Threat of strike action at Ford (From Romsey Advertiser)

Given the precarious position that the Swaythling plant has been in in recent years the workers should be grateful that they still have jobs to go to. Are Unite determined to bring the country to a complete standstill?

What a load of muppets. They should be grateful for a job, and not be sheep and not follow the union leaders ( who probably will get a salary and pension)

Don't be soft in the head you two, you are thinking just the way the wealthy want you to think.

Good on the Ford workers do what is right, start sticking up for your selfs and start fighting for others.

If they vote to strike they deserve all they get (redundancy) final salary pension schemes are finished for everybody they are just not affordable, and they will be playing right into Fords hands and give them just the opportunity to close the plant once and for all. They can quite easily take production to Turkey and get them built cheaper, so for Gods sake don't strike the unions are only using you they don't care they will still have jobs, don't be used as a political pawn you are worth more than that.As for the new starters if they are not happy with 10% less let them find a job elsewhere.

Thats right listen to the spineless people above, dont fight for your rights, just bend over and take it - Thats the Tory way!

God luck to you all at Ford.

southy wrote:
Don't be soft in the head you two, you are thinking just the way the wealthy want you to think.

Good on the Ford workers do what is right, start sticking up for your selfs and start fighting for others.

So says the man who professed to have his own business and was able to retire early on the proceeds!!!!!!!!!!

southy wrote:
Don't be soft in the head you two, you are thinking just the way the wealthy want you to think.

Good on the Ford workers do what is right, start sticking up for your selfs and start fighting for others.

And that is just the sort stupid of comment that i would expect from you, having read your previous posts if anybody is soft in the head its you. Grow up and learn to think before you call other people soft in the head.

southy wrote:
Don't be soft in the head you two, you are thinking just the way the wealthy want you to think.

Good on the Ford workers do what is right, start sticking up for your selfs and start fighting for others.

phil mac cavity so thats whats between your ears a big void, tell us why is it in your interest to see the Ford plant closed, or is it that you are incapable of thinking for yourself.

TURKEY... Can any workers at Soton plant speak Turkish?

Thats where production will be if a strike happens.

southy wrote:
Don't be soft in the head you two, you are thinking just the way the wealthy want you to think.

Good on the Ford workers do what is right, start sticking up for your selfs and start fighting for others.

Get real. A strike will give Ford further cause to condemning the site as unreliable, uncooperative and close it down. Then there will be no jobs.

Just started dinner break here at fords, i can tell you as a worker here this is the first myself or any of my fellow workers know about a strike.

Read the echo first for news instead of being told about it by the union it seems.

southy wrote:
Don't be soft in the head you two, you are thinking just the way the wealthy want you to think. Good on the Ford workers do what is right, start sticking up for your selfs and start fighting for others.

My views are not influenced by "the way the wealthy want me to think" but from a realistic eyes wide open viewpoint. Country back in recession mass job cuts at British Gas call centre in Southampton can we really afford for another large employer to shut down?

once a saint wrote:

southy wrote:
Don't be soft in the head you two, you are thinking just the way the wealthy want you to think. Good on the Ford workers do what is right, start sticking up for your selfs and start fighting for others.

My views are not influenced by "the way the wealthy want me to think" but from a realistic eyes wide open viewpoint. Country back in recession mass job cuts at British Gas call centre in Southampton can we really afford for another large employer to shut down?

No we can't but think about it in another way, what do Ford's really own at that plant, they only own the the Ford badge that is stuck onto the van, the design is owned by design firm, the building and the tools are all paid for by british tax payers, Why do you think Fords made the threat to go to Turkey for, that was because the Government would not pay fords the 50 million to change tools for the new design ford van, so fords ended up resetting the old tools and limit to what could be produce there.
If Fords do decide to pull out, then the workers should take over the plant and run it like a co-op and carry on producing vans and this scares Fords and is why they are keeping it running even lo its at a reduce rate they do not want this to happen.

Sorry, I think they being taken for mugs & being used as pawns in a rather larger political agenda.

southy wrote:

once a saint wrote:

southy wrote: Don't be soft in the head you two, you are thinking just the way the wealthy want you to think. Good on the Ford workers do what is right, start sticking up for your selfs and start fighting for others.

My views are not influenced by "the way the wealthy want me to think" but from a realistic eyes wide open viewpoint. Country back in recession mass job cuts at British Gas call centre in Southampton can we really afford for another large employer to shut down?

No we can't but think about it in another way, what do Ford's really own at that plant, they only own the the Ford badge that is stuck onto the van, the design is owned by design firm, the building and the tools are all paid for by british tax payers, Why do you think Fords made the threat to go to Turkey for, that was because the Government would not pay fords the 50 million to change tools for the new design ford van, so fords ended up resetting the old tools and limit to what could be produce there. If Fords do decide to pull out, then the workers should take over the plant and run it like a co-op and carry on producing vans and this scares Fords and is why they are keeping it running even lo its at a reduce rate they do not want this to happen.

My issue is with Unite and how they have interfered yet again. Is it any coincidence that we are seeing more Union activity as elections are due. On an individual level each worker has a voice and if the new starts are not happy with the terms and conditions on offer then don't accept them and find a job that offers better. As you can see from oldmac 11:06 post there has been no communication about a strike within the business so it all smacks of a manipulative union trying to score points whilst unsettling a workforce.

Unions only have one source of income, their members. So why would they have any interest in deliberatly losing their members their jobs? According to most of the idiots on here union members subs are either spent on fat cat pay for union bosses or given straight to the Labour Party. Nonsense of course, but still no explanation as to why they would intentionally sabotage their revenue base. Could it be that they are looking to protect and advance members interests just like it says on the tin?

No wonder Ford wanted to move all the jobs away from southampton last year!!!

Taskforce 141 wrote:
Thats right listen to the spineless people above, dont fight for your rights, just bend over and take it - Thats the Tory way!

God luck to you all at Ford.

Here's a bit of reality. Fords are an international company.
There's over capacity in the motor industry.
Countries are stabbing each other in the back to keep or acquire car/van plants look at Germany's actions on GM cars
Go on strike lose wages & ultimately lose your jobs have we & Unite learnt nothing?
Do you remember the once thriving car industry we had & lost due to industrial action?
So the workers would rather face the dole compared to having to finance their own pension insurance?

On the inside wrote:
Unions only have one source of income, their members. So why would they have any interest in deliberatly losing their members their jobs? According to most of the idiots on here union members subs are either spent on fat cat pay for union bosses or given straight to the Labour Party. Nonsense of course, but still no explanation as to why they would intentionally sabotage their revenue base. Could it be that they are looking to protect and advance members interests just like it says on the tin?

