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August 31 2011
Disabled workers at Wythenshawe's Remploy plant are fearing for their futures following a report which unions say will sound the "death knell" for factories across the country.

More than 20 jobs in Wythenshawe could be lost at the publicly funded printing plant which employs disabled people,after the government accepted the review by disabled charity boss, Liz Sayce, who calls for a move away from segregated employment for disabled people.

Options in the report could see the factories become either social enterprises or co-operatives, but if they are not viable, the 2,800 Remploy workers across the country would be returned to mainstream employment.

But unions say workers want to stay at Remploy rather than take their chances in the mainstream job market and in the worst economic crisis since the 1930s, their chances of getting another job are almost nil.

The government has opened a consultation ending in October when the future of the plants will finally be decided, but unions are determined to fight closures.

And they say supporting disabled people made redundant if the factories close could cost the public more in the long term.

Brian Anderson, shop steward for the Unite union at the Wythenshawe factory, says the government has been runnng down the factories and believes the recommendations of the Sayce report could be be final nail in the coffin for the factory.

He said: "There has already been a programme of voluntary redundancies and there have been no new employees taken on for five years. They got rid of the reps which obviously makes it difficult to get work in."

And the union is backed by plant manager Mike Tarry. He said: "The current mood at the Wythenshawe site is one of apprehension and disappointment given the recent round of voluntary redundancies in May.

"The current team in the Manchester site want to work. If they didn't, they would have all taken voluntary redundancy. It is a key part of their lives."

Trade unions, GMB, Unite and Community, are campaigning to stop the
closure of the factories and are calling on the government to enter
into meaningful discussion on the future of Remploy and the whole of
supported employment programme in Britain.

The unions have launched an e-petition to keep the factories open with a view to forcing a parliamentary debate.

Remploy workers in the region are due to meet wth the Sayce Review consultation team on September 13 and Wythenshawe workers are also being backed by their local MP, Paul Goggins and the Manchester Coalition Against Cuts campaign.

Unite general secretary, Len McCluskey, said: ”This report spells the death knell of Remploy factories – it is a blueprint to run-down and close the factories. The government needs to commit itself to making substantial pump-priming available to guarantee that the plants become successful as businesses in their own right - they won’t succeed without such cash.

”The prospect for those who will have to battle it out for mainstream jobs is grim – it is a major blow for them. What will happen is that disabled people will be at the back of the employment queue and when they do succeed in finding work, too often, they are bullied and forced out of work. It is a vicious revolving door.

”We believe that the government has used a reputable charity as a cover for its own ‘dirty work’, cost-cutting agenda."

The minister for disabled people, Maria Miller says the government want to make sure that Remploy factories are successful. She said recently in parliament:: "At present every single one is loss-making, and half the employees in Remploy across the board...do not have work to do. That is not an acceptable situation. We need to look for ways of remedying a situation that we inherited and through the Sayce consultation we hope to do that."