Shorts to lay off 1,000 workers in Belfast

Belfast aerospace company Shorts - Northern Ireland's largest private employer - is reported to be cutting 1,000 jobs.

Belfast aerospace company Shorts - Northern Ireland's largest private employer - is reported to be cutting 1,000 jobs.

The move comes on the back of a decision by the 6,000-strong workforce to reject a new package of changes to pay and conditions.

In a staff bulletin released today the company said the restructuring programme would now be accelerated with the loss of 1,050 jobs at the company's Belfast operations.

Last month the firm's parent company Bombardier Aerospace won a contract worth more than $2.2 billion with US Airways to supply a mixture of 50 and 75 seat regional jets.