The unions? Unite are at the centre of most of the industrial action going on at this time.
their ultimate aim is to bring down the Government & have a Labour Government or is that beyond your comprehension?

loosehead wrote:

Taskforce 141 wrote:
Thats right listen to the spineless people above, dont fight for your rights, just bend over and take it - Thats the Tory way!

God luck to you all at Ford.

Here's a bit of reality. Fords are an international company.
There's over capacity in the motor industry.
Countries are stabbing each other in the back to keep or acquire car/van plants look at Germany's actions on GM cars
Go on strike lose wages & ultimately lose your jobs have we & Unite learnt nothing?
Do you remember the once thriving car industry we had & lost due to industrial action?
So the workers would rather face the dole compared to having to finance their own pension insurance?

If you want to be pushed around and bullied, whilst others take everything, then go right ahead, but don't expect others to just lay down and take it!

Strikes only benefit the union officials. Rarely does a workforce actually see improvements originally demanded before going on strike. How much does a workforce get paid when on strike and how much do so-called union officials get? Ford wouldn't be too othered either because closing a plant or two would make no difference to them at all. They would simply shift production elsewhere.
Final salary pensions are a dying breed. If you have one then good luck but if you think you might be able to get one carry on dreaming. Go on strike at the risk of losing your job.

Come on guys.....stop spinning around in your office chairs, it seems your heads are affected by a bit of dizziness. Stop believing what the press tells you, there is always more to a story than you are told.......this has nothing to do with the majority of workers at ford motor company. All this negativity from non ford emloyees, will be the reason the factory shuts. Worry about your own sad little lives........

southy wrote:

once a saint wrote:

southy wrote:
Don't be soft in the head you two, you are thinking just the way the wealthy want you to think. Good on the Ford workers do what is right, start sticking up for your selfs and start fighting for others.

My views are not influenced by "the way the wealthy want me to think" but from a realistic eyes wide open viewpoint. Country back in recession mass job cuts at British Gas call centre in Southampton can we really afford for another large employer to shut down?

No we can't but think about it in another way, what do Ford's really own at that plant, they only own the the Ford badge that is stuck onto the van, the design is owned by design firm, the building and the tools are all paid for by british tax payers, Why do you think Fords made the threat to go to Turkey for, that was because the Government would not pay fords the 50 million to change tools for the new design ford van, so fords ended up resetting the old tools and limit to what could be produce there.
If Fords do decide to pull out, then the workers should take over the plant and run it like a co-op and carry on producing vans and this scares Fords and is why they are keeping it running even lo its at a reduce rate they do not want this to happen.

Ford would like to close the plant an move production to Turkey so they have a little meeting to decide the best way to achieve it. It took less than five seconds for the thickest one at the meeting to see the benefits of getting the unions to do it. The workers at the plant have a stark choice to make. Evolve or die.

Stillness wrote:

southy wrote:

once a saint wrote:

southy wrote: Don't be soft in the head you two, you are thinking just the way the wealthy want you to think. Good on the Ford workers do what is right, start sticking up for your selfs and start fighting for others.

My views are not influenced by "the way the wealthy want me to think" but from a realistic eyes wide open viewpoint. Country back in recession mass job cuts at British Gas call centre in Southampton can we really afford for another large employer to shut down?

No we can't but think about it in another way, what do Ford's really own at that plant, they only own the the Ford badge that is stuck onto the van, the design is owned by design firm, the building and the tools are all paid for by british tax payers, Why do you think Fords made the threat to go to Turkey for, that was because the Government would not pay fords the 50 million to change tools for the new design ford van, so fords ended up resetting the old tools and limit to what could be produce there. If Fords do decide to pull out, then the workers should take over the plant and run it like a co-op and carry on producing vans and this scares Fords and is why they are keeping it running even lo its at a reduce rate they do not want this to happen.

Ford would like to close the plant an move production to Turkey so they have a little meeting to decide the best way to achieve it. It took less than five seconds for the thickest one at the meeting to see the benefits of getting the unions to do it. The workers at the plant have a stark choice to make. Evolve or die.

strange......evolve or die......do you just sit at home playing on an x box

come on goof balls, read the report........staff MIGHT go on strike as they oppose the wage deal,a threat..... once again,staff,not all employees

On the inside wrote:
Unions only have one source of income, their members. So why would they have any interest in deliberatly losing their members their jobs? According to most of the idiots on here union members subs are either spent on fat cat pay for union bosses or given straight to the Labour Party. Nonsense of course, but still no explanation as to why they would intentionally sabotage their revenue base. Could it be that they are looking to protect and advance members interests just like it says on the tin?

Meanwhile daddy bear looked at his plate and say's who's been eating my porridge, i don't know what your on mate but i would give it a break.

loosehead wrote:

On the inside wrote:
Unions only have one source of income, their members. So why would they have any interest in deliberatly losing their members their jobs? According to most of the idiots on here union members subs are either spent on fat cat pay for union bosses or given straight to the Labour Party. Nonsense of course, but still no explanation as to why they would intentionally sabotage their revenue base. Could it be that they are looking to protect and advance members interests just like it says on the tin?

The unions? Unite are at the centre of most of the industrial action going on at this time.
their ultimate aim is to bring down the Government & have a Labour Government or is that beyond your comprehension?

What industrial action is actually going on NOW

It wouldn't really make a great difference if Ford shut down completely - there are plenty of cars on sale in the world. With regard to pensions, you can't take out more than you have paid in... life just ain't like that.

southy wrote:

once a saint wrote:

southy wrote:
Don't be soft in the head you two, you are thinking just the way the wealthy want you to think. Good on the Ford workers do what is right, start sticking up for your selfs and start fighting for others.

My views are not influenced by "the way the wealthy want me to think" but from a realistic eyes wide open viewpoint. Country back in recession mass job cuts at British Gas call centre in Southampton can we really afford for another large employer to shut down?

No we can't but think about it in another way, what do Ford's really own at that plant, they only own the the Ford badge that is stuck onto the van, the design is owned by design firm, the building and the tools are all paid for by british tax payers, Why do you think Fords made the threat to go to Turkey for, that was because the Government would not pay fords the 50 million to change tools for the new design ford van, so fords ended up resetting the old tools and limit to what could be produce there.
If Fords do decide to pull out, then the workers should take over the plant and run it like a co-op and carry on producing vans and this scares Fords and is why they are keeping it running even lo its at a reduce rate they do not want this to happen.

