‘Holding our breath’

Bombardier workers in Northern Ireland are holding their breath as they await a decision this afternoon at 5 pm (September 26) from the US Department of Commerce – a ruling that may determine their future.

US aerospace firm Boeing had put in a complaint in April to the US authorities against its Canadian-based rival Bombardier over what it alleges are unfair trading practices.

Boeing has argued the company had received “state aid” from the UK and Canadian governments, but Bombardier as well as Unite and the UK government reject these claims – the aid, in their view, was perfectly legal.

Boeing went on to allege that the sale of 125 of Bombardier’s CSeries jet – whose wings are made in Belfast, directly employing 800 people – to US airliner Delta had unfairly undercut competition because of the state aid Bombardier had received.

Northern Ireland secretary James Brokenshire explained why the support given to Bombardier is legal.

“The UK Government believes clearly that the support that we have given through repayable launch investment to the C-Series project is legitimate, is lawful, is within World Trade Organisation rules and therefore that the actions that have been brought around this case are unwarranted,” he said.

If Boeing’s claims are accepted by the US Department of Commerce, Bombardier could be slapped with large fines that could threaten the future of the CSeries programme because the cost of importing the planes would increase.

This could in turn threaten the jobs of about 800 Belfast workers who make the wings as well as many hundreds more in the wider supply chain.

Unite senior steward at the Belfast Bombardier site George Burns said the workforce is on edge as they await the US Department of Commerce ruling this afternoon.

“If the C-Series is ground to a halt, potentially you have up to 800 jobs there plus you have the supply chains in the wider community as well, so it is a very worrying time,” he told the Press Association.

“But the union is in there fighting hard along with the British Government and along with our local politicians so we are hopeful we can get a resolution.

‘Feel the fear’

“You can feel the fear in the factory because they don’t really know what the actual outcome could be,” Burns added.

Unite assistant general secretary Tony Burke told the Labour Party Conference in an emergency motion today (September 26) just how high the stakes are for not only the Bombardier workers but the wider Northern Ireland economy.

“At present a thousand workers, or about 25 per cent, are employed on CSeries production but in four years’ time that number is expected to rise to 60 per cent of jobs on site,” Burke highlighted.

Bombardier, Burke noted, is the largest private sector employer in Northern Ireland.

“These jobs are vital to the aerospace industry and manufacturing economy and sustain many times more in the wider supply chain in the UK and Ireland,” he said.

While Unite works with sister unions in Canada and the US to press for government action to stop the Boeing threat, Unite has also called on prime minister Theresa May to stand up for Northern Ireland’s workers.

Although it is understood that the prime minister has raised the issue with US president Donald Trump in a recent phone conversation, Unite has argued that she must do much more.

Britain, after all, is the second largest purchaser of Boeing products and so the prime minister could, in the same way Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau has done, take a stronger stand.

Trudeau said in press conference last week, “We have obviously been looking at the Super Hornet aircraft from Boeing as a potential significant procurement of our new fighter jets.

“But we won’t do business with a company that’s busy trying to sue us and put our aerospace workers out of business.”

Unite Ireland regional secretary Jimmy Kelly argued the UK government can take a similar approach.

“We are emphasising that the British government needs to be stronger in saying to Boeing that they are reviewing, revisiting, re-looking at contracts that are very sizeable, second only to Japan, and that the British government should be using that leverage with Boeing,” he said.

Burke said that Boeing’s threat is a direct attack on the concept of public investment and urged Theresa May to take action.

“The prime minister and the government need to make it clear to Trump they will not stand back and watch our members’ jobs and our communities threatened like this,” he said. “Mrs May needs to stand up for our members in the aerospace industry and for decent jobs and for manufacturing in the UK.”

The CSeries, whose wings are produced in Belfast, is a single-aisle mid-range aircraft and will begin being delivered next year. The state-of-the art wings are produced using a new carbon-fibre technology which makes the wings lighter – and so the aircraft is more economical and environmentally friendly.

The decision by the US Department of Commerce due this afternoon (September 26) at 5pm is a preliminary one – a final decision from the US International Trade Commission (USITC) on potential fines is expected in February 2018.

Stay tuned on UNITElive for the latest on this story as it develops.