Word: leylands
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...majority of Britain's 26 million workers appear dead set against an extension of wage restraint. Their unrest is illustrated by a wildcat strike of 3,000 toolmakers that has brought most auto production to a standstill at the plants of British Leyland, makers of Morris, Austin, Triumph, Rover, and Jaguar cars, and idled 33,000 workers. The toolmakers are striking over the erosion of their "differential"-the margin by which the wages of skilled workers exceed those of the less skilled. Since the social contract held all increases to a flat monetary standard and ruled out raises...
...British Leyland is a microcosm of British industry's illnesses, including a reckless and desperate attitude of the workers toward their own company's welfare. "I can't pay my bills now," said one toolmaker. "So what difference does it make if I go on strike...
...answer, clearly, is a lot. British Leyland was saved from bankruptcy only two years ago by a government takeover. Now the company, which should be using a $1.7 billion government grant for retooling to make much-needed new models, is dipping into the fund simply to meet current expenses...
Equally serious, the British Leyland workers are failing to measure up to guidelines for productivity increases that have been set by the government as a prerequisite for additional investment in British Leyland. In general the productivity of European workers is substantially lower than that of their U.S. counterparts at the workbench or assembly line. Though European growth rates in output per man-hour are often increasing at a faster rate than those in the U.S., Europe's best worker, who happens to be French, produces only 80.6% as much as a U.S. worker. The British worker, who is Europe...
...Parliament, Industry Minister Gerald Kaufman said that British Leyland is "in danger of bleeding to death." Warned Prime Minister James Callaghan: "The biggest differential is between the man who is in a job and the man who is out of one, and some of them [the strikers] could...