So the workers take over the plant and then what?? ask Ford please can we have all of the tools etc so we can carry on making an old van, if it doesn't sink in the first time read it again and then you might realise how stupid it sounds. Remember L.D.V old junk nobody wanted.

southy wrote:

once a saint wrote:

southy wrote:
Don't be soft in the head you two, you are thinking just the way the wealthy want you to think. Good on the Ford workers do what is right, start sticking up for your selfs and start fighting for others.

My views are not influenced by "the way the wealthy want me to think" but from a realistic eyes wide open viewpoint. Country back in recession mass job cuts at British Gas call centre in Southampton can we really afford for another large employer to shut down?

No we can't but think about it in another way, what do Ford's really own at that plant, they only own the the Ford badge that is stuck onto the van, the design is owned by design firm, the building and the tools are all paid for by british tax payers, Why do you think Fords made the threat to go to Turkey for, that was because the Government would not pay fords the 50 million to change tools for the new design ford van, so fords ended up resetting the old tools and limit to what could be produce there.
If Fords do decide to pull out, then the workers should take over the plant and run it like a co-op and carry on producing vans and this scares Fords and is why they are keeping it running even lo its at a reduce rate they do not want this to happen.

So the workers take over the plant and then what?? ask Ford please can we have all of the tools etc so we can carry on making an old van, if it doesn't sink in the first time read it again and then you might realise how stupid it sounds. Remember L.D.V old junk nobody wanted.

After 32 years of it and lucky enough to leave with a final those men that are left and joining deserve all the benifits they are entitaled too for the rest of you who have never enterer the Ford way of life Shut The -uck Up.

bobbyboy wrote:
After 32 years of it and lucky enough to leave with a final those men that are left and joining deserve all the benifits they are entitaled too for the rest of you who have never enterer the Ford way of life Shut The -uck Up.

"deserve all the benifits they are entitaled too"
WTF!
Get back in yer box. And shut the lid.

The Unions, bands playing, banners waiving, leading their Ford members, as they did their Council members, over the cliff edge into oblivion and joblessness. Wake up !!!

Taskforce 141 wrote:
Thats right listen to the spineless people above, dont fight for your rights, just bend over and take it - Thats the Tory way!

God luck to you all at Ford.

The tory way would be "look after yourself, rather than expect everything handed to you".

If Ford wanted to shut the plant the easiest way for them would be to let the unions do it for them, no come back on Ford they could leave with their heads held high and say we tried our best to stay in Southampton but the unions were against us.

bobbyboy wrote:
After 32 years of it and lucky enough to leave with a final those men that are left and joining deserve all the benifits they are entitaled too for the rest of you who have never enterer the Ford way of life Shut The -uck Up.

If there are many in the plant as ignorant and stupid as you then all i can say no wonder Ford wanted to shut the plant.

I am a Ford worker,I have just come home and found out we are supposedly going on strike!
At work we heard a rumour that dagenham were going to strike but nothing about us.What really amazes me are all the comments from people who think they know whats best for Ford workers.Until you work for 24 years in any profession,like myself you feel you have put into society enough tax and insurance plus pension in order to secure a fair standard of living in old age.I for one do not want to strike,but claim what money I have contributed in pension when i retire.To have so many people fighting each other is exactly what our government wants,whether they are labour,tory or liberals.Feel free to rip my comment to bits as we are all in the same trap,some admit it,some don't.!!

Cue the Iron Lady and a bit of wisdom. LH I have got to admit you are consistent but very repetative at the same time. It is time they shut this dinosaur down, the Turks are making a wonderful job building the Transit, pity it's so ugly. We don't need industry in this Country any more. The haves already have what they need the rest can swing. As a soon to be Pensioner who is being stitched up a treat, I don't see why rest shouldn't be either.

sammy001 wrote:
I am a Ford worker,I have just come home and found out we are supposedly going on strike!
At work we heard a rumour that dagenham were going to strike but nothing about us.What really amazes me are all the comments from people who think they know whats best for Ford workers.Until you work for 24 years in any profession,like myself you feel you have put into society enough tax and insurance plus pension in order to secure a fair standard of living in old age.I for one do not want to strike,but claim what money I have contributed in pension when i retire.To have so many people fighting each other is exactly what our government wants,whether they are labour,tory or liberals.Feel free to rip my comment to bits as we are all in the same trap,some admit it,some don't.!!

Sammy your the second one on here who actually work for Fords.
This smacks of the Petrol drivers strike by the Unite Union.
They announce that strike action has been voted for by drivers Knowing not all drivers are in the Union & Fawleys aren't part of the dispute( separate company) now they announce a vote for action by Ford workers?
Did You vote?
Do you want a permanent job?
Do you think you'll still be working if you strike?
Do you think Turkey will be praying in the Mosques for you all to strike?
The company are doing this action only to new starters not established workers so why are you voting on strike action?
Surely if any would be employee doesn't like the terms & conditions they don't have to work for the company?
Sainsbury's pay time & a half for overtime to people who were employed before a certain date after that date it's flat time no matter how many hours you work yet people still join them so why put your job at risk?

bobbyboy wrote:
After 32 years of it and lucky enough to leave with a final those men that are left and joining deserve all the benifits they are entitaled too for the rest of you who have never enterer the Ford way of life Shut The -uck Up.

Bobbyboy read the article! this isn't effecting the existing workforce this is only effecting new employees so if they're happy to sign WHY STRIKE?
Putting your jobs at risk pleas tell me with out the -uck Thank You

sammy001 wrote:
I am a Ford worker,I have just come home and found out we are supposedly going on strike!
At work we heard a rumour that dagenham were going to strike but nothing about us.What really amazes me are all the comments from people who think they know whats best for Ford workers.Until you work for 24 years in any profession,like myself you feel you have put into society enough tax and insurance plus pension in order to secure a fair standard of living in old age.I for one do not want to strike,but claim what money I have contributed in pension when i retire.To have so many people fighting each other is exactly what our government wants,whether they are labour,tory or liberals.Feel free to rip my comment to bits as we are all in the same trap,some admit it,some don't.!!

Ok i understand what your saying but everybody is in the same boat, unfortunately if you rock that boat you wont have a job to retire from. Final salary pensions are unaffordable you could well live into your 90s which would mean you taking out of the pension pot far more than you have put in multiply that by the amount of Ford workers and you are talking about one heck of a lot of money, which is why ALL companies are scrapping them not just Ford.

