Strife-hit Allegro comes to a full-stop
31 May 1973
DAILY EXPRESS
STRIFE HIT ALLEGRO COMES TO A FULL STOP
By David Jack
Production of British Leyland's newly launched Allegro family saloon stopped yesterday. And it will remain at a standstill until a dispute by bodymakers at Swindon, Wiltshire, is settled. The Swindon row blew up yesterday when 650 press operators making Allegro bodies went on strike protesting about new work study targets.
Eighty miles away at Longbridge, Birmingham, where the car is assembled, the management instructed 2,100 production workers to stay at home today. With export orders pouring in for the new model, company chiefs had planned to open a second assembly line today and boost production to 2,400 cars a week.
The Allegro faces crisis situations on two other fronts. Two thousand men banned maintenance work over the Spring Bank Holiday, delaying essential servicing of plant until this morning. And white-collar workers are threatening walk-outs at Longbridge and at the Rover plant in Solihull because the production men were given an extra day's holiday at Whitsun under a new engineering package deal.
More news from the archive
Thu, 24 May 1973
Mr John Barber, recently promoted deputy chairman and deputy chief executive of British Leyland, yesterday warned the corporation's...
Sat, 26 May 1973
DAILY EXPRESS SCANLON'S BID FAILS TO STOP ALLEGRO STRIKE By David Benson On the day the new Austin Allegro began to change hands...
Sun, 27 May 1973
Car production at the British Leyland Austin-Morris plant at Cowley, Oxford, was halted again yesterday because of the continuing dispute...
Sun, 27 May 1973
THE OBSERVER ALLEGRO KNOCKERS By Gordon Wilkins While the Austin Allegro was well received in Britain, some Continental writers...
Tue, 29 May 1973
Former BMC/BMH/BLMC chairman Sir George Harriman dies today. He was 65 years old.
Fri, 01 Jun 1973
By Clifford Webb Midland Industrial Correspondent More than 14,000 car workers were laid off at British Leyland's Longbridge plant...
Sat, 02 Jun 1973
By Clifford Webb Nearly 20,000 car workers were idle yesterday as labour disputes already affecting British Leyland's Austin-Morris...
Mon, 04 Jun 1973
By Clifford Webb Midland Industrial Correspondent The motor industry faces another week of massive disruption, with strikes halting...
Thu, 07 Jun 1973
Dispute which halted Allegro line is over The 650 press operators at British Leyland body plant at Swindon, whose unofficial strike...
Fri, 08 Jun 1973
By Roger Vielvoye British Leyland Motor Corporation has completed the negotiations for a complex reorganization of its manufacturing...
