Strike By 170 Halts Morris Works

An unofficial strike by 170 mechanical maintenance workers at Morris Motors' factory at Cowley, Oxford, brought all production lines to a halt yesterday. A statement by the management said two complete working shifts would be lost.

The total loss of vehicles would be about 1,300. A spokesman for the British Motor Corporation claimed that the men struck unofficially over a pay dispute which was already going through accepted negotiating procedure. "We regard it as a dismal end to the official national productivity year", he said.

At Abingdon, Berkshire, the M.G. Midget and Austin Healey Sprite lines would be affected today by the dispute at Cowley, where the car bodies are made.