Strike Halts MG Car Works

FROM OUR CORRESPONDENT ABINGDON, OCT. 29

The M.G. car works at Abingdon, Berkshire, was at a standstill today after about 600 men walked out on unofficial strike because three were suspended by the management.

The three men, all pieceworkers on the M.G. " B" production line, were suspended until Thursday for going home last Friday after complaining that other workers were not sending them car bodies fast enough. A spokesman for the management said that the three men were among others who stopped work unofficially on Friday. They had been given a warning after being involved in another stoppage in August.

Mr Jack Adams, a senior shop steward of the National Union of Vehicle Builders, said that the strike was against the advice of shop stewards but was precipitated by the management's action in suspending the three men before the stewards had a chance to consider the case and advise their members. The men are expected to return to work on Thursday morning.

An unofficial strike by 12 workers employed rubbing down car bodies before they are painted led to 450 Morris Minor assembly workers at Morris Motors, Cowley, Oxford, being sent home yesterday. The men walked out after a dispute over the speed of the line. The line had to be stopped at midday and the workers sent home.