More than 1,000 jobs may be lost at a leading aerospace company in Belfast after crunch pay talks between management and unions broke down today.
The fresh discussions were aimed at striking a new pay deal to prevent 1,050 redundancies at Bombardier Shorts.
But the union delegation walked out of the talks today accusing the management of intransigence in refusing to take preconditions off the table.
The management has rejected this and said it was fully committed to the talks process. The crisis at the company was sparked at the end of May when 60 per cent of the company's 5,700 strong workforce voted against a four-year pay deal, which was backed by unions. The management, which had warned of the implications of such a vote, announced the following month that it had no alternative but to cut 1,050 jobs.
Full-time regional union officials became involved in the dispute after shop stewards failed to win a mandate to re-enter talks. The delegation was led by Peter Williamson, secretary of the Confederation of Shipbuilding and Engineering Unions, and included full-time officials from Amicus, the GMB and the T&GWU.
Mr Williamson said the union delegation was forced to walk out of the talks today because the management would not take two preconditions off the table - the uptake of apprenticeships and the payment of holiday entitlements.
A spokeswoman for Bombardier said the company was extremely disappointed agreement had not been reached.
The spokeswoman said the issues of apprentice intake and holiday entitlement were only tabled by the union delegation at preliminary talks last week.
"The company remains committed to engage in constructive dialogue with workforce representatives in a bid to protect jobs here in Belfast," she added.
PA