5000 Jaguar workers are told to stay at home

By a Staff Reporter

About 5,000 workers at the two Jaguar plants at Coventry are having an enforced threeweek break from today because of the virtual closure of the factory which has been forced by a slump in sales. The men normally have a one-week holiday at the end of this month but are being told by the management to stay away. Those involved will receive part of their normal wages and a few workers will stay behind to stock-take and prepare lines for future production.

Senior shop stewards at British Leyland truck and bus division have decided to black haulage firms which operate recentrecent models of trucks not manufactured in the United Kingdom. The decision, approved in a resolution from Leyland's Bathgate plant in West Lothian, is the start of a campaign for the introduction of selective import controls to protect the long-term viability of the commercial vehicle industry.

"If we can 't get the Government to act , then we have got to act ourselves to protect jobs ," said Mr Jim Swan , the Bathgate shop stewards chairman.