Unite takes Bombardier case to Washington

The Unite delegation is taking its case to the heart of the US government to seek a resolution to the ongoing tariff war with rival Boeing.

Leaving Montreal, where it met Bombardier president and CEO Alain Bellemare and also Canadian union officials on Wednesday, the group was prepared to meet political representatives in Washington, including Congressmen and the Senate House Foreign Relations Committee.

Their aim is to highlight the 22,000 US jobs involved in C Series production and underline the potential impact i the US and elsewhere if a satisfactory resolution cannot be reached when the US Dept of Commerce issues its final ruling in February.

“Since our arrival in Montreal on Sunday we have met with trade unionists from across the aerospace sector, including Boeing itself, and there is a common understanding that the case being brought forward by Boeing and backed by the US administration will only damage workers across the board,” said Unite assistant general secretary Steve Turner.

“Workers are caught in the crossfire of a senseless and meritless case. We will not sit idly by and watch the destruction of a leading edge product built by a world class workforce in Belfast.”

“I will be impressing upon US politicians we meet that Boeing has suffered no loss from the C-Series and is unlikely to do so in the future, they didn’t bid for the contract to supply Delta Airlines they are complaining of and don’t even make an aircraft in the same seating class.

“This is an opportunity for tens of thousands of additional jobs in the aerospace sector as flight costs fall further offering great benefits to US airline operators and US consumers.”