Leyland rebels toasts 'success'

DAILY EXPRESS
LEYLAND REBEL TOASTS 'SUCCESS'
By David Jack

No surrender. That was the battle cry last night of Leyland militants. As he raised a pint to toast the "success" of his wildcat strike toolmakers leader Roy Fraser hit back at his union critics with a claim that more factories were poised to join the strike and bring Leyland to its knees. The crunch will come, he said, after the Easter holidays when supplies run out.

After a three-hour meeting of delegates representing 4,000 strikers from 18 plants, Mr Fraser emerged to say: "The strike goes on."

His campaign for a better deal for craftsmen received an overnight boost after fulltime union officials pulled out of parity talls. The company decided - over the head of the unions - to go ahead and make the £9-a-week payments - but only at plants where production targets had been reached. That formula was not acceptable yesterday to Mr Fraser and his men. They want separate negotiations towards a "common and realistic rate" for craftsmen.