A nationwide crusade to protest against the closure of 43 specialised UK factories which employ disabled people begins today in Aberdeen. The Remploy Crusade will travel throughout Scotland, England and Wales to gather public and political support to stop a government supported company from going ahead with cost-cutting plans which would place 2,270 disabled people into mainstream employment. The firm, Remploy, which was started in the 1940s to provide tailor-made working environments for disabled people, says that no disabled person will be made compulsorily redundant, but has also revealed that the company's factories are losing around £100m a year.
However, unions are calling for the factories to stay open and criticise six disability charities who are backing the closures. The protest crusade will run over 60 rallies nationwide over the next month culminating in Bournemouth to tie in with the Labour Party Conference. You can see the protest timetable on the GMB union website.
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The charities believe that disabled people are more likely to have fulfilling lives by working in an "inclusive environment" rather than an exclusive one. Bob Warner, Remploy's chief executive, also told a news conference:
"There is now an acceptance that disabled people would prefer to work in mainstream employment alongside non-disabled people rather than in sheltered workshops from which they do not progress and develop."
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