Union blast for Remploy
Apr 10 2008 By Jez Davison, Evening Gazette
A FRESH row has erupted over the closure of Remploy factories in Hartlepool and Stockton.
GMB union representative Val Scott blasted the organisation for not doing enough to help the 140 staff made redundant last month get back into work.
Remploy argued that the redundancies were part of a wider, Government-backed initiative to introduce more disabled people to mainstream employment, but meanwhile it had ignored requests by 12 Hartlepool-based staff to relocate to the nearby Spennymoor site, from which 32 recently took voluntary redundancy.
Ms Scott said: “We have been given no reasonable explanation as to why this hasn’t happened. It’s an absolute disgrace. The company gave workers a commitment that it would help those made redundant to find work again.
“As if this blow isn’t bad enough, another 10 sites have been opened up to voluntary redundancies without consultation with the union.”
Remploy said two Hartlepool employees had moved to the loss-making Spennymoor factory.
A spokesperson said: “To increase the workforce further would seriously compromise the potential success of the factory.
“At the core of our modernisation programme is a determination to use our resources to help even more disabled people into work.
“This requires a transfer of resources from our loss-making factories to employment services which provide training, advice and support for disabled people going to work in mainstream employment.”
But Ms Scott said disabled workers - especially those with severe learning difficulties or deafness - may not find it easy to secure jobs on the open market.
“Sometimes society isn’t tolerant of people with a disability,” she said.
The GMB said Hartlepool had the highest percentage of people declared unfit for work, while the region as a whole had almost 400,000 signed off.
Jobcentre Plus said it was fully aware of Remploy’s five-year restructuring plan and was ready to offer assistance to ex-employees. Since the Government’s New Deal for Disabled People began in 2001, the organisation has helped more than 150,000 disabled people into work throughout the UK.
