Car Men In ‘Little’ Union Get The Sack

Thirty-seven toolmakers were yesterday sacked by the Pressed Steel Company following an inter-union row. They were given a week's pay in lieu of notice by the firms Oxford car body factory.

The trouble started when the toolmakers left the Amalgamated Engineering Union to join the breakaway National Association of Toolmakers. They complained that skill no longer gets full recognition under AEU wage rates. Five weeks ago, the toolmakers were laid off on basic pay to avert a threatened strike by the AEU men.

Now the toolmakers – their leader, Mr George Lee, has been with the firm for twenty-five years – are to seek legal advice. Earlier this week, 30 NAT men were laid off by the British Motor Corporation in Birmingham to avoid a stoppage.