Halewood stands alone
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• Hundreds of cars are stockpiling at Ford's Halewood Merseyside plant where drivers for car transporter group Toleman Automotive are refusing to accept 25% wage cuts agreed last week by most Toleman depots, in a deal recommended by the Transport and General Workers' Union.
Halewood is one of three Toleman depots without a national agreement — and the local branch of the TGwu is insisting the company adheres to a two-year agreement signed in May 1990, which froze wages but did not include wage cuts.
Toleman has hit back by accusing the workforce of not "shouldering its responsibility" for the company's survival.
Drivers and fitters in the 172-strong workforce continue to report for work each day but are being given no instructions", says the union. As a result, Totertian's 60% share of up to 1,000 cars a day leaving Halewood are "stockpiling in the car park", according to TGWU regional officer Jim Gouldbourne.
The other two depots not in the national agreement, Birmingham and Luton, have now accepted a similar package of wage and cost cuts to those agreed in 12 depots, and have returned to normal working. This leaves Halewood isolated. But the local TGWU says it is prepared to negotiate a fresh deal with the company, although the May 1990 agreement must remain in place until another one is reached, It also believes wage cuts can be avoided, and that a productivity agreement could solve the company's problems.
"In signing a wage freeze we took on board that the company had problems, but before we make any changes we would like to see the word negotiations used," says senior shop steward Ronnie Gouldbourne, Jim Gouldbourne's son.
The union says its main concern is fighting the scrapping of its agreement and changes to contracts of employment — including double manning on the car transporters.
"They are hiding behind their two-year deal," replies a Toleman spokesman, claiming that the Toleman Merseyside workforce earns the highest wages of any of its areas in the UK. It says the Halewood depot sent few representatives to the company's mass meeting at Brentwood on 21 September, which was open to all 950 employees.
"This will be a long and bitter dispute," promises Toleman, "Halewood is acting as though it is an island — and we all know what happens to islands."