Remploy workers occupied Remploy head office in August 2012.
More than 230 disabled workers are at risk of redundancy as British government announced plans to shut nine further Remploy factories employing disabled staff across England and Scotland.
The minister for the disabled Esther McVey, said jobs for about 70 percent of the 515 disabled employees in the remaining Remploy factories and CCTV sites could be saved after they attracted bids to take over the businesses.
According to reports, the sites to be closed are in Leven, Cowdenbeath, Stirling, Dundee, Clydebank, Norwich, Portsmouth, Burnley and Sunderland, affecting a total of 284 employees, including 234 disabled workers.
The countryâ„¢s unions criticized the governmentâ„¢s announcement and said it was a Å“bad news dressed up as good”.
Å“This is devastating news but not untypical from this uncaring government who cannot be relied on to protect the vulnerable,” said national officer of the GMB union Jerry Nelson.
Former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown also said the Tory-led governmentâ„¢s decision was a “shameful abandonment” of the disabled.
Last year, the UK government announced plans to close 34 Remploy factories, saying that the budget for disabled employment could be spent more effectively.
The plan, which has put more than 1,000 Remploy staff at risk of compulsory redundancy, provoked a series of protests against the coalition government across the country.
MOS/HE
Republished with permission from: Press TV