Unite solidarity pledge

Unite general secretary Len McCluskey has pledged to raise the issue of Boeing’s failure to engage the Canadian government with Unite’s sister unions in Canada.

McCluskey’s pledge comes as prime minister Theresa May is due to meet the Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau – they are expected to discuss among other matters a trade fight that’s erupted between Bombardier and Boeing.

Boeing has claimed that its rival Bombardier, a Canadian-based company which is also the biggest manufacturing employer in Northern Ireland, is engaging in anti-competitive practices because it received subsidies from the UK and Canadian government.

But Unite and others have argued that this so-called state aid was in the form of loans and investment, which is perfectly legal.

If Boeing’s case holds up, this could mean Bombardier being slapped with big fines – and could in turn affect jobs at its Belfast site, where about 4,500 people are employed.

The government, DUP and Sinn Fein must step up to defend the right to invest in vital manufacturing sector and fully use their leverage to defend Belfast jobs, McCluskey argued today (September 18).

McCluskey said Unite will fully support Bombardier’s Belfast workforce.

“Unite’s focus throughout this has been to stand on the side of the workers threatened by Boeing’s predatory behaviour,” he said. “At base it is ordinary workers who risk being the collateral damage in what is an increasingly dirty row between two giant corporations over market share.

“My union stands in full solidarity with the workforce in Belfast. Personally I will be contacting our sister unions in Canada to ask for their assistance in pressing Boeing to meet with the Canadian government on these very serious matters,” McCluskey said.

Unite regional secretary for Ireland Jimmy Kelly called on politicians in Belfast and London to rigorously defend the right of government bodies to provide support to local manufacturers.

“Boeing has sought to portray the loan support provided by the UK government as illegal state-aid and anti-competitive. Unite is calling for a clear message to go out from all sides of government that the support to Bombardier was entirely legal and appropriate.

“That means that both the UK and the Canadian governments have to be more proactive with Boeing,” Kelly added.

He welcomed the joint communication on the matter issued by the DUP and Sinn Fein but Kelly said the parties must “extend this to defend the support provided to Bombardier during their time in the last Executive together.

“Unite is further calling on the DUP and Sinn Fein to make the most of their leverage and extensive networks of support globally to defend the Bombardier jobs in Belfast,” he said.

“The DUP have a ‘confidence and supply’ arrangement with the Tory government – at the very least that government should now move to review existing Boeing contracts in light of their destructive behaviour,” Kelly argued.

“Sinn Fein has influence on Capitol Hill,” he added. “US politicians must be shown the impact an adverse decision by the Department of Commerce would have on the Northern Ireland economy, an economy which continues to struggle with the legacy of conflict, underinvestment and dislocation as well as the potential threats arising from Brexit.”

The Department of Commerce is due to make a ruling on Boeing’s complaint this month.