Talks fail Basingstoke occupation
By Ian Yeats
1972Ian YeatsCar industry Read the scan at ETOL (PDF) →Read from the scan by machine and not corrected: headlines and words can be misread, and a caption or advert can run into the text. For anything you quote, read the scan.
TALKS between BritishLeyland and six unions on Wednesday night failed to end the month-long occupation by workers fighting the plan to sell the Thornycroft factory at Basingstoke, Hants.
British-Leyland intends to run down the 900-strong labour force by a third and sell the plant to the American Eaton Corporation for £2.5m.
The factory makes gearboxes for heavy goods vehicles. British-Leyland's industrial director Pat Lowry said no details of the talks were being made public. 'If the sit-in continues, it will inevitably affect other factories within the British-Leyland Motor Corporation, he declared. sources