Britain to Boycott Ford Over Pact: Britain to Protest Ford Pay Boost Through Boycott
LONDON, Nov. 28ÛÓIn a bold move to head off a new round of wage-price inflation, the British government today announced a boycott of the Ford Motor Co. because the firm violated the government's 5 percent pay standard in its new labor contracts in England.</br></br>The action could cost the U.S. subsidiary $120 million in government sales as well as other government aid.</br></br>The government said it had reached its decision ÛÏreluctantlyÛ after the company settled a nine-week strike by granting 17 percent pay Increases to</br></br>Government officials warned that if Prime Minister James CallaghanÛªs Labor government had allowed the Ford increase to go unchallenged, it would have encouraged a wave of pay in- creases that would smash any hope of restraining inflation. The boycott will remain in effect for a year.</br></br>The action by the British government came less than 24 hours after President Carter urged state and local government officials in / the United States to boycott any firms that violated his governmentÛªs new voluntary wage-price guidelines.