8000 Triumph men strike as 350 are laid off with no pay

By Clifford Webb
Midland Industrial Correspondent

Eight thousand Triumph car workers, the entire manual labour force, went on strike at Coventry yesterday because 350 colleagues had been laid off without pay. It cost the firm 600 cars urgently needed to meet deliveries held up by the G.K.N.-Sankey strike more than two months ago. The strike was called by shop stewards acting on a mandate from a mass meeting earlier this year which decided on a "one out, all out" policy whenever a section of the plant was laid off without pay through no fault of its own.

A spokesman for the shop stewards said last night: "We have done this before and we intend to do it again until British Leyland falls into line with other car firms and introduces a proper system of lay-off pay," British Leyland has said that it is only willing to discuss lay-off pay as part of a new pay system for its car plants. Main change is the ending of piece-work.

A Triumph spokesman said: "We had to lay off 350 employees in the trim shop at Coventry because of a shortage of car bodies from our Liverpool plant where men joined the one day strike against the new Bill on Tuesday. We expect the strikers to return tomorrow."