UNIONS representing workers at the Caterpillar plant, in Stockton, have come up with a plan that they believe could avoid job losses.

Caterpillar had originally agreed to lay off 98 staff in two tranches, with the first 41 leaving this month, followed by another 57 in September.

However, following a meeting of shop stewards at the plant, the AEEU/Amicus union believes the job losses could be avoided.

Jeff Morland, divisional officer with the AEEU/Amicus said: "I've met with the shop stewards at Caterpillar and we believe the redundancies originally anticipated by the company can be avoided, if we work in partnership with the company to come up with a solution to the current problems.

"The situation would not appear to be as bad as had originally been predicted, and we are confident that major redundancies can be avoided."

The union is waiting for a response to its proposals from the company.

However, it cancelled its planned meeting with the Caterpillar management, scheduled to take place yesterday.

Caterpillar is considering the job losses as a result of the downturn in global demand for its products.