Swansea Trades Council pledges to fight the destruction of Remploy

08 March Swansea Trades Council condemns unreservedly the announcement today that the government plans to close 36 out of 54 Remploy factories across the UK and 7 out of 9 in Wales, including the site in Fforestfach. Up to 1,700 disabled workers stand to be sacked; 1,700 skilled, productive jobs lost.

Let’s be clear - the Sayce Review into Remploy was never about the viability of the Remploy plants or about integrating disabled workers into the “mainstream” workforce. From the start, trade unionists in Remploy were of the opinion that it was all a sham to justify cuts. Today’s announcement from the government, on implementing the recommendations of Sayce, confirms the correctness of this suspicion.

This announcement is about one thing only, cuts! It is part and parcel of the government’s cuts agenda – making working class people pay for a crisis that was not of our making. The decisions to close the Coastgaurd Centre and now Remploy prove that the government doesn’t care about the importance of the service or who is hit, as long as it’s not their own rich backers. Past Remploy closures prove that many of these workers will not find another job if these factories are shut.

Swansea Trades Council is proud to support disabled trade unionists in Remploy in their continuing fight. If the government thought that the size of the workforce or the fact that they are disabled makes Remploy workers a soft target, they are very much mistaken. Remploy workers need the support of every trade unionist and all those fighting the cuts; please urgently send messages of solidarity and pledge to support them in whatever action they decide on.

Ronnie Job, Secretary, Swansea Trades Council.

Further information and messages of solidarity to:

Swansea Remploy Support Group / Swansea Remploy GMB / Remploy Trade Union Consortium – contact: Les Woodward: [email protected]  07977 436 251