Britain at work in the 20th century. 2: The Track
In the 30s, when other industries were in decline, the new car firms were prospering. They were based on a new type of work - the moving track:
'Anyone could do it....They could train him in five to ten minutes. It was really boring ... but they did it for the money.' (ASSEMBLY WORKER) Car workers and their bosses talk about the good times, when Britain's motor industry was second only to the American, profits and wages were high, and exports boomed after the war: 'We'd won the war, we were on top of the world, and they thought that everything that was British was best, same as we did.'
(COVENTRY WORKER)
But the writing was already on the wall. There were too many scattered plants. Labour relations worsened. By the 70s Britain's car-makers were on the brink of collapse, from which they are only now recovering.
Narrator John Woodvine
Music by CARL DAVIS Film editors
PHILIP ELLIOTT and MAX WHEELER Researcher HOLLY AYLETT
Assistant producer PETER GRIMSDALE Producer PETER CERESOLE
Executive producer PETER PAGNAMENTA