Bombardier to cut 95 staff from Belfast workforce

By David Hunter

Bombardier is cutting a further 95 jobs from it's Northern Ireland based operations.

The struggling aerospace giant made the announcement this morning with support staff, and both permanent and agency workers set to go.

The firms currently the centre of a legal row amid claims by rival company, Boeing, that the manufacturing deal has been too heavily subsidised by the Canadian and British Governments. 

Davy Thompson from Unite the Union says that's not a factor in this decision.

"The bulk of it will be around the decision to outsource the I.T department, due to the announcement they made in 2016 around competativeness of functional areas" said Mr.Thompson.

He continued "This is another blow to the Bombardier workforce in Belfast and comes in the wake of wider concerns over the ongoing trade dispute with Boeing.

"The rationale offered by management is that this has been brought about by the outsourcing of IT and the need to reduce staff in functional areas.

"We do not agree with their case and we are calling on them to lift the threat of redundancies at this time."

A spokesperson from Bombardier said "Following the 7,500 global workforce reductions announced by Bombardier Inc. last October, we have reviewed our manpower requirements in Belfast and regret to confirm that we must reduce our workforce levels by up to 95. 

Those impacted will be functional support personnel, including managers and professional staff.

 
"We acknowledge the impact this will have on our workforce and their families and will explore opportunities to help mitigate the number of compulsory redundancies. 

"However, we need to continue to cut costs and improve the efficiency of our operations to help ensure our long-term competitiveness."