Strike threatens Ford plants

The threat of industrial action by lorry drivers which would cripple Ford plants throughout Britain and the Continent within days moved a step nearer after their union gave them the go-ahead to conduct a strike ballot.

More than 300 members of the company's truck fleet at Dagenham are angry over the company's refusal to recognise the United Road Transport Union. The drivers switched to URTU after their original union, the Transport and General, alleged that an "in-house" selection system for jobs with the truck fleet was racist. The T&G insisted on new " independent" procedures, but URTU argues that the ethnic make-up of the driver workforce is similar to the transport industry as a whole.