Further jobs blow announced for NI

There has been further bad news on the jobs front in Northern Ireland with the news 135 people will be made redundant in Co Antrim.

This brings the amount of jobs to be axed today to 400.

Nearly 250 will go at Belfast aerospace company Shorts and another 135 people are to be made redundant with the closure of a cable wire plant in Carrickfergus, Co Antrim.

The Shorts job losses are part of a major cut in staffing and production levels by Canadian parent

company Bombardier, which will see almost 2,000 workers laid off.

Trade union shop stewards at Shorts were called in by management today to be told 240 jobs would have to go on top of 460 announced earlier this month.

Bombardier said 1,980 employees being axed next month in Belfast, Canada and the US would include 20% of management.

The company would also “temporarily” cut back production of some of its aircraft programmes in Belfast, Montreal, Toronto and Wichita.

In Belfast, where the company workforce will be reduced to 8,900, business aircraft components manufacturing would be affected.

The plant in East Belfast produces large sections of fuselage for Bombardier’s range of regional and business jets.

It also manufactures parts for Boeing which has also had a tough time since the September 11 terror attacks and with the general global economic slowdown.

Michael Ryan, Bombardier vice-president and general manager in Northern Ireland, said the company very much regretted having to make further job cuts.

But he said: “Due to the continuing challenges in the aviation market , particularly the business aircraft market, the cuts are necessary in order to protect the remaining jobs and maintain our competitiveness.”

Throughout the past year the company had endeavoured to minimise the impact of the difficult market conditions on their permanent workforce, he said.

Mr Ryan pledged that Belfast would remain a “core part of Bombardier’s aerospace business”.

“We are ensuring a strong integrated design and manufacturing capability is retained here in order to maintain our competitiveness and to be ready for the upturn in the market when it comes.”

Jamie Pollock of the Amicus union said the news was a devastating blow coming so soon after the 460 job loss announcement.

“It’s totally shocking news for us and very disturbing, it came right after the announcement of 461 losses.

“We thought we were in the middle of consultations about the 461 and the last thing we expected was a further announcement.”

Meanwhile Getty Communications announced it was proposing the closure of its plant in Carrickfergus at the end of the year because of a dramatic sales decline caused by a drop in orders from the computer and mobile phone business.

The company which employs 135 people, makes cable, cable assemblies and general equipment wire.

A manufacturing facility in China is also to shut with the loss of a further 156 jobs.