Oral History collection: Keith Foley (born 14 Apr. 1947, Hampton, Middlesex (moved to Port Talbot aged 3), steel worker, Port Talbot Steelworks) interviewed by Bleddyn Penny about life in Port Talbot and working life in the steelworks

[00:00:01] Personal Details: Keith Foley (KF), b Hampton, Middx, 14/4/47, moved to Port Talbot aged 3. [00:01:58] Education: St Joseph's Catholic School, Port Talbot, left at 15, 1962. [00:02:06] Personal Details: Work at Woolworths, Station Rd, Port Talbot, until 1966: Bridgend transfer, then Neath ("didn't like Neath"), Barry ("didn't like Barry"), June 1968 quit. [00:03:24] Industry: Work at SCoW, with rest of family, until 2001. [00:04:03] Industry: Entire career in Transport Dept, initially as clerk in Road Accounts section. [00:04:23] Industry: 14 in section, 12 women: sound of knitting all day [workload?]. [00:04:40] Industry: Transfer to road Weighbridge, Road Control Point, shift work. [00:05:14] Industry: Work: weighing lorries - v busy days, afternoons, quiet nights. [00:05:32] Industry: Use of A4 envelopes to defeat security. [00:06:03] Industry: First impressions of steelworks - everything huge. [00:07:07] Transport: Jetties: conveyor belts for ore & coal, 5000t per hour non-stop. [00:07:27] Industry: Internal Vacancy lists, circulated within works. [00:07:50] Industry: Trevor Howards, manager, excellent boss. [00:08:22] Industry: Initial recruitment to SCoW via father, foreman in rail section. [00:09:30] Industry: Weighing procedures, tear/net/gross weights: max gross 1968-69 32 tons, later 44 tons. [00:10:04] Industry: Transit shed, store for exports. [00:11:44] Industry: Transit shed conditions "dreadful", cold, but great cameraderie. [00:12:11] Transport: 12-13 artics hired from British Road Services, 4 men in section. [00:12:45] Industry: Transit shed working practices. [00:13:39] Industry: KF: small teams = better working practices. [00:14:29] Wages: Woolworths, Barry: £21pw; initial £19pw at SCoW, fewer hours, less travel costs, so better off. [00:15:13] Wages: Brickies relining furnaces, good money. Shiftwork better money. [00:16:34] Transport: Late '60s Associated British Ports(ABP) rationalising shipping, etc: close Port Talbot, change to Swansea. [00:17:18] Transport: Steelworks good ABP offer to use Swansea, King's Dock, D Shed, so Transit Shed closed. [00:17:58] Transport: ABP reneged on above good deal, put prices "through the roof". [00:19:28] Industry: Rail Traffic Dept, c 130 miles of track within works, KF joined 1974. [00:20:09] Wages: Wage grading, different jobs. [00:20:53] Industry: Shift checking work on entry to works. [00:21:52] Transport: Explanation of "roads" and "dead-ends". [00:24:18] Industry: Rail checking: 4 men per shift; older men pro-restrictive demarcation, legacy of military service. [00:26:10] Society: Generation Gap, caused by war: most of original workforce, 1951, from services. [00:26:51] Industry: "Biggest problem" of British Steel: government interference. [00:28:39] Industry: Corporate changes (paperwork, headings) cost £9m at Port Talbot, old stuff thrown away. [00:29:22] Industry: Privatisation did away with interference, works profitable. [00:30:19] Industry: Privatisation late '80s: 1968 13000 workforce, 42000t pw output: 2001 3800 workforce, 80000t pw output, partly due to technology (computers, etc). [00:31:18] Industry: Manning practices poor, managerial rivalries to enlarge workforce. [00:32:09] Industry: Rail Dept overmanning 1974. [00:32:25] Industry: 1980 "Slimline". [00:32:55] Industry: Supervisory Relief concept, due to shortage of skilled foremen in Rail Dept. [00:33:39] Industry: Rail Dept foremen narrow skill base, not versatile. [00:34:35] Industry: Supervisory Relief practices. [00:35:13] Industry: Workforce resentment at changes. [00:35:44] Industry: KF experiences as Relief Supervisor. [00:36:22] Industry: