{"id":7780,"date":"2016-02-17T17:06:35","date_gmt":"2016-02-17T17:06:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=7780"},"modified":"2016-02-18T16:48:10","modified_gmt":"2016-02-18T16:48:10","slug":"this-cannot-be-the-future-of-northern-ireland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=7780","title":{"rendered":"\u00e2\u20ac\u0098This cannot be the future of Northern Ireland\u00e2\u20ac\u2122"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Northern Ireland\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s manufacturing workforce was dealt another blow as aerospace firm Bombardier announced today (February 17) that more than 1,000 jobs would be axed in its Northern Ireland operation, part of a 7,000-job cull globally.<\/p>\n

 
\nThe devastating news means that 20 per cent of Bombardier\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Northern Ireland workforce must go, with 500 reductions planned this year at its Belfast site and 580 planned the year after. The firm is the largest single manufacturing employer in NI, employing about 6,000 people, and also produces 10 per cent of Northern Ireland\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s total manufacturing exports.<\/p>\n

 
\nBombardier has said cutting jobs was necessary given \u00e2\u20ac\u015bmarket realities\u00e2\u20ac\u0165.<\/p>\n

 
\nThe firm has struggled after pouring money into its C-series passenger jet which has been beset by production delays and stiff competition from firms already well-established in the commercial plane sector.<\/p>\n

 
\nAs UNITElive reported last year<\/a>, the Quebec government injected \u00c2\u01411bn in cash in a joint venture to help the firm with its C-series programme. Unite has called for the Stormont and Westminster governments to step up and do more considering the importance that Bombardier plays as an employer in the region.<\/p>\n

 
\nThe firm, however, is fundamentally on a sound footing \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Unite believes that its decision to axe so many jobs is a panic response to a shortage of cash after losing $10bn in operating capital as it has pushed to get its C-series programme off the ground.<\/p>\n

 
\nOrders for the passenger jet, however, are now starting to come in \u00e2\u20ac\u201c the company has said that Air Canada has ordered 75 of its CSeries 300 jets.<\/p>\n

 
\nMounting job losses<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

The news comes in the wake of mounting job losses in the manufacturing sector in Northern Ireland \u00e2\u20ac\u201c in the last few months alone, about 2,000 redundancies were announced in the town of Ballymena from two of the largest employers in the area, JTI Gallagher and Michelin.<\/p>\n

 
\nThese job losses have been felt across the supply chain, crippling the local economy. In response, the Ballymena community joined Unite in a massive rally earlier this month demanding that the government step in to support businesses, spur investment and promote highly skilled jobs in the region.<\/p>\n

 
\nUnite Ireland secretary Jimmy Kelly said that today\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s news was further proof that manufacturing in Northern Ireland was in big trouble.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bNorthern Ireland has historically had a fantastic tradition of manufacturing,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bBut then we have these job losses that have followed close on the heels of job losses in other major manufacturing firms.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bTake JTI-Gallaher for example,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Kelly noted. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bOnly recently we have heard that the firm will be moving production from Northern Ireland to Poland potentially. They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re taking jobs that pay \u00c2\u014118 an hour here to jobs that pay \u00c2\u01413 an hour there.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bKeep in mind that this company is making billions \u00e2\u20ac\u201c they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re enormously profitable,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he noted. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bBut then they turn their backs on the Northern Ireland workforce that built up their business and helped make it the success it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s become.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThese job losses are compounded by the redundancies at the Michelin tyre factory \u00e2\u20ac\u201c these are all well-paid jobs that are being replaced by low-paid, insecure jobs that are blighting local communities.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThis cannot be the future of Northern Ireland,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he added. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThat\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s why we put on the rally in Ballymena \u00e2\u20ac\u201c to challenge the government to get off their butts and bring in investment urgently.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt must be understood that Northern Ireland does not live in a post-conflict society,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Kelly went on to say. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe are only just now emerging from conflict. Where is the so-called \u00e2\u20ac\u0098peace dividend\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 that the government promised us? The Tory government is instead imposing severe austerity cuts that will continue to choke our economy.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\nGovernment action<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Unite regional coordinating officer Davy Thomson also called for government action.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe Northern Ireland Executive needs to redouble their efforts and secure alternative employment for those highly skilled workers who will be made redundant,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bInvest NI must now commit themselves fully to proactively seeking foreign investment in manufacturing.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe are calling for all parties to publicly support the call for a manufacturing strategy and establish an investment taskforce for the sector bringing together all stakeholders, including Unite,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Thomson added.<\/p>\n

 
\nThomson highlighted that Unite will continue to liaise with Bombardier management to \u00e2\u20ac\u015bsecure jobs in Belfast and defend our members\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 terms and conditions during this difficult period.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\nUnite assistant general secretary Tony Burke emphasised the importance of an explicit strategy from the government to support key industries.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bOur problem in the UK is that we do not have a manufacturing strategy,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he told SkyNews this afternoon.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got a soundbite strategy from the government \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u0098march of the makers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122, \u00e2\u20ac\u0098rebalancing the economy\u00e2\u20ac\u2122, \u00e2\u20ac\u0098the northern powerhouse\u00e2\u20ac\u2122, \u00e2\u20ac\u0098fixing the roof while the sun is shining\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 — and yet they don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t seem to be able to turn things around,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Burke added.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got a crisis in steel, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got a crisis in the offshore oil industry and of course all the supply chain that feeds into it as well.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Northern Ireland\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s manufacturing workforce was dealt another blow as aerospace firm Bombardier announced today (February 17) that more than 1,000 jobs would be axed in its Northern Ireland operation, part of a 7,000-job cull globally.   The devastating news means that 20 per cent of Bombardier\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Northern Ireland workforce must go, with 500 reductions planned […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7781,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[126,55,219,471],"wps_subtitle":"Bombardier job losses are further blow ","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7780"}],"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\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7780"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7780\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7782,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7780\/revisions\/7782"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7781"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7780"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7780"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7780"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}