Stock Photo - May 05, 1967 - The 'Other Clyde Shipbuilders: There can hardly be a man or woman in Britian today who is unaware of the ups and downs of Scotland's Upper Clyde shipbuilders. Daily, through the media of Press, radio and television, the saga continues. But meanwhile, only a few miles away, the bustling and expanding yards of the Lower Cycle are successfully building giant ships. The area's most obvious success symbol is the huge straddlecrance under construction at Lower Clyde's Scott Lithgow yard. Its twin 200-foot towers amply demonstrate the strenght and confidence of Scotland's 'quite' shipbuilders. Its 225-ton lifting capacity will, in time, enable Lower Clyde to build ships of up to a million tons eight times the size of the QE2. At Greenock and Port Glassgow, a thousand jobs and welcome for skilled UCS workers are offered as part of the overall expansion plan. Today, two giant tankers are being built by Scott Lithgow for Korea orders won almost in the shdaow of the Japanese Yards cranse. More and more apprentice shipbuilders are being taken on. Each year, the Scott Lithgow Training Centre has an intake of 400 boys mos the area's school-leavers. Why, you man ask all this success when just up river there seems to be nothing but trouble?. The answer seems to be , in a word, Communication with a capital C. Leading shop stewards can see the managing director at any time, and there are regular meetings of top and middle management with the stewards, printed minutes being distributed throughout the yards. And so problem can be quickly dealth with before they have time to become a nuisance. Surely here is a lesson for everyone? One thing the continuing success of Scotland's 'other' Clyde Shipbuilders is certain. (Credit Image: © Keystone Press Agency/Keystone USA via ZUMAPRESS.com)