A meeting of the trade union leaders from both sides of the Irish border reacted with dismay at the announcement by Bombardier that 490 of its highly skilled Belfast workforce are to be made redundant.
The monthly meeting of the ICTU Executive happened to be held in Belfast as news of the corporate decision broke. Hosting the meeting was ICTU Assistant General Secretary Owen Reidy, who said:
"This decision by Canadian multinational Bombardier is a cruel blow to Bombardier workers, only months after they stood together with the company to lobby against unfair tariffs being imposed by the US Department of Commerce.
"As with their last crisis, the workers at Bombardier will have the full solidarity of the entire trade union movement on this island, and the leadership of their unions will receive whatever support they require from this movement. We stand today with the members of Unite and GMB.
"Again, we repeat our call for the government and its agencies (such as Invest NI) to resist moves to make Northern Ireland a low-wage, low-skill, low-value economy. We have an educated workforce who deserve and demand quality jobs and sustainable employment."
