Belfast H&W shipyard to lay off 144 workers

Belfast ship-builders Harland & Wolff is to lay off 144 workers.

The staff are to be made redundant because of a lack of orders beyond current work for the Ministry of Defence. In a statement, the firm said it had no firm contracts for future work.

"The company has sought to delay initiating action on redundancies as long as possible, not least as individuals' livelihoods are at stake, and has been in consultations with the trade unions since November 2001 when the potential under-utilisation [of the workforce] was initially identified.

"Those employees affected will be notified shortly, with the first tranche of individual notices following thereafter. This is expected to mount to some 85 employees, comprising 75 operators and 10 staff," the statement said.

The statement said the company will also consider applications for further voluntary redundancy from other workers.