If you remember what Osbourne said in the Budget, Pensioners are a burden on Society, so any decent payment is not an option in this caring sharing Tory led Society. New Labour are no different so stop preaching it is Labours fault, it's not the real Labour Party that was in Government when this all started.

I wonder if anyone (except stillness, clausentum, lone ranger, etc - you know who I mean) could enlighten me.
It was always the case, back "in the old days", that if you worked hard at school, did all your homework, got your qualifications, you would get a good job. I remember, during the sixties, my teachers telling me, after a poor set of results :"If you don't improve on this, you'll end up working on a building site or in a factory". Ironically, from that time up until the Thatcher years, there were endless strikes and "work to rule" action (dockers, miners, etc.), and the average unqualified worker got pay rises that brought their wages way above the "white collar workers".
In 1969, my father, who was in charge of the financial section of a local authority department, was earning (now these are approximate figures) £18.00 a week. I, as a student with a holiday job, was earning £16.00 per week just putting dough in tins at Lowmans Bakery. When I went onto nights, I earned £22.00 per week. That is what the unqualified "shop floor" workers earned then. People at Fords were earning similar wages. After a few weeks, I moved to a local authority department because I did not want to work at night, and earned £9.00 per week as an admin clerk. The old job was easy: just lift the dough off the conveyor belt and put it into the tins going up into the prover. The new job required much learning about the nature of the work, and a wide variety of administration processes. It was much more demanding than the Lowmans job, but for far less money.
Today, manual workers still earn far more than “white-collar” workers. Leaving the two extremes of the academically very able (PHD and beyond) and those with severe learning difficulties, what incentive is there for the ordinary, average to good child at school to pay more attention and try a bit harder ? The lazy, the disruptive, and the below average child goes out evenings and weekends, does little or no homework of any value, and gets a job as soon as he/she leaves school, usually manual work, often with, or with the help of his/her mum/dad/uncle or whatever(I’m thinking “property developer “here), earning £300 a week. Those who do work harder in school end up in retail or local government on low wages, and those who manage to get to university start life on low wages plus a £30,000 debt.
Many of the so-called professional classes wait decades before promotion brings them a good wage. And many have to work long hours for which they are not paid (freelancers, doctors, teachers, etc.). Manual workers have traditionally not put in a single minute of overtime unless they get a wage rate of time-and-a-half or double-time. And if they can’t get what they want, they strike, irrespective of the damage and mayhem they may cause.
Wages, generally, in my opinion, should reflect the educational ability of the employee, together with the level of skill and extra training required to carry out the job. People who refuse to take work suited to their potential should be penalized in some way. For all this to work there would need to be some nationally agreed formula, monitored and enforced, to prevent employers from creating disparity between the wages of, say, NHS auxiliary nurses, and jobbing builders.
Maybe that all sounds “pie-in-the-sky”
- I hope not. But it could be achieved. What is unacceptable is greedy, bullying “workies” being able, by law, to hold the country to ransom in order to get their demands, and our habit of continually rewarding mediocre performance. If we can’t find a way of coercing the appropriate people to carry out work appropriate to their level of ability for an appropriate wage, we will always be in this mess.

BillyTheKid wrote:
I wonder if anyone (except stillness, clausentum, lone ranger, etc - you know who I mean) could enlighten me.
It was always the case, back "in the old days", that if you worked hard at school, did all your homework, got your qualifications, you would get a good job. I remember, during the sixties, my teachers telling me, after a poor set of results :"If you don't improve on this, you'll end up working on a building site or in a factory". Ironically, from that time up until the Thatcher years, there were endless strikes and "work to rule" action (dockers, miners, etc.), and the average unqualified worker got pay rises that brought their wages way above the "white collar workers".
In 1969, my father, who was in charge of the financial section of a local authority department, was earning (now these are approximate figures) £18.00 a week. I, as a student with a holiday job, was earning £16.00 per week just putting dough in tins at Lowmans Bakery. When I went onto nights, I earned £22.00 per week. That is what the unqualified "shop floor" workers earned then. People at Fords were earning similar wages. After a few weeks, I moved to a local authority department because I did not want to work at night, and earned £9.00 per week as an admin clerk. The old job was easy: just lift the dough off the conveyor belt and put it into the tins going up into the prover. The new job required much learning about the nature of the work, and a wide variety of administration processes. It was much more demanding than the Lowmans job, but for far less money.
Today, manual workers still earn far more than “white-collar” workers. Leaving the two extremes of the academically very able (PHD and beyond) and those with severe learning difficulties, what incentive is there for the ordinary, average to good child at school to pay more attention and try a bit harder ? The lazy, the disruptive, and the below average child goes out evenings and weekends, does little or no homework of any value, and gets a job as soon as he/she leaves school, usually manual work, often with, or with the help of his/her mum/dad/uncle or whatever(I’m thinking “property developer “here), earning £300 a week. Those who do work harder in school end up in retail or local government on low wages, and those who manage to get to university start life on low wages plus a £30,000 debt.
Many of the so-called professional classes wait decades before promotion brings them a good wage. And many have to work long hours for which they are not paid (freelancers, doctors, teachers, etc.). Manual workers have traditionally not put in a single minute of overtime unless they get a wage rate of time-and-a-half or double-time. And if they can’t get what they want, they strike, irrespective of the damage and mayhem they may cause.
Wages, generally, in my opinion, should reflect the educational ability of the employee, together with the level of skill and extra training required to carry out the job. People who refuse to take work suited to their potential should be penalized in some way. For all this to work there would need to be some nationally agreed formula, monitored and enforced, to prevent employers from creating disparity between the wages of, say, NHS auxiliary nurses, and jobbing builders.
Maybe that all sounds “pie-in-the-sky”

- I hope not. But it could be achieved. What is unacceptable is greedy, bullying “workies” being able, by law, to hold the country to ransom in order to get their demands, and our habit of continually rewarding mediocre performance. If we can’t find a way of coercing the appropriate people to carry out work appropriate to their level of ability for an appropriate wage, we will always be in this mess.

Didn't mean "coercing" - too sinister ! Really meant "encouraging". People should have the right to choose whatever job they want, so long as they are capable of doing it.

Love the 'assumption' that manual workers put in a mediocre performance LOL! or don't work as 'hard' as those in the white collar sector.... hmmmmmmm without our manual workers the country would come to a grinding halt - end of. you forget about the money that all workers put into the economy, including those on manual wages. Work is down to 'reward' not eductional achievements, otherwise poor old Richard Branson would be in trouble wouldn't he!

