Unions rush peace plan in Leyland stoppage

BY OUR INDUSTRIAL STAFF

Leaders of three unions are to visit British Leyland's Standard-Triumph plant at Coventry in an effort to settle the dispute over who should tighten screws on car dashboards. The dispute has halted production of Triumph 2000 cars. But they will do so only if 200 members of the National Union of Vehicle Builders return to work immediately, it was announced in York last night.

The men walked out yesterday after a ruling that the two other unions, the Transport and General Workers' Union and the Amalgamated Union of Engineering and Foundry workers, should do the work. After a meeting last night, the three unions named the men who will visit the factory in about 10 days time, providing the strikers agree to resume working.

They are Charles Gallagher, N.U.V.B. general secretary, Bob Wright of the A.E.F. and Moss Evans, of the T.G.W.U. The peace plan will be put to the men on strike on Monday. Up to the end of June, the vehicle and cycle industries had lost 1,133,000 working days through strikes, compared with 602,000 in the first half of last year.