The iconic Harland & Wolff shipyard has been saved from closure as a bid worth £6 million from a London-based energy company is accepted.

The resilient workforce at the east Belfast plant can end their occupation of the site as all 79 of their jobs, with full terms and conditions, are secured.

Infrastrata, which operates a gas storage project at Islandmagee in Co Antrim, is set to increase the H&W workforce by several hundred over the next five years.

For now though, the nine-week effort of workers hoping to save their shipyard has ended in success. Staff took matters into their own hands and occupied the site on July 29 following a week of speculation and the threat of imminent closure.

Unite the Union said the deal is a landmark win that will boost the confidence of local workers.

"Today's lesson is clear: when working people organise, everyone wins," Regional Secretary Jackie Pollock said.

"While politicians on all sides threw up their hands, claiming that the shipyard could not be saved and efforts should be focused on securing redundancy payments, the workers stepped up and took control.

"Few commentators believed they would be win, but as trade unionists they had belief in the power of collective action. Now, the Administrator is preparing letters requesting our members return to work this week following the acceptance of bid from Infrastrata which will not only save jobs but lay the foundations for the yard's expansion."

Congratulating the workers and their shop stewards on their victory, Regional Coordinating Officer Susan Fitzgerald said that the workforce had not only rescued their own jobs but had laid the foundations for a new sense of self-confidence among working class people.

She commented: "Harland and Wolff workers have defied the cynics to show that decisive, militant and organised action can secure real victories. As well as safeguarding their own futures, the workers have sent a message that will be heard across Northern Ireland, most immediately by Wrightbus workers in Ballymena facing a crisis not of their own making.

"It is a mark of the decency of this workforce that this week, instead of just celebrating, they are planning to make their way to Ballymena to stand with union workers there.

"With this new company we look forward to pushing to have our members focussed on what they do best, that is ship building and green energy infrastructure. Northern Ireland's skillbase is our most valuable asset, and it is an asset workers are determined to defend – whether in Belfast or in Ballymena," Ms Fitzgerald concluded.



(JG/CM)