The Workers

The opening of a large new car factory at Linwood provided 6,000 jobs in the 1960s. Workers, used to working in shipyards, engineering works and other factories had to learn how to operate and maintain an assembly line that took thousands of parts and constructed a car in a matter of hours.

Opening the new factory, with thousands of workers new to the car industry, and building a brand new car model made life very difficult for the Rootes company's managers. These problems were made worse by the fact that the Scottish workers knew they were being paid less than the workers employed in similar factories in England. Strikes over pay and conditions were common, at a time when Britain had an appalling record in all industries for strikes and other industrial disputes

Poor build quality and, even worse, the poor image of the cars that the factory produced reduced workers' morale. High wages could not compensate for the challenges presented by shift work in a car factory. Weak management and workers' support for trade unions led to disputes over who did what (demarcation disputes) in the Linwood factory. Production could be halted for hours or even days over small disputes.

John Carty

Redundancies

Cliff Lockyer

Disputes

George Cunningham

Location

Industrial relations