However, people aren't reading this properly for a start members are being ballotted, not have voted for a strike. And severral workers here have said that they know nothing about it. A slight case of the Echo jumping the gun again, which was exactly what happened last time.....

I'm totally in favour of people sticking up for their rights, but cannot see what a strike (should one be voted for) would achieve at the present moment in time. Seems to me this is another storm in a teacup stirred up by the press and not of very much substance by the sounds of it. Still it gives some people a reason to jump up and down on their computers procrastinating so maybe there is a use to it ! ;)

BillyTheKid wrote:
I wonder if anyone (except stillness, clausentum, lone ranger, etc - you know who I mean) could enlighten me.
It was always the case, back "in the old days", that if you worked hard at school, did all your homework, got your qualifications, you would get a good job. I remember, during the sixties, my teachers telling me, after a poor set of results :"If you don't improve on this, you'll end up working on a building site or in a factory". Ironically, from that time up until the Thatcher years, there were endless strikes and "work to rule" action (dockers, miners, etc.), and the average unqualified worker got pay rises that brought their wages way above the "white collar workers".
In 1969, my father, who was in charge of the financial section of a local authority department, was earning (now these are approximate figures) £18.00 a week. I, as a student with a holiday job, was earning £16.00 per week just putting dough in tins at Lowmans Bakery. When I went onto nights, I earned £22.00 per week. That is what the unqualified "shop floor" workers earned then. People at Fords were earning similar wages. After a few weeks, I moved to a local authority department because I did not want to work at night, and earned £9.00 per week as an admin clerk. The old job was easy: just lift the dough off the conveyor belt and put it into the tins going up into the prover. The new job required much learning about the nature of the work, and a wide variety of administration processes. It was much more demanding than the Lowmans job, but for far less money.
Today, manual workers still earn far more than “white-collar” workers. Leaving the two extremes of the academically very able (PHD and beyond) and those with severe learning difficulties, what incentive is there for the ordinary, average to good child at school to pay more attention and try a bit harder ? The lazy, the disruptive, and the below average child goes out evenings and weekends, does little or no homework of any value, and gets a job as soon as he/she leaves school, usually manual work, often with, or with the help of his/her mum/dad/uncle or whatever(I’m thinking “property developer “here), earning £300 a week. Those who do work harder in school end up in retail or local government on low wages, and those who manage to get to university start life on low wages plus a £30,000 debt.
Many of the so-called professional classes wait decades before promotion brings them a good wage. And many have to work long hours for which they are not paid (freelancers, doctors, teachers, etc.). Manual workers have traditionally not put in a single minute of overtime unless they get a wage rate of time-and-a-half or double-time. And if they can’t get what they want, they strike, irrespective of the damage and mayhem they may cause.
Wages, generally, in my opinion, should reflect the educational ability of the employee, together with the level of skill and extra training required to carry out the job. People who refuse to take work suited to their potential should be penalized in some way. For all this to work there would need to be some nationally agreed formula, monitored and enforced, to prevent employers from creating disparity between the wages of, say, NHS auxiliary nurses, and jobbing builders.
Maybe that all sounds “pie-in-the-sky”

- I hope not. But it could be achieved. What is unacceptable is greedy, bullying “workies” being able, by law, to hold the country to ransom in order to get their demands, and our habit of continually rewarding mediocre performance. If we can’t find a way of coercing the appropriate people to carry out work appropriate to their level of ability for an appropriate wage, we will always be in this mess.

I wont attempt to enlighten your verbal arrogance as i am exempt so it apears.
.
Yes only the brain of a school teacher could actually go to print with 54 lines and not actually say anything with any relevance.
.
Excuse the spelling mistakes only as i was not good enough .. ....even for Lowmans.
.
However with your experience with bread i can now see where the phrase "one sandwich short of ------- " well you know the rest

freemantlegirl2 wrote:
Love the 'assumption' that manual workers put in a mediocre performance LOL! or don't work as 'hard' as those in the white collar sector.... hmmmmmmm without our manual workers the country would come to a grinding halt - end of. you forget about the money that all workers put into the economy, including those on manual wages. Work is down to 'reward' not eductional achievements, otherwise poor old Richard Branson would be in trouble wouldn't he!

However, people aren't reading this properly for a start members are being ballotted, not have voted for a strike. And severral workers here have said that they know nothing about it. A slight case of the Echo jumping the gun again, which was exactly what happened last time.....

I'm totally in favour of people sticking up for their rights, but cannot see what a strike (should one be voted for) would achieve at the present moment in time. Seems to me this is another storm in a teacup stirred up by the press and not of very much substance by the sounds of it. Still it gives some people a reason to jump up and down on their computers procrastinating so maybe there is a use to it ! ;)

Where does it say that I believe manual workers put in a mediocre performance, or don't work as hard as white collar workers? That is complete nonsense, and poor comprehension on your part.

I said manual workers only work overtime if they are paid. That does not mean they do not work hard during the hours they are employed. To suggest that I do not realise that the manual workforce keep the country going is absurd beyond belief !

Now, the second part of my sentence, which is a general statement, does not refer to manual workers, but to, for instance, highly-paid politicians who do not do their job properly, failing teachers who seem to stay in their post for years before being kicked out, and customer service call centres who promise to put things right but only do so afer you've complained half a dozen times. That's what I call "mediore performance".

My argument, as a whole, is that I believe we need to radically change the way education, employment and financial reward are linked to make it fairer for everyone. If we don't, the quality of life is going to stay at rock bottom for most of us.

