge, a wife claimed last night had the support of the workers '' cosmetic rather structural. 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