Five-Day Week At Morris Motors

FROM OUR CORRESPONDENT
OXFORD, MARCH 26

New workers will be recruited at Morris Motors Ltd., Cowley, this week for the first time since the beginning of the recession in the motor industry last autumn. This week also marks the return to a full five-day working week for the first time for several months.

Next month many of the recently under-employed workers at the Cowley plant will be working overtime again. A British Motor Corporation spokesman said: "There is a limited intake of people into the plant which will go some way towards replacing the losses we have experienced during the winter."

No B.M.C. workers have been made redundant during the recession, but a larger number of workers than usual have left the factories of their own accord and no new workers have been recruited. The spokesman also said that with effect from April 15 there would be overtime on Saturday mornings for 1,500 workers on the Morris Minor and Mini-Minor.

"These measures will help the company to keep pace with the growing volume of orders ".

Of the 800 employees at the M.G. factory at Abingdon, only about 70 sill be on a four-day week this week. It is expected that by next week,there will be no short-time working in the plant. The reason for this improvement is that the M.G. company is feeling the benefit of fresh orders for sports cars from the United States.