Interviews of Campbell Gill

In this interview, Campbell Gill (b. 1946) talks about his working life and particularly the years he spent with Mitsubishi after they bought over the Tandberg factory in Haddington. Campbell joined Mitsubishi in 1980, 1 year into production. He had previously been working in Dundee with Timex and reflects on the stark difference he experienced as he moved from a highly unionised working environment to one where there was no union but instead a works committee. While Campbell sought to adjust to the different language and culture, those from the Tandberg factory who had to cope with moving from the Norwegian model of management to the Japanese one. The Japanese bosses were very strict and demanded high standards, but Campbell also remembers them as being fair employers and enthusiastic communicators and willing participants in social celebrations.

Campbell successfully negotiated a levelling up of pay between the female and male workers and also negotiated increased holiday allowances and pay overall. There was always a Japanese managing director and they would often participate in local events, attend work social occasions and provide sponsorship locally e.g. for the football team. Campbell also talks about the factory floor and the highly mechanised processes which led to high levels of productivity. He recalls the impact of early innovations, such as the use of robotics. Although the culture in Mitsubishi was strict, Campbell reflects that it was a great deal more relaxed than would have been the case for workers in Mitsubishi factories in Japan. He also reflects on the poor reputation Mitsubishi had locally, but also notes that workers were always sad to leave the firm.

As Human Resources manager, Campbell had a wide remit and his job gave him all sorts of insights. Towards the end of the interview, he reflects on some of the more unusual occurrences, such as when a thief broke in and ignored all the televisions in favour of raiding the cigarette machine. Campbell admits he was angry with the decision to close the Haddington factory in favour of the one in Livingstone, but he also noted that Mitsubishi paid a better than average redundancy to the workers and he had much to commend the company for.