The plastic behaviour of polyethylene and ethylene copolymers is studied under uniaxial tensile testing in parallel with the viscoelastic properties. Homogeneous plastic deformation is shown to take place at temperatures above the crystalline mechanical relaxation. The activation of homogeneous crystal slip is discussed in relation to the crystal lamella thickness and the molecular mobility of the crystalline chain stems. The thermally activated process of nucleation and propagation of screw dislocations that is proposed for the mechanism of the homogeneous crystal slip relies on the generation of 180 degrees chain twists in the crystal stems of the sheared crystals. This kind of conformational chain defect is the basic link between the plastic and the viscoelastic properties of the materials. Homogeneous crystal slip can take place as long as the applied strain rate is consistent with the strain rate affordable by the screw dislocation propagation. The dependence on draw temperature of the crystal thickness in the fibre structure is ascribed to the stress-induced activation of 180 degrees chain twists which allows an adjustment of the crystal thickness to the temperature of the experiment faster than an annealing treatment will.