H&W workers: ‘We will dictate who buys our company’

In a boost to workers occupying Belfast shipyard Harland and Wolff, administrators have said there have been “positive discussions” over the site’s sale and have struck a deal with Unite to keep staff on the books until a buyer is found.

Administrators BDO – appointed earlier this month after Harland and Wolff collapsed – said it hoped ongoing discussions with potential buyers will lead to “credible offers”.

As a result BDO has also agreed with Unite and the GMB to keep the yard’s workers employed in the interim.

Unite assistant general secretary for legal, Howard Beckett, signed the agreement on Friday (16 August), formalising the workers’ position as caretakers of the Harland and Wolff site, which they have been occupying since July.

He said, “Unite and the GMB have today agreed a legal indemnity to allow the administrators to keep our members employed until a buyer is found. I am humbled to have signed this agreement.”

‘Unite will never stand by’

Assistant general secretary for manufacturing Steve Turner added, “And with our earlier agreement to pay them to occupy the yard, preventing members being left as unpaid employees, we can be proud that Unite will never stand by and allow workers to be starved away from their fight!”

Prospective buyers were asked to provide indicative bids by midday on Friday, Unite understands.

Responding to the interest in the yard’s sale, Unite’s Harland and Wolff shop steward Joe Passmore gave a clear warning to any unscrupulous bidders looking to make a quick buck through layoffs and asset stripping.

He said, “A word of advice for the vulture companies out there. We the workforce will dictate who buys our company and we are going nowhere.”

Unite regional coordinating officer Susan Fitzgerald said that while workers have been buoyed by the growing interest in the shipyard, nationalisation remains the best outcome for Harland and Wolff.

She said, “The skills of this workforce could be directed at a wide-range of productive sectors, including shipbuilding, renewables infrastructure and civil infrastructure.

‘Highly skilled jobs’

“Investment in such opportunities offers the potential for thousands of highly-skilled jobs to be created here in Belfast in the just transition to a more sustainable economy.”

The UK government has insisted it cannot step in to save the yard because it is “ultimately a commercial issue”, even though the UK’s shipbuilding capabilities are vital to the national interest.

Criticism has also been directed at the DUP, which props up the government’s majority in parliament, for not using it’s position as king maker to pressure ministers into changing tack.

Earlier this month, Fitzgerald said workers were “considering standing” against the DUP in response to the party’s mealy mouthed support of the yard.

She said, “You now have workers saying they will challenge DUP seats if they don’t pull their finger out.”