60 Jobs to go at Harland & Wolff in Belfast
Harland & Wolff is set to cut 60 jobs at the iconic former shipbuilder in Belfast. The announcement was made on Thursday, with Michael Mulholland speaking for both GMB and Unite. The announcement follows a recent strong decline in the company’s order books.
The company – which now specialises in industrial design, ship repair, and marine engineering – is aiming to achieve the majority of the job losses through voluntary redundancies. It has fewer than 200 full-time staff at present.
“This is the latest bad news story for manufacturing in Belfast and Northern Ireland and follows hot on the heels of a large-scale redundancy announcement at Bombardier,”said Michael Mullholland Regional Organiser for the Confederation of Shipbuilding and Engineering unions.
“Management will attempt to achieve this reduction through seeking volunteers among the workforce in the first instance.
“Both the GMB and Unite will engage fully with the employer to try and minimise the impact on our members and will work together to offer necessary employment support and advice services to affected members.
“Our unions are seeking assurances from the DETI and DEL Ministers that they will mandate relevant agencies to put in place a package for those affected, perhaps involving upskilling, which will mean that these skilled workers are available for the company, as and when they expand their workforce with an improving order book,” he added.
Harland & Wolff is most famous for having built all of the ships intended for the White Star Line company, including the Titanic.
