Final proposals to increase productivity and partnership between management and unions at Harland & Wolff will be put to the shipyard's workforce at a meeting in the Ulster Hall in Belfast at 1 p.m. today.
If workers accept the package, management could sign a £400 million sterling contract with a Norwegian company for four roll-pack ferries as early as tomorrow.
This would safeguard the future of some 1,000 jobs in shipbuilding within the company, although it is expected 300 jobs could be lost as part of a restructuring plan due to be voted on at the company's a.g.m. next Monday.
A controversial £50 per week pay cut demanded by management last week is understood to have been dropped at a meeting between union representatives and management yesterday.
The new proposals, which management has described as a "final offer", would guarantee the current basic wage of £310 for a 37-hour week up to January 2003, with some bonus opportunities.
They are also understood to include a number of guarantees from workers including: a no-strike clause; an agreement that the workforce would only be awarded pay rises on a retrospective basis after the completion of contracts, and procedures at the yard relating to social costs such as attendance and sickness.
The proposals are expected to be backed by union representatives at H&W. However, last night Mr Bobby Carson, president of the Shipbuilding and Engineering Unions, said it was a matter for the workforce.
"Following today's meeting, further progress has been made to resolve the issue of pay cuts and we are hopeful management will be in a position to sign for the passenger ferries shortly," he said.
The vast majority of the H&W workforce is on 90-day protective notice of redundancy, which is due to take effect in early June. The Norwegian ferry contract is believed to be the only one that can save jobs in the short term, as work on two drill ships for Global Marine will be completed in mid-June.
It is understood that even if the Norwegian contract is secured, workers may spend several weeks working reduced hours while it is being prepared. During this period, employees are expected to work on smaller projects such as bridge links and the construction of cranes.
