{"id":13724,"date":"2017-10-11T17:31:23","date_gmt":"2017-10-11T16:31:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=13724"},"modified":"2017-10-12T13:19:03","modified_gmt":"2017-10-12T12:19:03","slug":"only-the-start","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=13724","title":{"rendered":"\u00e2\u20ac\u0098Only the start\u00e2\u20ac\u2122"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Unite deputy convenor at Bombardier Dougie Jamison lives right beside the factory where he works \u00e2\u20ac\u201c a proud bulwark of highly skilled jobs and good wages in an area of Belfast otherwise blighted by deprivation.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe site where I work there are about 600 people employed and in the immediate wider supply chain you could easily double that,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he explained.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIf those jobs were lost, it would be beyond devastating for our community \u00e2\u20ac\u201c it would be catastrophic.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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Dougie and his wife have three daughters, two of them in school. A reflection of what lies beyond an economy without a manufacturing base, his wife works part-time at Tesco and his eldest daughter works at a call centre.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIf I lost my job I have no idea how our family would recover from that,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he explained. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bI don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t where we would go or how we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d support ourselves.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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Dougie says he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d love to see Bombardier as a place for his daughters to work.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bBut,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he says, pausing. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bI don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bI don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 is on the lips of thousands of Bombardier workers, whose jobs are at risk in an escalating transatlantic trade dispute.<\/p>\n

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In April, US aerospace company Boeing put in a complaint that its Canada-based rival Bombardier had benefited from state-aid from the Canadian government and Invest NI, which allegedly has given the Bombardier an unfair competitive advantage.<\/p>\n

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Emboldened by president Donald Trump\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s \u00e2\u20ac\u0098America First\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 rhetoric, Boeing took their case to the US Department of Commerce, which sided with Boeing last month and again last week, slapping massive tariffs on imports of Bombardier\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s CSeries aircraft, totalling 300 per cent.<\/p>\n

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These tariffs, if implemented, could threaten the future of Bombardier\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s CSeries aircraft and indeed the very future of Bombardier in Northern Ireland.<\/p>\n

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Bombardier workers resolved that they would not take this threat lying down, and with the support of Unite have launched a campaign to pressure the government to use every option at their disposal to protect communities and the jobs they rely on.<\/p>\n

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Unite delegation<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

As part of this campaign, a delegation of Unite Bombardier reps flew from Belfast to Parliament today (October 11) to lobby MPs.<\/p>\n

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Unfurling a banner demanding that prime minister Theresa May ramp up her support, the reps told UNITElive this morning that they weren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t going to back down until they felt the government was fully behind them.<\/p>\n

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Unite Bombardier rep Ron McDowell (pictured below) explained how May has so far only paid lip service to their cause. She has reportedly spoken with Trump on the phone, but has not taken substantive action beyond this.<\/p>\n

\"Ron(forHajera)1\"<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWhat we don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have is a strong, unequivocal message from the prime minister \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the main reason we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re here,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bShe may be saying things behind closed doors in support of Bombardier but we want a strong message sent to the Trump administration and to the American courts that this is not fair and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not going to be tolerated.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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Unite has argued that Boeing\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s claim is merely a cynical bid to crush perfectly legitimate competition.<\/p>\n

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After all, Boeing was not materially harmed by the Delta order \u00e2\u20ac\u201c it did not even put in a bid for the contract. Its claims are also hypocritical \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Boeing itself has received billions in subsidies from the US government.<\/p>\n

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Unite has highlighted that the UK government has leverage against Boeing \u00e2\u20ac\u201c it has spent more than \u00c2\u01414bn in defence contracts with the aerospace company.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe hostile move by Boeing we think needs to be matched by the British government saying to Boeing \u00e2\u20ac\u201c all contracts are under review and could be cancelled unless Boeing does the right thing,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 explained Unite Ireland regional secretary Jimmy Kelly (pictured below).<\/p>\n

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\"JimmyKelly1\"<\/p>\n

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The Unite delegates from Bombardier met with Labour MPs this morning to discuss exactly what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s at stake and what strategies Labour can employ to pressure the UK government into action.<\/p>\n

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Shadow business secretary Rebecca Long-Bailey (pictured below) told UNITElive that the wider impact of Boeing\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s threat cannot be underestimated.<\/p>\n

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\"RebeccaLong-BaileyMP2\"<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re looking at 4,000 job losses [in Bombardier] and up to 20,000 in the wider supply chain,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe impact will not just be on the company \u00e2\u20ac\u201c the impact on the Northern Ireland economy will be profound. Bombardier is 40 per cent of Northern Ireland\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s manufacturing output. It will devastate communities.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bAnd it will undermine the government\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s intention to have a real and robust industrial strategy going forward,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she added. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThat\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s because once the capability is lost, and the skills are lost, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s really hard to pick that back up again.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u0098Polite at best\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Long-Bailey derided the government\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s negotiations with Boeing so far as being \u00e2\u20ac\u015bpolite at best\u00e2\u20ac\u0165.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThey need to be a lot stronger now in urging Boeing to drop their case.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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Indeed, as Unite assistant general secretary Steve Turner pointed out in the meeting with reps and Labour MPs, Boeing felt so little pressure from the UK government that when business secretary Greg Clark met with a Boeing executive, after only two days of discussions, the executive walked out.<\/p>\n

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The Unite delegation is set to meet with the business secretary as well as DUP MPs and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn this afternoon.<\/p>\n

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Unite Bombardier rep John Clarke (pictured below) said that today was only the beginning.<\/p>\n

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\"John(forHajera)2\"<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re going to be targeting councils and MPs wherever and whenever we can,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bAnd we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re going to constantly keep this story in the public eye, at the top of the news agenda. Whatever opportunity we have to further press our case we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll utilise it.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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Although the road ahead will be a hard one as Bombardier workers campaign to pressure Boeing \u00e2\u20ac\u201c one of the largest and most politically influential companies in the world \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Dougie said he remains hopeful.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015b[After the meeting with Labour MPs] we really felt as if we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re being listened to,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe just hope our case is getting through to the right people \u00e2\u20ac\u201c the people who make the decisions.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re not asking for anything special. We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re just asking to be defended. We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re UK workers and we want to be treated as such.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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