DESPITE government promises to try and keep Remploy staff in a job, new details have been revealed that a deal was struck with a firm who will keep the order book but axe staff.
THE more we learn about the closure of the Remploy factory in Glasgow’s Springburn, the more the decision to axe it stinks.
An investigation by the Daily Record has raised a raft of disturbing questions about the disposal process that require immediate explanation.
The UK Government have always insisted the priority in finding a new owner would be keeping people in work.
Staff in Springburn were assured everything would be done to keep the factory open and safeguard their jobs.
But today’s revelations show that as long ago as July last year, a private firm were poised to cash in on closure.
R Healthcare were handed the “front end” of the business in a secret backroom deal that is still shrouded in mystery.
They are now planning to keep Remploy’s order book while axeing staff. The British taxpayer will have to cover the redundancy money.
How can this be allowed to happen?
Unions believe the agreement meant their members were always going to end up on the job scrapheap and were convinced it was a premeditated takeover of a vulnerable company.
Many other aspects of the sorry episode just don’t add up.
Which member of Remploy staff signed off the agreement?
Did it unfairly prejudice another firm’s chance of coming to the rescue of the workers?
And how can R Healthcare keep Remploy’s customers when they haven’t been willing to keep the workforce?
In a complicated chain of business and legal arrangements, we should not forget that the future livelihoods of nearly 50 disabled workers are at stake.
The UK Government’s decision to axe the Remploy factories was heartbreaking for those that work there.
The least they could expect was for the disposal process to be carried out in an open, transparent and professional manner.
This has not happened.
An immediate, independent investigation must be launched immediately
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