Handheld users: view this page better on http://m.socialistparty.org.uk
UK Towns and cities tags:
Oxford
Highlight keywords |
Print this article |
email to friend
Working life in a car factory
Steve Bell of Aylesbury Socialist Party recently interviewed a car worker at the BMW plant in Oxford.
What is your working life like at the moment?
Life at the Mini plant at Cowley is one of constant change. Management are always looking for ways of improving quality and driving down costs.
The plant is running seven days a week with three shifts running at full capacity, producing 54 cars an hour. BMW has even brought extra agency labour to cope with some of the work.
What sort of problems are the workers facing?
Those who have been on long-term sick have been asked to come back on the threat of having their pay stopped, even when they have a doctor's certificate.
BMW has a good sick package but some in the HR department, with no medical knowledge, have ridden roughshod over people's health and well-being. Some very sick people have been called back to work before being fully fit.
What do the workers feel about the future?
The atmosphere at the plant is quite optimistic, with two new models coming on board. The rumours are that the shifts are set for at least the next nine months but that there could be a pay freeze.
But we hear nothing from the trade unions about anything. No union bulletins have been sent out about pay or the shift changes. The workforce is angry with Unite as rules and conditions are eroded away without a fight and with no consultation with the workers.
Join us today!
Related links:
Rover - Gangster capitalists were treated as saviours
Anger as jobs slashed with an hour's notice
Fight back now to stop job cuts
No more asset-stripping, renationalise, don't subsidise
Longbridge: Phoenix Directors Feather Their Own Nests
Liverpool Socialist Party: Marxist Economics
Liverpool Socialist Party: A Marxist view of history
Bristol East Socialist Party: No Pasaran! Fighting the far right
Liverpool Socialist Party: Housing crisis - a socialist solution
Good result for Socialist Students candidates in NUS elections
'Capitalism fails the poor' agree Oxford University students!
Save heart services for children!
Warmonger Rajapaksa forced to abandon his Oxford Union speech
National Shop Stewards Network
Come to the 6th annual NSSN conference!
Council workers in Cheshire strike against attacks on pay
Con-Dems' hypocrisy over children's care
Leadership shows weakness at CWU conference
Hospital jobs scandal - Action now to save the NHS!