Remploy staff plead ‘let us work’

Mar 16 2008 by Eleanor Gregson, Sunday Sun

DISABLED workers at a North factory have launched an 11th-hour plea to company bosses to let them stay with the firm when the stricken factory closes in less than two weeks.

Between them, Mark Dougherty and Alan Hornsey have given nearly 40 years’ service to the Remploy factory at Hartlepool.

However, they say they are being forced to take redundancy packages instead of being allowed to remain in work at one of the region’s surviving factories, in Spennymoor, County Durham.

The company — which specialises in providing employment to disabled people — is closing 28 of its 83 factories later this month under a modernisation plan which will see half of the group’s 5000-strong workforce across the UK lose their jobs.

Dad-of-four Mark, who is registered as disabled, says he would turn down a £40,000 pay-off if it meant he could transfer to the Spennymoor site.

The 44-year-old supervisor said: “I’m absolutely devastated that the factory is closing . . . I’ve had lads crying to me in my office about what is going to happen to them.

“Only three workers are being allowed to transfer to Spennymoor, but six more of us want to go rather than take redundancy.

“These people have a variety of disabilities and they are going to end up sat at home and will never work again because they are frightened of working in a place which can’t offer them the same support.”

Alan, 57, added: “I was told I had a job for life when I started here 15 years ago . . . it’s gutting.”

The workers claim there is sufficient capacity at the Spennymoor factory to accommodate them and say they cannot understand the company’s refusal to let them remain in work.

A spokeswoman for the GMB union said: “We remain extremely concerned that Remploy has not given serious consideration to the closure of its manufacturing sites, in particular in the northern region.

“The trade unions have consistently argued that there are alternatives.”

A Remploy spokesperson said: “Remploy has guaranteed that no disabled employee will be made compulsorily redundant and will have the support they need for as long as they need it.

“The options given to disabled employees included remaining on Remploy terms and conditions — including final salary pension scheme — while working for another local employer, or generous early retirement and voluntary redundancy packages.”

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Andy's story

ANDY GRAY, pictured far left, joined Remploy to escape the jibes he endured because of a rare condition which he has suffered from since being a small child.

The 31-year-old has neurofibromatosis — commonly known as Elephant Man Syndrome — and says previous jobs left him unhappy because of the way people judged him on his appearances.

He said: “The prospect of working somewhere else is worrying . . . I want to work but I don’t want to be somewhere where people will judge me on my disability. Everybody knows how to look after each other at Remploy. I will really miss it.”