AFTER so many years of lies and false promises, it came as little surprise to Mike Simms that his future as one of 6,000 workers at Longbridge was again hanging in the balance.
During his 19-year career as a paint sprayer at Rover, the 39-year-old has lost count of the number of companies he has worked for. With the prospect of a Chinese owner, at least one thought consoled him last night.
“They can’t be no worse than the Germans,” he said. “They ruined the place. They took all the technology, all the new models. Everything that was worth anything, they took. At least the Chinese have got better food.”
As workers left Q gate on the factory perimeter, where a Union Jack flies next to the insignia of MG and the Rover Group, many confessed that they were too emotionally drained even to contemplate another change of ownership. Four years ago John Towers, head of the Phoenix Venture Holdings consortium which bought Rover from BMW and promised to keep the Longbridge plant and its thousands of jobs, was regarded as a saviour in this corner of the West Midlands. But his reputation has been in freefall since revelations last autumn that he and four fellow directors paid themselves £13 million, which went into a trust fund for their pensions.
Colin Bailey, 54, who has worked at the plant for 28 years, said: “He just wants the money, like the other directors in there. They’re all millionaires, aren’t they?”
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Mr Bailey, who has two grown-up children and lives within a mile of the factory, added: “At least they gave us another four years. I think most of us were surprised that we got a reprieve, but these days everything’s going to places like China. They can get a labourer over there for £20 a week. How are we supposed to compete with that?”
As stories swirled around the plant, one worker joked: “We heard the rumour as we were clocking off. Rover are denying it, but they deny everything. We never get to hear the truth until it’s too late.”
The effect on morale of yet more speculation about their futures was obvious. One stopped to say: “It’s the same bloody story: we don’t hear anything. You get to a point where there are so many rumours that you just don’t know what the truth is.”
Probably the happiest person in Longbridge last night was Mary Yang, 30, a waitress at Lai Ling Cantonese restaurant, half a mile from the plant. Mrs Yang, originally from Jiling province in eastern China, said: “For China I think it’s good. It means that we’re stronger than before. Only ten years ago Chinese people wouldn’t have dreamt that we could control a bit factory like that. It makes me feel proud.”