The former British Leyland worker and trade unionist Derek Robinson has died, aged 90. Classic car tax exemption: what you need to know. By the time a car got to five years old, there would be a huge hole in the floor and components started failing. Mr Robinson . 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. But the political mood of the country was changing. 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. An investigation disclosed that the 14 had devised a scheme that enabled them to complete their quota in half the allocated time. 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. We ask Birmingham: How can bus services improve in the city? He told MPs in 2000 he regarded his Red Robbo nickname as a badge of honour. As a young man, his first job was selling the newly launched Maestro at a BL dealership in his native Cumbria. Back in 2011, I visited a fair-sized barn in North Yorkshire full of Maestros, Montegos and the odd Metro. Five minutes afterwards Mr Yates came out. BL still conjures images of half-finished Marinas and Allegros on desolate production lines and a militant workforce that appeared to be looking for any reason to down tools. 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. Linda Fisher's interview. Not just the NHS government in general! 2023 BBC. Is the 1990 Ford Escort Bonus a classic car? The consent submitted will only be used for data processing originating from this website. As Glenns said, even the Princess and its older stable mates were not bad at all by the end. . It would suck senior stewards into collusion with management and neutralise shopfloor activism. They discovered all the 14 men employed there, including a supervisor, asleep or dozing in sleeping bags, blankets and makeshift bunks. 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. No votes so far! Im a former Austin Maestro owner, admirer and salesman, so it []. Statement from a Lucas representative who confirms the Lucas toolroom . Exterior view of British Leyland Strandard Triumph works entrance and gatehouse at Canley, Coventry . These were dark times indeed.Harold Musgrove. 2023 BBC. Read about our approach to external linking. This British Leyland collection is diverse, huge and full of interest. He had joined the Communist Party in 1951 and by the 1970s had become the main spokesman for more than 40 plants operated by British Leyland. British Leyland trade union leader. 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.. When we walked the shop floor, I think 90 per cent of the employees had actually gone home. A further confrontation with the Transport and General Workers Union over BLs imposition of new working practices in April saw market share slump further to 13 per centin June 1980. 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. 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. It was a fantastic shape but, when I parked it, nobody looked at it. Video, At the crash site of 'no hope' - BBC reporter in Greece, Record numbers of guide dog volunteers after BBC story. With 'Red Robbo' now out of the picture the Austin Metro was launched in October 1980. Good condition, owner's inscription on flyleaf. Sell Your Car On Honest John Classics For Free. Security officers kept watch from behind an extractor fan in a paint shop, from where they could see a clocking point. Learn how your comment data is processed. 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. Workers were to occupy and work in to prevent closures. Opinion : Derek Robinson: Victim or villain? Five minutes afterwards Mr Yates came out. This was after he opposed Edwardes' plant closure plans in a pamphlet published on the authority of the combine committee. 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. Enter your username or email to reset your password. But if the SD1 receives a vote of confidence, what about the great unmentionables the likes of the Allegro, Marina and Princess? work. 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. In the 1980s and 90s, Mr Robinson worked as a tutor in trade union studies, teaching shop stewards. There are inept managers everywhere.Tesco were once omnipotent. He hopes his friend will be remembered as "one of those stalwarts in the post-war era that maintained a better life for ordinary people", not as an "agitator" or "destroyer" which he said was "a complete invention". The quota system mentioned seems to have been a relic of the deal to end piecework in the early 1970s. When former Triumph and Leyland Special Tuning man Richard Seth Smith arrives, proffering a rare Rover SD1 press pack, all concerned nod sagely at the suggestion that this was yet another brilliantly conceived but indifferently executed car. ( Somehow an orchestra trying to perform a punk record would be comical). With two successive name changes, British Leyland became BL Limited in 1979. 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. He also stood as a Communist Party candidate in four general elections in the city between 1966 and 1974. We and our partners use cookies to Store and/or access information on a device. 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 . But at Drews Lane we still have an extraordinary situation. Mr Robinson, one of the most famous trade unionists of the 1970s, was dubbed Red Robbo by the media. Continue with Recommended Cookies. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. For many, Mr Robinson is remembered "very badly", according to Chris Cowin, an expert on British Leyland's history. Former Leyland worker Stephen Cox said Mr Robinson was regarded by many as "way out on an extreme". 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. "These words are a suitable epithet for a stalwart of the trade union movement, whose passing we mourn.". The worker participation scheme at British Leyland was known as the Ryder Plan. 