Lone Ranger. wrote:

BillyTheKid wrote:
I wonder if anyone (except stillness, clausentum, lone ranger, etc - you know who I mean) could enlighten me.
It was always the case, back "in the old days", that if you worked hard at school, did all your homework, got your qualifications, you would get a good job. I remember, during the sixties, my teachers telling me, after a poor set of results :"If you don't improve on this, you'll end up working on a building site or in a factory". Ironically, from that time up until the Thatcher years, there were endless strikes and "work to rule" action (dockers, miners, etc.), and the average unqualified worker got pay rises that brought their wages way above the "white collar workers".
In 1969, my father, who was in charge of the financial section of a local authority department, was earning (now these are approximate figures) £18.00 a week. I, as a student with a holiday job, was earning £16.00 per week just putting dough in tins at Lowmans Bakery. When I went onto nights, I earned £22.00 per week. That is what the unqualified "shop floor" workers earned then. People at Fords were earning similar wages. After a few weeks, I moved to a local authority department because I did not want to work at night, and earned £9.00 per week as an admin clerk. The old job was easy: just lift the dough off the conveyor belt and put it into the tins going up into the prover. The new job required much learning about the nature of the work, and a wide variety of administration processes. It was much more demanding than the Lowmans job, but for far less money.
Today, manual workers still earn far more than “white-collar” workers. Leaving the two extremes of the academically very able (PHD and beyond) and those with severe learning difficulties, what incentive is there for the ordinary, average to good child at school to pay more attention and try a bit harder ? The lazy, the disruptive, and the below average child goes out evenings and weekends, does little or no homework of any value, and gets a job as soon as he/she leaves school, usually manual work, often with, or with the help of his/her mum/dad/uncle or whatever(I’m thinking “property developer “here), earning £300 a week. Those who do work harder in school end up in retail or local government on low wages, and those who manage to get to university start life on low wages plus a £30,000 debt.
Many of the so-called professional classes wait decades before promotion brings them a good wage. And many have to work long hours for which they are not paid (freelancers, doctors, teachers, etc.). Manual workers have traditionally not put in a single minute of overtime unless they get a wage rate of time-and-a-half or double-time. And if they can’t get what they want, they strike, irrespective of the damage and mayhem they may cause.
Wages, generally, in my opinion, should reflect the educational ability of the employee, together with the level of skill and extra training required to carry out the job. People who refuse to take work suited to their potential should be penalized in some way. For all this to work there would need to be some nationally agreed formula, monitored and enforced, to prevent employers from creating disparity between the wages of, say, NHS auxiliary nurses, and jobbing builders.
Maybe that all sounds “pie-in-the-sky”


- I hope not. But it could be achieved. What is unacceptable is greedy, bullying “workies” being able, by law, to hold the country to ransom in order to get their demands, and our habit of continually rewarding mediocre performance. If we can’t find a way of coercing the appropriate people to carry out work appropriate to their level of ability for an appropriate wage, we will always be in this mess.

I wont attempt to enlighten your verbal arrogance as i am exempt so it apears.
.
Yes only the brain of a school teacher could actually go to print with 54 lines and not actually say anything with any relevance.
.
Excuse the spelling mistakes only as i was not good enough .. ....even for Lowmans.
.
However with your experience with bread i can now see where the phrase "one sandwich short of ------- " well you know the rest

Two words for you, Ranger, and one of them is "off" ! That's all you and your pathetic, childish comments are ever worth.

freemantlegirl2 wrote:
Love the 'assumption' that manual workers put in a mediocre performance LOL! or don't work as 'hard' as those in the white collar sector.... hmmmmmmm without our manual workers the country would come to a grinding halt - end of. you forget about the money that all workers put into the economy, including those on manual wages. Work is down to 'reward' not eductional achievements, otherwise poor old Richard Branson would be in trouble wouldn't he!

However, people aren't reading this properly for a start members are being ballotted, not have voted for a strike. And severral workers here have said that they know nothing about it. A slight case of the Echo jumping the gun again, which was exactly what happened last time.....

I'm totally in favour of people sticking up for their rights, but cannot see what a strike (should one be voted for) would achieve at the present moment in time. Seems to me this is another storm in a teacup stirred up by the press and not of very much substance by the sounds of it. Still it gives some people a reason to jump up and down on their computers procrastinating so maybe there is a use to it ! ;)

I'm 55 now & when I went to Bellemoor my headmaster told my class that Manual work would be in very short demand in the future in this country.
He said it would be skills such as electronics,robotics ,computers & trades men we will need.
Many of us disagreed with him but he was right.
I worked in a factory but they could pay less not pay NI stamp & lower taxes so they went to Poland & many factories have gone that way.
To strike when you know there are plants dying to get your work is crazy.
Unite know this & surely if a would be employee is informed of the facts that they would be on a lower wage & no pension & they sign up for work I can't see why Unite's balloting for strike action?

TERRIBLE PLACE TO WORK UNION IS A LOAD OF YES MEN.ME SOLD DOWN THE RIVER DUE TO CHEAP LABOUR OPIONS JUST SHUT THE DOSS HOLE NOW GIVE IT TO TURKEY.

BillyTheKid wrote:

Lone Ranger. wrote:

BillyTheKid wrote:
I wonder if anyone (except stillness, clausentum, lone ranger, etc - you know who I mean) could enlighten me.
It was always the case, back "in the old days", that if you worked hard at school, did all your homework, got your qualifications, you would get a good job. I remember, during the sixties, my teachers telling me, after a poor set of results :"If you don't improve on this, you'll end up working on a building site or in a factory". Ironically, from that time up until the Thatcher years, there were endless strikes and "work to rule" action (dockers, miners, etc.), and the average unqualified worker got pay rises that brought their wages way above the "white collar workers".
In 1969, my father, who was in charge of the financial section of a local authority department, was earning (now these are approximate figures) £18.00 a week. I, as a student with a holiday job, was earning £16.00 per week just putting dough in tins at Lowmans Bakery. When I went onto nights, I earned £22.00 per week. That is what the unqualified "shop floor" workers earned then. People at Fords were earning similar wages. After a few weeks, I moved to a local authority department because I did not want to work at night, and earned £9.00 per week as an admin clerk. The old job was easy: just lift the dough off the conveyor belt and put it into the tins going up into the prover. The new job required much learning about the nature of the work, and a wide variety of administration processes. It was much more demanding than the Lowmans job, but for far less money.
Today, manual workers still earn far more than “white-collar” workers. Leaving the two extremes of the academically very able (PHD and beyond) and those with severe learning difficulties, what incentive is there for the ordinary, average to good child at school to pay more attention and try a bit harder ? The lazy, the disruptive, and the below average child goes out evenings and weekends, does little or no homework of any value, and gets a job as soon as he/she leaves school, usually manual work, often with, or with the help of his/her mum/dad/uncle or whatever(I’m thinking “property developer “here), earning £300 a week. Those who do work harder in school end up in retail or local government on low wages, and those who manage to get to university start life on low wages plus a £30,000 debt.
Many of the so-called professional classes wait decades before promotion brings them a good wage. And many have to work long hours for which they are not paid (freelancers, doctors, teachers, etc.). Manual workers have traditionally not put in a single minute of overtime unless they get a wage rate of time-and-a-half or double-time. And if they can’t get what they want, they strike, irrespective of the damage and mayhem they may cause.
Wages, generally, in my opinion, should reflect the educational ability of the employee, together with the level of skill and extra training required to carry out the job. People who refuse to take work suited to their potential should be penalized in some way. For all this to work there would need to be some nationally agreed formula, monitored and enforced, to prevent employers from creating disparity between the wages of, say, NHS auxiliary nurses, and jobbing builders.
Maybe that all sounds “pie-in-the-sky”



- I hope not. But it could be achieved. What is unacceptable is greedy, bullying “workies” being able, by law, to hold the country to ransom in order to get their demands, and our habit of continually rewarding mediocre performance. If we can’t find a way of coercing the appropriate people to carry out work appropriate to their level of ability for an appropriate wage, we will always be in this mess.

