1,700 workers facing redundancy due to government decision

The decision by the coalition government to leave more than 1,700 members of staff facing redundancy has been condemned by trade union GMB.

Some 36 Remploy factories all over the UK are going to be closed as the Conservative-Liberal Democrat alliance continues its bid to slash the public deficit. But national secretary for GMB workers at the organisation Phil Davies described the decision as one of the worst the ‘discredited’ coalition has made since it came to power almost two years ago following a hung parliament result in the general election.

“The decision to close these 36 factories followed by the other 18 factories in due course is an attack on the most vulnerable members of our society,” he said, pointing out thousands of disabled workers will face redundancy as a result of the closure of Remploy. According to data on its website, Remploy found more than 20,000 jobs in mainstream employment for disabled people and those facing complex barriers to work in 2010-11.