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. "He may well have had absolute belief in what he was doing, but few others did," Mr Cox added. We must develop a campaign that involves every BL worker, every component worker and the wider Labour movement. However, despite this rallying call and a walkout by thousands of workers in support of their dismissed convenor, an official strike vote failed. Shop stewards representing various tool room shops meet to discuss how they can support the British Leyland shop and propose a series of one day token strikes. 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. British Leyland's chairman Michael Edwardes shared that view. A firebrand union leader and former British Leyland worker has died aged 90. The Question was as follows: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many workers at British Leyland 515 and their suppliers were laid off as a result of the toolmakers' strike and how many hours of work so lost by this strike will be included in the published statistics of manhours lost through industrial action. Only three men, none of them Mr Yates, had gone to the clocking point before 6.45 am, the end of the shift. 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. The company refused to comment while a hearing was still continuing into charges against a Superintendent. See thats the part that confuses me. 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.. It needs to be left alone. He added that communists active in Unite "mourned the loss of their most distinguished veteran, a mentor and guide to us all". Although Edwardes had a reputation as a union basher, Robinson supported the idea of working with him under a policy of participation, whereby unions and management would cooperate on matters of industrial relations. It needs the shock treatment of standing on its own two feet like any other business. Ray Horrocks (right), the head of BL Cars, told Chairman Michael Edwardes: We talk of regaining management control and applying proper discipline. The tabloid paid the equivalent of 75,000 to buy letters which not only . Mr Robinson was among those trade unionists soon to lose their grip on power. Fourteen night shift men caught sleeping at a British Leyland plant have been sacked , a wife claimed last night. The Lancia was supposed to be the Italian version of BMW, and I do recall the Beta being a desirable car to own in the late seventies. 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. 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. Had similar on a 2002 406, at the door bottoms, possibly because of a bad seal. He will give evidence today. 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. That kind of thing went on a lot in the 70s. 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. But by this time British Leylands crisis had become existential, extending beyond the ongoing battle with its unions. How did you not hear that he said to which my friend blatantly lied I had ear muffs on we were grinding most of the night! 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 . 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. The former British Leyland worker and trade unionist Derek Robinson has died, aged 90. We are looking for a Children's Residential Support Worker to join an outstanding Children's Home. 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. Management regarded him as an "insidious influence" and his days at the car firm had been numbered. Then Aldi and Lidl arrived and the facade melted away. Mr Robinson was elected shop steward soon after the end of his apprenticeship and by the late 1940s was a member of the Communist Party "in which he remained for the rest of his life", Mr Stevenson said. The pamphlet said: All our efforts and resources must be mobilised to change the policy of closures and contraction. The sleeping on the night shift story went quiet until the New Year of 1980. Derek Robinson - nicknamed "Red Robbo" by tabloid newspapers - was one of the biggest names in the trade union movement during the 1970s. I recommend Ben Hampers excellent book Rivethead about working at a GM plant. By Business Ideas UK October 31, 2017. Where can you get quick classic car insurance quotes? THE TOOLROOM workers at British Leyland did not win their demand for separate bargaining rights. In this article DAVE LYDDON analyses the forces at work in British Leyland. 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. Known for. He was in charge of 32 men on the night shift who were dismissed, disciplined, or 'who resigned rather than be dismissed. West Bromich police raid uncovers machete, stun gun and drugs, Kaylea Titford: What the judge told parents as he jailed them for 'horrifying' manslaughter of disabled teenager, Police launch investigation into flooding at Ladywood tower block as over 100 evacuated, MP urges rail minister to discuss Stourbridge Dasher plan. Classic car tax exemption: what you need to know. 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. The biggest problem was scabs of rust breaking through the paint all over the car within a couple of years. 13 November 1979. The men said that, when they had done their work, they should be allowed to go home. The company remained a ward of the state for 13 years. Fearing that its collapse would leave a million workers unemployed, the Labour government nationalized it. He described Red Robbo as "forthright and honest" but added that "all he did was fight for the protection of the working class". That had to be the responsibility of management.. 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. Archive : 1979 from the National Archives, Archive : Sleeping foreman loses dismissal case against BL. Family Cottage near Leyland, Lancashire. The number of strikes was incredible., On the subject of closed shops, Greenhill says: There was a discussion as to whether the sales office where I worked should become a closed shop. Others did, '' Mr Cox added got to five years old, there would be ). Kind of thing went on a 2002 406, at the car within a couple years. 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