I wont attempt to enlighten your verbal arrogance as i am exempt so it apears.
.
Yes only the brain of a school teacher could actually go to print with 54 lines and not actually say anything with any relevance.
.
Excuse the spelling mistakes only as i was not good enough .. ....even for Lowmans.
.
However with your experience with bread i can now see where the phrase "one sandwich short of ------- " well you know the rest

Two words for you, Ranger, and one of them is "off" ! That's all you and your pathetic, childish comments are ever worth.

I used to make good Dosh at Lowmans putting cream or Jam in Doenuts!

Fatty x Ford Worker wrote:
TERRIBLE PLACE TO WORK UNION IS A LOAD OF YES MEN.ME SOLD DOWN THE RIVER DUE TO CHEAP LABOUR OPIONS JUST SHUT THE DOSS HOLE NOW GIVE IT TO TURKEY.

CHASSIS CAB YOU ARE AVING A LAUGH AINT YOU LCX,LCY LINE FILLERS!

bobbyboy wrote:
After 32 years of it and lucky enough to leave with a final those men that are left and joining deserve all the benifits they are entitaled too for the rest of you who have never enterer the Ford way of life Shut The -uck Up.

Coffin Dodger!

Greedy, dozy tw*ts

Try to understand that it is only the staff that have yet to accept the pay deal and are being balloted. Over 90% of the workers (hourly paid) have accepted the pay deal and, consequently, the new terms and conditions.

How much longer will the plant be here?

Not much longer as only 36% of vans are sold!
The rest are unsold reserve stock !

BillyTheKid wrote:

Lone Ranger. wrote:

BillyTheKid wrote:
I wonder if anyone (except stillness, clausentum, lone ranger, etc - you know who I mean) could enlighten me.
It was always the case, back "in the old days", that if you worked hard at school, did all your homework, got your qualifications, you would get a good job. I remember, during the sixties, my teachers telling me, after a poor set of results :"If you don't improve on this, you'll end up working on a building site or in a factory". Ironically, from that time up until the Thatcher years, there were endless strikes and "work to rule" action (dockers, miners, etc.), and the average unqualified worker got pay rises that brought their wages way above the "white collar workers".
In 1969, my father, who was in charge of the financial section of a local authority department, was earning (now these are approximate figures) £18.00 a week. I, as a student with a holiday job, was earning £16.00 per week just putting dough in tins at Lowmans Bakery. When I went onto nights, I earned £22.00 per week. That is what the unqualified "shop floor" workers earned then. People at Fords were earning similar wages. After a few weeks, I moved to a local authority department because I did not want to work at night, and earned £9.00 per week as an admin clerk. The old job was easy: just lift the dough off the conveyor belt and put it into the tins going up into the prover. The new job required much learning about the nature of the work, and a wide variety of administration processes. It was much more demanding than the Lowmans job, but for far less money.
Today, manual workers still earn far more than “white-collar” workers. Leaving the two extremes of the academically very able (PHD and beyond) and those with severe learning difficulties, what incentive is there for the ordinary, average to good child at school to pay more attention and try a bit harder ? The lazy, the disruptive, and the below average child goes out evenings and weekends, does little or no homework of any value, and gets a job as soon as he/she leaves school, usually manual work, often with, or with the help of his/her mum/dad/uncle or whatever(I’m thinking “property developer “here), earning £300 a week. Those who do work harder in school end up in retail or local government on low wages, and those who manage to get to university start life on low wages plus a £30,000 debt.
Many of the so-called professional classes wait decades before promotion brings them a good wage. And many have to work long hours for which they are not paid (freelancers, doctors, teachers, etc.). Manual workers have traditionally not put in a single minute of overtime unless they get a wage rate of time-and-a-half or double-time. And if they can’t get what they want, they strike, irrespective of the damage and mayhem they may cause.
Wages, generally, in my opinion, should reflect the educational ability of the employee, together with the level of skill and extra training required to carry out the job. People who refuse to take work suited to their potential should be penalized in some way. For all this to work there would need to be some nationally agreed formula, monitored and enforced, to prevent employers from creating disparity between the wages of, say, NHS auxiliary nurses, and jobbing builders.
Maybe that all sounds “pie-in-the-sky”



- I hope not. But it could be achieved. What is unacceptable is greedy, bullying “workies” being able, by law, to hold the country to ransom in order to get their demands, and our habit of continually rewarding mediocre performance. If we can’t find a way of coercing the appropriate people to carry out work appropriate to their level of ability for an appropriate wage, we will always be in this mess.

I wont attempt to enlighten your verbal arrogance as i am exempt so it apears.
.
Yes only the brain of a school teacher could actually go to print with 54 lines and not actually say anything with any relevance.
.
Excuse the spelling mistakes only as i was not good enough .. ....even for Lowmans.
.
However with your experience with bread i can now see where the phrase "one sandwich short of ------- " well you know the rest

Two words for you, Ranger, and one of them is "off" ! That's all you and your pathetic, childish comments are ever worth.

Oh dear kid ..... hit a bit of a nerve have we.
.
If you wanty to know what "pathetic" and "childish" mean then start reading your own posts. .......... They could be rather enlightening ..... for the uneducated ..... However i gfind them "childish" and "pathetic" .... and somewhat arrogant

ohec wrote:

southy wrote:

once a saint wrote:

southy wrote:
Don't be soft in the head you two, you are thinking just the way the wealthy want you to think. Good on the Ford workers do what is right, start sticking up for your selfs and start fighting for others.

My views are not influenced by "the way the wealthy want me to think" but from a realistic eyes wide open viewpoint. Country back in recession mass job cuts at British Gas call centre in Southampton can we really afford for another large employer to shut down?

