Bombardier pay deal talks 'constructive'

Crucial day-long talks on a pay deal that could save more than 1,000 jobs at Belfast aerospace company Bombardier were last night described as "constructive".

The company said that, following the preliminary discussions with trade unions, both sides agreed to meet again on Sunday and, pending clarification of some outstanding issues, to enter into formal negotiations on Tuesday.

The new round of talks is aimed at striking a deal to stave off 1,050 redundancies being threatened by the Canadian parent company if workers continue to reject a pay deal.

The talks come just two days after a key US client said it would likely cancel up to 34 aircraft orders, or 10 per cent of Bombardier's regional aircraft backlog.

Bombardier stock has fallen 10 per cent since Atlantic Coast Airlines said on Monday it expected to cancel up to 34 orders for 50-seat regional jets in favour of 15-25 larger aircraft from Boeing or Airbus.

"ACAI is one of Bombardier's largest customers and is potentially embarking on a major change of strategy that would see it moving away from regional jets to larger aircraft," Mr Robert Fay, an analyst for Canaccord Capital, said in a research report.

The Belfast jobs crisis was sparked at the end of May when a majority of workers voted against the four-year pay and conditions deal - which had been backed by union shop stewards and involved a pay freeze in the first year.

Bombardier, which had warned the workforce in advance of the implications of rejecting the deal, were swift to announce the redundancies.

The job losses were put on hold while shop stewards worked to win a fresh mandate from workers to return to the negotiating table.

Full-time union officials from the Confederation of Shipbuilding and Engineering Unions, including Amicus, the GMB and the Transport and General Workers, became involved when the shop stewards failed to get the mandate they needed.

Mr Peter Williamson of Amicus, who led today's discussions with management, said the possibility of more than 1,000 workers losing their jobs was so important his organisation had to get involved.

He told a meeting of 800 Bombardier workers in Belfast last week he was hopeful of ending the stalemate and getting a deal that could be sold to the workforce.

Bombardier, like all aircraft manufacturers, has been hard hit by the downturn in the industry that followed the September 11th terror attacks on the US and the global economic slowdown.