As the Remploy website states, they are ‘committed’ to helping disabled workers find employment so with the news of planned closures within 36 of their 54 sites in the coming months, disabled workers are crying ‘foul’ against government and calling this move discriminatory.
Remploy workers by the hundreds are demonstrating in the streets in front of offices located in Sheffield and London and unions are criticising these planned closures, saying that of the 1700 mandatory redundancies, 1500 will involve disabled workers. Sean McGovern, a one-time Remploy employee, states that closures within recent years had displaced a great number of disabled employees who are yet to find another job.
Also, Paul Kenny who is general secretary of GMB actually joined the protesters in front of Sheffield’s city centre because this untimely decision made by government would force these people into unemployment. Kenny adds that the last time government promised to absorb displaced workers into the mainstream job market they fell far short of the goal. Nine out of ten of those people who lost jobs in the last round of closures are still sitting at home collecting benefits and have not found work, even after those promises. Can he further states these are discriminatory practices against people who are disabled.
Protesters in wheelchairs joined the march because this newest move on the part of government is “disgusting” and “disgraceful” in their own words. However, a spokesperson for the DWP claims that there is still a £320 million budget for disabled workers and he claims that closing these job sites will enable government to spend money more efficiently elsewhere. Protesters want to know what is more efficient than an enabling them to work. Perhaps government, in their eyes, would rather pay them to stay home on disability benefits rather than enable them to be productive members of society.