No we can't but think about it in another way, what do Ford's really own at that plant, they only own the the Ford badge that is stuck onto the van, the design is owned by design firm, the building and the tools are all paid for by british tax payers, Why do you think Fords made the threat to go to Turkey for, that was because the Government would not pay fords the 50 million to change tools for the new design ford van, so fords ended up resetting the old tools and limit to what could be produce there.
If Fords do decide to pull out, then the workers should take over the plant and run it like a co-op and carry on producing vans and this scares Fords and is why they are keeping it running even lo its at a reduce rate they do not want this to happen.

So the workers take over the plant and then what?? ask Ford please can we have all of the tools etc so we can carry on making an old van, if it doesn't sink in the first time read it again and then you might realise how stupid it sounds. Remember L.D.V old junk nobody wanted.

The tools would have to remain they do not belong to fords but belong to the British Tax payers, the only thing Fords owns is the Ford Badge and that is it.
LDV is still going very good van, a Chinese firm owns LDV now "Eco Concept" the Polish plant as been closed down and all tools have been moved to the Birmingham plant.

OSPREYSAINT wrote:
If you remember what Osbourne said in the Budget, Pensioners are a burden on Society, so any decent payment is not an option in this caring sharing Tory led Society. New Labour are no different so stop preaching it is Labours fault, it's not the real Labour Party that was in Government when this all started.

Agree with you, The Labour Party will never be the real Labour Party again they have turned there backs on the Working Class, the Right Wing aka Capitalist have total control over the Labour Party, any that are still on the left are to scared to say any thing now in fear of being booted out of the Labour Party.

What I can under stand is those that are posting on here saying that they work for Fords, how come they don't know what is going on don't they read there notice boards or ask the work manger or shop steward questions.

southy wrote:

OSPREYSAINT wrote: If you remember what Osbourne said in the Budget, Pensioners are a burden on Society, so any decent payment is not an option in this caring sharing Tory led Society. New Labour are no different so stop preaching it is Labours fault, it's not the real Labour Party that was in Government when this all started.

Agree with you, The Labour Party will never be the real Labour Party again they have turned there backs on the Working Class, the Right Wing aka Capitalist have total control over the Labour Party, any that are still on the left are to scared to say any thing now in fear of being booted out of the Labour Party. What I can under stand is those that are posting on here saying that they work for Fords, how come they don't know what is going on don't they read there notice boards or ask the work manger or shop steward questions.

The workers are busy keeping their heads down building transit vans. It’s the staff that have the issue now and trust me, there is nothing on the notice boards about this.

southy wrote:

ohec wrote:

southy wrote:

once a saint wrote:

southy wrote:
Don't be soft in the head you two, you are thinking just the way the wealthy want you to think. Good on the Ford workers do what is right, start sticking up for your selfs and start fighting for others.

My views are not influenced by "the way the wealthy want me to think" but from a realistic eyes wide open viewpoint. Country back in recession mass job cuts at British Gas call centre in Southampton can we really afford for another large employer to shut down?

No we can't but think about it in another way, what do Ford's really own at that plant, they only own the the Ford badge that is stuck onto the van, the design is owned by design firm, the building and the tools are all paid for by british tax payers, Why do you think Fords made the threat to go to Turkey for, that was because the Government would not pay fords the 50 million to change tools for the new design ford van, so fords ended up resetting the old tools and limit to what could be produce there.
If Fords do decide to pull out, then the workers should take over the plant and run it like a co-op and carry on producing vans and this scares Fords and is why they are keeping it running even lo its at a reduce rate they do not want this to happen.

So the workers take over the plant and then what?? ask Ford please can we have all of the tools etc so we can carry on making an old van, if it doesn't sink in the first time read it again and then you might realise how stupid it sounds. Remember L.D.V old junk nobody wanted.

The tools would have to remain they do not belong to fords but belong to the British Tax payers, the only thing Fords owns is the Ford Badge and that is it.
LDV is still going very good van, a Chinese firm owns LDV now "Eco Concept" the Polish plant as been closed down and all tools have been moved to the Birmingham plant.

'The tools would have to remain they do not belong to fords but belong to the British Tax payers'....
So what happened to all the tools from the closed Ford factory in Dagenham?
What about Rover in Birmingham, Hillman in Linwood, and DeLorean in Belfast, amongst others.
All of these factories enjoyed massive UK Govt subsidies
btw Ford own the design rights to all their vehilces and have design and development centres in Essex and Cologne which are very expensive to run.
Why would they spend millions on developing vehicles if they dont own the design rights?

phil maccavity wrote:

southy wrote:

ohec wrote:

southy wrote:

once a saint wrote:

southy wrote:
Don't be soft in the head you two, you are thinking just the way the wealthy want you to think. Good on the Ford workers do what is right, start sticking up for your selfs and start fighting for others.

My views are not influenced by "the way the wealthy want me to think" but from a realistic eyes wide open viewpoint. Country back in recession mass job cuts at British Gas call centre in Southampton can we really afford for another large employer to shut down?

No we can't but think about it in another way, what do Ford's really own at that plant, they only own the the Ford badge that is stuck onto the van, the design is owned by design firm, the building and the tools are all paid for by british tax payers, Why do you think Fords made the threat to go to Turkey for, that was because the Government would not pay fords the 50 million to change tools for the new design ford van, so fords ended up resetting the old tools and limit to what could be produce there.
If Fords do decide to pull out, then the workers should take over the plant and run it like a co-op and carry on producing vans and this scares Fords and is why they are keeping it running even lo its at a reduce rate they do not want this to happen.

So the workers take over the plant and then what?? ask Ford please can we have all of the tools etc so we can carry on making an old van, if it doesn't sink in the first time read it again and then you might realise how stupid it sounds. Remember L.D.V old junk nobody wanted.

The tools would have to remain they do not belong to fords but belong to the British Tax payers, the only thing Fords owns is the Ford Badge and that is it.
LDV is still going very good van, a Chinese firm owns LDV now "Eco Concept" the Polish plant as been closed down and all tools have been moved to the Birmingham plant.

'The tools would have to remain they do not belong to fords but belong to the British Tax payers'....
So what happened to all the tools from the closed Ford factory in Dagenham?
What about Rover in Birmingham, Hillman in Linwood, and DeLorean in Belfast, amongst others.
All of these factories enjoyed massive UK Govt subsidies
btw Ford own the design rights to all their vehilces and have design and development centres in Essex and Cologne which are very expensive to run.
Why would they spend millions on developing vehicles if they dont own the design rights?

Your standing for Redbridge Pete Wyatt ?
After looking at the leaflet just put through my door I've lost any hope of you taking votes off of Labour