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February 23rd, 2000A great day for the Irish…St. Patrick’s Day in 1937 might have been a great day for the Irish but it was also a great day for Ford Australia. On March 17, 1937 the new Ford Assembly Plant on Parramatta Rd, Homebush, west of Sydney, was opened. The factory was opposite what is now the site for the 2000 Olympic Games and the plant was built to the same standards as Ford factories all over the world. One of the design features was that the roof would be able to stand the weight of several feet of snow and ice! Needless to say, this feature was never proven on the Sydney plant. One thing that was proven, however, was the reliability of the workforce. Homebush plant had an excellent industrial relations record and never lost a day’s production due to internal strike action throughout its 57-year history. The Sydney plant was chosen as the pilot plant for the introduction of Ford’s revolutionary new industrial relations system called Employee Involvement in 1981. It proved so successful that it was incorporated into all Ford Australia plants and offices and was a major influence in raising the levels of quality and productivity to the very high standards of today.
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