Economy Minister meets Caterpillar management over Larne jobs threat

Caterpillar's Larne plant.
Picture by Presseye — Caterpillar's Larne plant. Picture by Presseye

Economy Minister Diane Dodds and Invest NI officials this afternoon met senior management from Caterpillar following yesterday’s shock announcement of the company’s plans to cut 700 jobs in Northern Ireland.

The minister reiterated that her department and Invest NI stand ready to support the company to mitigate the impact of the proposals.

“I made clear my disappointment with yesterday’s announcement by Caterpillar in Northern Ireland and expressed my strong wish that any redundancies are kept to an absolute minimum,” the minister said.

“My department and Invest NI will continue to engage with the company and offer support as it enters a period of consultation to ensure the sustainability of both its sites in NI.”

Economy Minister Diane Dodds.
Photo by Kelvin Boyes / Press Eye. — Economy Minister Diane Dodds. Photo by Kelvin Boyes / Press Eye.

The US manufacturer’s contemplated changes would predominately affect operations in Larne with production, support and management positions impacted.

The company, which has 1,600 employees in Northern Ireland, announced on Thursday it is opening a consultation process for the restructuring of its electric power division operations here.

It is also considering the sale of the Millennium offices building located in the Springvale Business Park, Belfast, relocating the remaining employees to the Larne facility. Read full story here

In the wake of the announcement, the union Unite called for Stormont intervention to “safeguard” manufacturing jobs. There were appeals too from elected representatives for the Economy Minister to meet immediately with Caterpillar management.

Thank you for reading this article. We’re more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by coronavirus impacts our advertisers.Please consider purchasing a copy of the paper. You can also support trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription of the News Letter.