Union leaders say progress cannot be made before Christmas

Negotiations followed industrial action by about 4,000 members of the Amicus and Transport Workers unions earlier this month in a row over pay and cost-cutting at Northern Ireland's biggest manufacturing firm.

The unions have described the latest offer by the company as derisory and their position as intransigent.

As a result, union leaders believe there is no opportunity to make progress until after Christmas.

A spokesman for Shorts said they were disappointed by the unions' stance, given that the two sides had committed themselves to putting an offer to the workforce this week.

Under a deal already agreed between management and the unions, there will be no redundancies before the end of March and a controversial new shift will be discussed as part of wider pay negotiations.

The pay and conditions dispute at the company has been dragging on for more than six months.

The strike action was the first of its kind at the company in 20 years.

Industrial action centred on two specific issues - the introduction of afternoon shifts and worries about redundancies - but it also stemmed from a wider dispute.

Shorts - which is owned by Canada's Bombardier - cut 600 jobs in May. The firm said a further 580 posts would go before next April but this was reduced in August to fewer than 100.