100 jobs to go at Caterpillar in Northern Ireland
The American engineering group Caterpillar is to cut 100 permanent and agency jobs in it’s Northern Ireland plant.
This news comes after two other manufacturers; Schrader Electronics and Invista also announced job cuts of 90 employees combined. Michelin located in Ballymena, Co. Antrim has also said it intends to wind down its truck tyre factory with the loss of almost 900 jobs.
The group has blamed “current weaknesses in the economies of some key markets” for its decision to let go 100 of its employees.
The group has already gotten rid of 55 jobs in the North to date this year due to various restructuring programmes.
The group added that “The company is therefore taking necessary measures during this time to help support the competitiveness and sustainability of the business for the future.
“This includes reducing our permanent workforce by approximately 50 positions and releasing approximately 50 agency workers. We know this is difficult for our employees and their families, and resources will be provided to assist impacted employees during this transition.”
Caterpillar currently has four sites in Northern Ireland located in Larne, Monkstown, Springvale, and Belfast.
Unite regional coordinating officer, Davy Thompson said, “In the last year, there have been significant job loss announcements at Bombardier-Shorts and Caterpillar who shed 140 jobs this time last year; as well as closures announced by Michelin, JTI and Sirocco. In total, 2,500 high-value manufacturing jobs have been lost in the last year. The net impact of these losses is likely to be multiplied three times when indirect and induced jobs lost are included. Those who say manufacturing in Northern Ireland is not in crisis are in denial.”
Caterpillar NI reported an 85% slump in profits to £3.8m for 2014, but managing director Robert Kennedy said the firm remained committed to Northern Ireland.