Concast (Continuous Casting) replaces ingot production - description of process. [00:37:55] Industry: Ingot control description. [00:38:29] Industry: Relief Supervisor work rotations. [00:39:08] Industry: Management practices, uncomplimentary description. [00:39:45] Industry: Rail Dept work practices. [00:40:56] Industry: Rail Dept local crews, mainly good. [00:41:51] Industry: Management practices, mainly hands-off. [00:42:16] Industry: Supervisory initiatives and practices - cf auftragstaktiks. [00:43:55] Transport days on 4 off: "Tie-on" and "cut-off" procedures, wagons. [00:44:44] Industry: Management set policies, let staff run things. [00:45:00] Industry: Shift system, patterns, hours: continental rota at first, evolved. [00:47:35] Industry: Shift patterns. [00:48:50] Industry: 2001 change to 12 hour shifts: 4 days on 4 off, popular. [00:50:22] Industry: Night shifts, coping mechanisms, "witching hours" - low periods. [00:52:26] Industry: Work concentration problems, dislocation. [00:54:45] Industry: Overtime opportunities. [00:55:11] Wages: Workforce paid monthly. [00:55:27] Industry: Changes: attitude more relaxed as older generation left, better teamwork, less men, more production. [00:56:55] Industry: Technology: KF on own, with CCTVs, could do work of 7 Hot Metal Dept foremen. [00:57:36] Industry: BS never shirked on capital investment. [00:59:06] Sandfields: "Fine place" to live in 1950s. [00:59:59] Sandfields: Housing pre-dated roads. [00:60:30] Sandfields: Most people seemed to work in steelworks. [00:61:25] Port Talbot: Wealthy community - full employment, good wages. [00:62:25] Leisure: Leisure pursuits - fishing, motorbikes (£109/19/9d, 1964 Honda, second-hand [?]). [00:63:51] Leisure: Social clubs, drinking. [00:65:38] Unions: Union membership, pressure to join, ISTC. [00:70:27] Industry: Tata Steel management practices. [00:71:04] Strikes: 1980 strike: 3 months, little support amongst workers, was there vote?. [00:72:23] Strikes: Industrial sabotage: "damage gang"; KF received unpleasant messages (phone) from TU rep Eric Bowen, and others. [00:74:54] Strikes: Strike cost KF c £2k, "lot of money, then". [00:75:28] Strikes: Worth of strike: offered 5%, 3 month strike, got 2-2.5%. [00:76:17] Strikes: 1984 miners' strike: NUR blocked iron ore trains Port Talbot-Llanwern. [00:77:58] Strikes: Role of Assistant Director, Arthur Bowden aka God. [00:79:05] Strikes: Road transport to replace rail for strike: handling equipment geared for rail, not trucks. [00:79:25] Strikes: David Meakes, Mansfield, Notts, to supply lorries - experience of running coal to schools, hospitals, in strikes (NUM permit). [00:80:15] Strikes: Scargill role in transport row. [00:80:47] Strikes: Iron ore movement procedures. [00:81:25] Strikes: Overhead bunkers: 30t capacity, too much for lorry, so JCB shovels used. [00:81:40] Strikes: Weighing materials problems; South Wales Traffic Commission. [00:82:35] Strikes: Plan to run ore to Llanwern by road, twice daily convoy, police advice (Inspector Mike Petts). [00:83:01] Strikes: Aim of ore transport: to keep Llanwern furnaces hot, production not an aim. [00:83:21] Strikes: KF thought it a three week project: took ten months. [00:83:35] Strikes: First convoy to Llanwern: 57-59 vehicles, police escort. [00:84:30] Strikes: Convoy routines, practice: 125 vehicle convoys, thrice daily. [00:86:00] Strikes: Convoy frequency dependent on police manpower/vehicle availability. [00:86:19] Strikes: Llanwern receiving enough ore to make steel, not merely maintain furnaces (225 vehicle convoys, eventually). [00:86:52] Strikes: 1.6m tons of ore by road to Llanwern in 10 months. [00:87:10] Strikes: Kim Howells, NUM, lack of concern for steelworkers. [00:87:21] Strikes: Steelworkers lack of sympathy to miners' strike. [00:87:56] Strikes: Llanwern initial 3 week material stock at start of strike