Union leaders are warning that 140 jobs could be under threat at Caterpillar plants across the North.

Unite says the US engineering group is likely to axe 65 full time jobs and 75 contract positions.

Caterpillar has four sites in Northern Ireland - Larne, Monkstown, Springvale, and Belfast - employing around 2,100 people.

It has a parallel history of both investing and also dramatically cutting jobs in the North.

In the last two years it has invested nearly £15 million in its local operations but in 2012 it also implemented sweeping job cuts totalling more than 700.

Davy Thompson, regional co-ordinating officer for Unite said the decision by Caterpillar to axe more jobs in Northern Ireland reflects the inadequacy of local existing employment legislation for manufacturing and agency workers.

“We are very disappointed by these job-losses which will affect workers across the company’s three production sites in Larne, Monkstown and Springvale. The timing of this announcement is particularly difficult for the workforce coming in the mouth of Christmas,” Mr Thompson said.

He said the union’s priority was to get the best possible terms for its members at Caterpillar who were affected by the job cuts.

But Mr Thompson said he also feared that the scale of the latest job losses would weigh heavily on the affected communities.

“Since 2008, output from Northern Ireland’s manufacturing sector has shrunk by nine per cent which means many of those highly skilled workers who will lose their jobs will struggle to find employment.

“This decision reinforces the need for the Northern Ireland Executive to initiate a substantial and wider industrial investment and manufacturing strategy to address the range of serious economic challenges we face”, Mr Thompson said.