Strategy for Heavy Manufacturing sector must be central to the Programme for Government for incoming NI Executive

NI Executive must establish Manufacturing Taskforce to act in face of threat to sector

February 17th: Davy Thompson, Regional Coordinating Officer with responsibility for the workforce expressed his union’s concern over the announcement by Bombardier management that there will be a redundancy of 580 with the potential of a further 500 amongst the workforce in Belfast:

“This job’s loss announcement is the latest, cruel blow to Northern Ireland’s manufacturing sector. While the scale of the losses reflect the severe market conditions being experienced by the group which has led to over seven thousand job losses globally, heavy manufacturers across the region continue to face challenging times.

“The Northern Ireland Executive needs to redouble their efforts and secure alternative employment for those highly skilled workers who will be made redundant. Invest NI must now commit themselves fully to proactively seeking foreign investment in manufacturing.

“We are calling for all parties to publicly support the call for a Manufacturing Strategy and establish an Investment Taskforce for the sector bringing together all stakeholders, including Unite.

“Unite will continue to liaise with Bombardier management to secure jobs in Belfast and defend our members’ terms and conditions during this difficult period”, Mr Thompson concluded.