Government enters Shorts dispute

The Government today effectively backed Bombardier's stance over the current wage impasse at Shorts which is threatening over 1,000 local jobs.

Talks between union represntatives and the management of the aerospace company broke down yesterday after union representatives walked out of a meeting claiming management were being "inflexible" in their demands.

However, Enterprise Minister, Ian Pearson said today that he believed the firm when they said that they are committed to its Northern Ireland operations.

Mr Pearson also resigned himself to the fact that jobs will inevitably have to go at the Belfast firm on top of the 580 redundancies already having been announced in response to what Bombardier called "very challenging market conditions".

The Minister said: "It is no secret that the aircraft industry has been going through an incredibly tough time since Sept 11 and that this is, regrettably, having a negative impact on employment levels in Belfast at present.

“Whilst the medium to long term market prospects appear positive, it is important in the current challenging market that the company takes the necessary measures to protect the business and improve competitiveness."

There are fears that those "measures" will invariably lead to all 1,000 jobs currently under threat being lost unless there is a radical change in the current situation. But Mr Pearson declared that he remained "confident" on the future of the Belfast plant.

“All I have seen indicates that, when there is an upturn in the market, Bombardier will be well placed to capitalise on that and, of course, the Belfast operation will have a key role to play," he said.

“I am confident that the current dispute will be settled and that, when the global aircraft market recovers, there will be opportunities for Bombardier to further develop the Belfast operation, with a potential increase in employment levels".

Around 1,000 jobs have been under threat at the company's Belfast base after employees rejected a proposed four-year pay agreement.

Talks on a new deal began last week but broke up yesterday following a disagreement over apprentice intake and holiday entitlement.

(MB)