2000 Made Idle By BMC Strike

More than 2,000 British Motor Corporation workers have been made idle as a result of a strike of 73 machinists at the tractor and transmissions branch factory at Washwood Heath, Birmingham.

The strike arises from a dispute over a piecework rate. The men are engaged on production of components for the rear suspension of the Austin Seven and Morris Mini-Minor cars. B.M.C. said Yesterday that 700 workers, half on the day shift and half on the night shift, had been laid off indefinitely at the Cowley factory of Morris Motors. At the Austin factory at Longbridge a further 1,350 workers, also divided between two shifts, were idle. One group of strikers at the tractor and transmissions branch returned to work on Wednesday night.

There were no developments yesterday in the strike of 260 inspectors at branch factories of the Rover Motor Company. Nearly 4,000 workers were idle. They included 2,200 sent home from the parent factory at Solihull, Warwickshire, where the car and Land-Rover production lines have been closed until Monday.