Harland and Wolff,Saved by new contract
The Northern Secretary Peter Mandelson has welcomed a life-saving contract to build four ships at the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast. The city's 140-year-old ship building tradition has been saved, in the medium term at least. The lifeline came after the yard secured a £300m order to build four roll-on roll-off passenger vessels for a Norwegian company, Seamasters International. There is also an option to build a further two ships, bringing the total value of the contract up to £500m.
There is relief all round. The Northern Secretary said that it was great news for Northern Ireland. If this deal had not have been secured 1700 workers would have been let go next month. The future of the yard had been in doubt since it lost out to a French yard to build Cunard's £400m Queen Mary II liner.
This latest deal was announced less than 24 hours after workers narrowly voted in favour of new of a new package of terms and conditions including a no strike deal and a three-year wage freeze. It led to anger from some employees who felt the company had them over a barrel. However, it is not all plain sailing from here. Up to 300 jobs may still be lost and the financial guarantees for the new contract have yet to be worked out.
