UNIONS will meet North-East shipyard bosses this week in a bid to end a dispute over the use of foreign labour.

The GMB is in dispute with managers at A&P Tyne after it emerged the company had employed 12 Polish pipe fitters.

Its sister yard in Middlesbrough, A&P Tees, also has about a dozen Poles working as contractors.

GMB senior organiser Billy Coates said the Tyneside deal broke his union's employment agreement with A&P.

"It is a major problem as far as we are concerned," he said.

"There are plenty of local pipe fitters knocking about. Local people should be given the opportunity to take those jobs."

The issue is emotive because of the decline of the North-East as Britain's shipbuilder.

Thousands of skilled workers were made redundant across the region's shipyards between the 1970s and early 1990s.

The GMB said it was due to meet bosses of the Southampton-based A&P Group in London on Friday, to try to resolve the dispute.

The Poles at A&P's yard in Hebburn, South Shields, were brought in as sub-contractors by Taylor Marine.

The union said they were paid little more than minimum wage.

The North-East workers are concerned this will lead to yards bringing in cheaper labour at their expense.

"This is a very difficult issue," said Mr Coates.

"A&P Tyne are creating the problem.

"They are not willing to abide by the in-house agreements, or have any dialogue with our shop stewards.

"The workforce is getting very impatient with their style of management.

"It is in the interests of both the company and ourselves to reach a firm understanding on this issue."

Shipyards were the major employer in the industry's heyday at the beginning of the 20th Century.

However, overseas competition led to its decline in the 1960s.

A&P Tyne laid off 72 workers last October, when it closed its yard in Wallsend, North Tyneside.

Its dry dock at Hebburn is the largest in the North-East and helped drive the Tyneside operation to record sales in the first half of last year. It is due to report full-year results next month.

The yard's managing director, Fred Newman, was unavailable for comment yesterday.

There is no union recognised at A&P Tees. The yard's general manager, Rob Bryant, declined to comment