Engineering News
Page 15
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IG Metall
THE first real effect on UK commercial vehicle manufacturers of the five week old West German engineering workers' strike could be felt next Monday (June 18). That is when General Motors management has said it will have to begin laying off Vauxhall car workers at Luton and Ellesmere Port if the strike has not ended.
The top selling Astra van is built at Ellesmere Port on the same lines as the car from which it is derived.
A Bedford spokesman said that heavier van (CF2) and lorry production could go on well beyond June 18 without the strike having an effect, even though all the CF2's engines now come from Germany (CM June 2), but he added that Bedford was already "carefully reviewing every part we need".
Ford's policy of always dual sourcing components wherever possible clearly pays dividends in a situation like this. A spokesman said the strike was causing "no foreseeable problems." Unlike many manufacturers, Ford uses Cam Gears steering boxes in general rather than ZF and though it is a big customer for Bosch diesel injection pumps, the supply of which apparently is about to stop because of the strike, Lucas CAV pumps can replace them.
A Leyland spokesman told CM simply that as yet the strike was having no effect on Leyland production.
The strike is over a claim for a reduction in the number of hours worked each week. The union wants a 37 hour week, reducing to 35 hours, while the employers refuse to reduce the present 40 hour week by more than two hours.