Leyland hit by another stoppage

THE GUARDIAN
Leyland hit by another stoppage

A new strike yesterday hit Leyland cars , already suffering multi-million pound losses from the shutdown of its Longbridge, Birmingham , assembly plant, when Rover car production at Solihull was disrupted by a walk-out of 50 material handlers . A company spokesman said that the men refused to move from one section to another to cover for absentees. Assembly workers had been redeployed to avoid lay-offs.

The trouble came as 600 shop stewards at Longbridge met to decide whether to recommend today to the factory's 19,000 workers that they end their week old strike , which has halted output of Minis and Marinas worth more than £12 millions. They are under growing pressure to call off the stoppage after a vote by the rest of Leyland' s 92,000 workers against a company-wide strike. Some senior Longbridge stewards want to continue the strike , but feeling is mounting on the shop floor that there is nothing to be gained by staying out.