Was chatting to one of the operators at a customer recently and had worked at Rover, scary what was normal only 25-30 years a go. My dad worked at Longbridge 45 years a go so it was interesting talking to him.Some highlights.....
The shift before Xmas shutdown everyone drank, he said about 2am the first year he was there he didn't know if he could stand up till the end of the shift,he said he had more than he would have on a night out now and was on a 12h shift!
Later him and another bloke were shift cover for peoples breaks and they had worked out they could cover both lots of work and then take in turns having a hour off.
When he moved up to testing he said one of the cars had a TV and he remembers watching an FA cup final while "testing for faults"
They had a new car every 6-9 months paid for directly from your wages.
When some production moved to Oxford they paid travel to Oxford as overtime.
My dad always said that you should never buy an Allegro,Maxi,1800 from anywhere near the factory because they would often have parts from a later car so when you went to the dealer for bit they would be different to ones you had. He said what used to happen was a part go binned as it didn't fit and then went home.
The shift before Xmas shutdown everyone drank, he said about 2am the first year he was there he didn't know if he could stand up till the end of the shift,he said he had more than he would have on a night out now and was on a 12h shift!
Later him and another bloke were shift cover for peoples breaks and they had worked out they could cover both lots of work and then take in turns having a hour off.
When he moved up to testing he said one of the cars had a TV and he remembers watching an FA cup final while "testing for faults"
They had a new car every 6-9 months paid for directly from your wages.
When some production moved to Oxford they paid travel to Oxford as overtime.
My dad always said that you should never buy an Allegro,Maxi,1800 from anywhere near the factory because they would often have parts from a later car so when you went to the dealer for bit they would be different to ones you had. He said what used to happen was a part go binned as it didn't fit and then went home.