2 replies to this topic

[mab01uk]

On 22 July 1959, an ITN film crew at Cowley covering the unfolding dispute got an exclusive, but nobody realised it at the time. A strange-looking small car was filmed leaving the Cowley plant. They were filming a revolution, but it was a motoring one, not a workers’ uprising. At the same time the paint shop men at Longbridge were also in dispute over plans to increase production.

 

The 'car' caught in this ITN news footage going past striking workers & out of the Cowley works in late July 1959 is a soon to be launched 1959 Morris Mini-Minor running on trade plates (377 FC).

Shots of Morris Works At Cowley, Oxford: And. Austin Works at Longbride;e, Birmingham:
Morris Works — men outside. MS Strikers standing about. LS Ditto. GTV Strikers breaking away after meeting. LS Car & lorry past strikers & out of Works
T/X 22.7.59 /6.15.p.m. Cowley, Oxordshire: Longbridge, Birmingham:
(Thanks to Stephen Dalton for spotting this interesting film clip)
Video Clip here:-
https://mm.gettyimag...ject=a529535504

 

Stills below taken from the ITN news film clip.

Edited by mab01uk, 11 January 2020 - 11:15 PM.

[Cooperman]

The trades unions sure had a lot of power back then. I do recall, though, that this union power was sometimes used by management to their own ends.

There were two examples of this at Ford. The first was a problem with the metallic paint process on the Mk.2 Cortina and the second was the issue of doors which did not fit properly on the 2-door Mk.3 Cortina.

In each case the company became aware of the problem and was going to have to halt production. So an edict came from 'on high' to get them out on strike for a week or two. In each case an inflammatory gesture was made and the union immediately called a total walk out. Management told the negotiators to keep them out until the paint issue was sorted by the process engineers and until the German produced doors were the correct size for the UK 2-door bodies.

Now that saved a heck of a lot of wages and warranty claims and when the management was ready a deal was done and they all came back to work on sell-able cars.

I knew the production manager at BLMC Cowley in the late 1970's and he decided that he couldn't put up with the union attitudes and the lack of support from director level when he confronted them, so he left and went elsewhere.

[mab01uk]

I have added a new working film link to my original post and added a couple of better stills, taken from this ITN News film which caught a very early Mini leaving the Cowley works on 22nd July 1959 during a workers strike.....a full month before the official Mini launch on 26th August 1959.