{"id":14517,"date":"2018-01-29T15:53:08","date_gmt":"2018-01-29T15:53:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=14517"},"modified":"2020-11-12T12:59:10","modified_gmt":"2020-11-12T12:59:10","slug":"elated","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=14517","title":{"rendered":"‘Elated’"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

Tireless union campaigning has paid off, as Unite and its Bombardier members celebrated a massive victory at the weekend after US trade authorities ruled against crippling tariffs on imports of the company\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s C-Series jet that would have risked thousands of jobs in Northern Ireland.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The US International Trade Commission rejected Bombardier rival Boeing\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s complaint on Friday (January 26), which claimed that Bombardier had benefited from illegal subsidies from the Canadian and UK governments.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The final ruling<\/a> follows previous decisions late last year by the US Department of Commerce to slap nearly 300 per cent tariffs<\/a> on imports of the C-Series, whose wings are manufactured in Northern Ireland. Production of the wings directly employs about 1,000 workers and a further 3,500 are employed by Bombardier in Northern Ireland.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Despite the initial rulings, Unite members and reps piled on the pressure on politicians here in the UK, in Brussels and across the pond and pressed their case that Boeing\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s complaint was baseless and amounted to corporate bullying.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Blow to Trump <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

The USITC\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s final decision was to rule whether or not Boeing had been harmed by Bombardier\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s sale of its C-Series to American airliner Delta.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In what many considered a surprise decision, the independent government trade body unanimously voted 4 to 0 that Boeing had not been harmed and so overturned the tariffs.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The USITC agreed with Bombardier\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s argument that the C-Series never posed a threat to Boeing because the US aerospace company does not produce planes similar to Bombardier\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s C-Series \u00c2\u00a0\u00e2\u20ac\u201c it never put in a bid for the Delta order to begin with.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The decision is seen as a blow to the Trump administration\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s nationalistic \u00e2\u20ac\u0098America First\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 rhetoric \u00e2\u20ac\u201c in a statement Bombardier called it \u00e2\u20ac\u015ba victory for innovation, competition, and the rule of law.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unite assistant general secretary Steve Turner hailed Friday\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s decision and congratulated Unite members for never giving up.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bBombardier workers in Northern Ireland and throughout the supply chain in UK will be breathing a huge sigh of relief that the International Trade Commission has seen through Boeing\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s baseless complaint,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt is a right and just decision which is in no small part down to the tireless campaign by Unite members and shop stewards.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bUnite left no stone unturned in our campaign to protect jobs in Bombardier and the supply chain across the UK,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Turner added. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bWhen the going got tough Unite did not throw the towel in, our members and shop stewards redoubled their efforts in bringing pressure to bear on politicians in Washington, Westminster, Brussels and Northern Ireland.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe C-Series is a world beating aircraft made by world class workers. There can be no backsliding from the US government on this decision.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Turner went to say that Unite looks forward to continuing work with Bombardier to secure future sales and investment to ensure a \u00e2\u20ac\u015ba bright future for Northern Ireland workers and the thousands across the UK in the supply chain.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

No gov’t support<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Unite regional officer Susan Fitzgerald agreed \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and highlighted the remarkable victory won by workers even in the absence of support from the UK government.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The decision, she said, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bshows the power of our union and of a mobilised workforce.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWhen the story is told of this dispute it will be one of how, in the absence of a genuine effort by politicians and the UK government, workers themselves had to take the fight on,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she noted.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unite has long criticised the UK government for standing on the side lines as the trade dispute unravelled.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Whereas Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau took decisive action and cancelled a multi-billion dollar order of F-18 fighter jets from Boeing \u00e2\u20ac\u201c vowing to not work “with a company that is trying to sue us, eliminate tens of thousands of jobs and put our companies out of business” \u00e2\u20ac\u201c UK prime minister Theresa May reportedly only made two phone calls to US President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Fitzgerald said instead that it was the workers who stepped up to the plate as the UK government stood by.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt was workers who walked the halls of Westminster seeking politicians support, or speaking before parliamentary scrutiny committees raising their awareness,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt was workers who relentlessly travelled to Brussels, Montreal and Washington to make the case, workers who took the campaign to every council in Northern Ireland and who mobilised in their thousands.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Solidarity<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Unite shop steward Gaye Partridge said Friday\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s news of the ruling was \u00e2\u20ac\u015bamazing\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 and that the workforce was \u00e2\u20ac\u015belated.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bUp until the final decision there was really a feeling that we might lose,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThat it was a unanimous 4-0 decision just goes to show the strength of our case.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt shows what we can accomplish when we all get together \u00e2\u20ac\u201c we put a lot of work and got local councillors and executives on our side and ultimately we got the right result.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unite shop steward Kieran Ellison agreed.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIn the absence of support from the UK government we took up the fight ourselves,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt shows what can be achieved with solidarity and single-minded determination.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe unanimous decision from the USITC leaves little room for appeal so we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re pretty confident the decision will stand.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unite general secretary Len McCluskey congratulated members for their tenacity in fighting against the odds.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bI am so incredibly proud of our union tonight,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said in a recent tweet<\/a>. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe never gave up. Our reps are a credit to this movement\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6Saving these jobs and supporting this community is what we strive to do day in, day out @UniteunionNI . I am honoured to be their general secretary.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Job losses<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Celebrations over the weekend were marred by news that Bombardier would be following through with 100 jobs cuts today (January 29) and would be moving the posts to Morocco.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Fitzgerald said that after Friday\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s good news, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bwe must take nothing for granted.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bBombardier itself now must reiterate its commitment to the Northern Ireland workforce and end the outsourcing of jobs to low-cost centres.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Both Gaye and Kieran expressed deep disappointment over today\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s job cuts.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe thought after Friday\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s fantastic news, the company might decide to pull back from the redundancies and reassess the situation,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Gaye said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bAfter all, it is the workers who worked so hard to publicise our plight. We deserve better than this. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a very bittersweet moment.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Kieran agreed.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWhen we got the news Friday, we were elated,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bBut in the face of these job losses despite the good news it shows we have to roll up our sleeves and get back to work negotiating with the company to stem any future job losses.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bAerospace is a rapidly expanding sector and we have to make sure we keep the necessary skills in Northern Ireland so we can be a central part of that expansion \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and that means stopping job losses. Otherwise we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll go the way of the shipyards in Belfast \u00e2\u20ac\u201c those world class skills were developed over centuries but once we lose those skills in the area they don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t come back.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tireless union campaigning has paid off, as Unite and its Bombardier members celebrated a massive victory at the weekend after US trade authorities ruled against crippling tariffs on imports of the company\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s C-Series jet that would have risked thousands of jobs in Northern Ireland.   The US International Trade Commission rejected Bombardier rival Boeing\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s complaint […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":14437,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[519,802,801,219],"wps_subtitle":"Unite celebrates as Bombardier tariffs overturned","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14517"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14517"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14517\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26431,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14517\/revisions\/26431"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14437"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14517"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14517"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14517"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}