Supporters turn out for rally against closures

Sep 4 2007 by Alan Weston, Liverpool Daily Post

A RALLY in Liverpool last night heard about the latest moves in the campaign to stop the closure of a group of factories providing employment for hundreds of disabled people.

Managers at Remploy have announced plans to shut more than half of its 82 factories nationally, including three on Merseyside.

Under the closure plans, more than 180 jobs are at risk at the St Helens site and 71 at Aintree. Birkenhead has two Remploy factories and one will close and merge with the other.

The Government says it wants to transfer disabled workers into mainstream employment and aims to reduce Remploy’s network.

Walton MP Peter Kilfoyle was guest speaker at last night’s event in the city centre, which was attended by around 200 people.

Mr Kilfoyle said: “There is no rhyme or reason to the closures. It is not just about jobs, it’s about socialisation.

“Remploy’s workers are very flexible and can adapt to whatever work is available.

“This is a national campaign because it affects the length and breadth of the country. The case made by the trade unions to keep the factories open is far stronger than the one made by management and Government to close them.”

The public meeting was part of a series of events taking place as part of a national road trip organised by the Remploy consortium of trade unions, made up of the T&G section of Unite the Union, along with GMB and Community.

Today they will be holding rallies at the three Merseyside factories threatened with closure.

Unite’s national officer Ann Field said before last night’s rally: “We have won a lot of support as people cannot believe a publicly-owned company would dismiss disabled people and get rid of the concept of supported employment.

“We want to put pressure back on the Government and company to get them to change their minds.”

The road trip culminates in Bournemouth at the Labour Party Conference later this month, where Unite will hold a major demonstration.

Unite regional secretary Laurence Faircloth said: “We have received massive support since we launched our crusade in Aberdeen and we are urging Merseyside people to come along to any rallies and meetings in their towns to support the crusade and make it a success.

“We are determined to bring work into the Remploy factories in Merseyside, otherwise hundreds of disabled people will find themselves out of work.”

Remploy is the UK’s biggest employer of disabled people and those with health conditions or who face barriers in mainstream employment. It employs more than 5,000 staff in 82 factories nationally.

An all-party group of MPs has called on management not to go ahead with the closures and to come up with a viable long-term business strategy for the factories instead.

Liverpool’s deputy Labour leader Cllr Paul Brant has put forward a motion for Wednesday’s full council meeting to create a policy of “reserving” at least one city council contract for a supported business or factory such as Remploy.

His motion suggests that the crit- eria be a business where more than 50% of employees are disabled, and that it is not made to go through tending processes. The motion states, “this Council notes that reserving a contract to supported employees will help public sector organisations, like Liverpool City Council, both support the disabled community in Liverpool by expand- ing employment opportunities and also meeting the Council's disability equality duty”.

alanweston