11:43AM, Fri Jul 13, 2012

Anger As Remploy Factory Closures Put Disabled Staff Out Of Work

By Andy Hughes Location: Newcastle

VIDEO: Angry workers hit out at decision to close Remploy factories

Nearly 70 disabled workers in Tyne and Wear are looking for another job after Remploy announced scores of factories will close nationwide.

The company, which provides employment opportunities for people with disabilities, has confirmed it will shut down its factories in Newcastle and Sunderland.

It came after Maria Miller, minister for disabled people, told MPs that the £320m budget for disabled employment services could be spent more effectively.

The company, which will close 27 sites around the country, employs 58 in Newcastle and 11 in Gateshead.

Following the announcement, Sky Tyne and Wear spoke to angry workers at the Newcastle factory.

Workers at Remploy's 54 factories voted in May to go on strike in protest at the planned closures.

Phil Davies, national officer of the GMB union, said: "To close these factories that employ disabled people in the present economic climate is a sentence to a life of unemployment and poverty.

"The strikes will go ahead on July 19 and 26 as planned and should be a rallying point, giving for each local community the opportunity to stand behind these disabled workers who will be facing the scrapheap.”

The Government has set aside £8m to support workers who are made redundant.