News

Packaging workers at two Remploy sites on Merseyside have voted to take strike action over closure plans.

Trade unions Unite and GMB said more than 50 of the 71 workers taking part in the ballot at Aintree had voted in favour of industrial action, while all 41 workers at Birkenhead had given their support.

Contract assembly and packing work for toiletries is carried out at Aintree, while Remploy's central cutting unit is housed at Birkenhead.

The strike action could start early in February, Unite said.

Aintree and Birkenhead are the first of 28 sites to be balloted on industrial action over Remploy's plans to close 17 and merge 11 factories across the UK.

Unite said it was "disappointed" at the lack of consultation over the selection procedure for factory site closures and voluntary redundancies.

Unite assistant general secretary Tony Burke said the ballot results had given a "strong indication" of the strength of feeling across Remploy nationally.

"We hope that Remploy management listens to its workforce to stop the closures and save the jobs of its loyal staff," he said.

Remploy, which provides employment for people with disabilities, received approval for its proposals for modernisation of the company from former work and pensions secretary Peter Hain last November.

The firm said the aim of the modernisation, which would produce savings of £59m over five years, was to "quadruple" the number of jobs it finds for disabled people in mainstream employment to more than 20,000 jobs each year.

A Remploy spokeswoman said the firm was consulting individually with all of its employees.

"It is difficult to see what benefit would be gained by strike action," she said.

Staff at the Birkenhead central cutting unit had the option of transferring to the Remploy site next door or, as with the Aintree employees, of remaining on their current Remploy terms and conditions, including final salary pension scheme, working for another local employer, for as long as they wished, she added.

"The company and government have committed that there will be no compulsory redundancy of disabled Remploy employees and every disabled employee will have the support they need for as long as they need it."

Remploy said it wanted 55 factories to remain open subject to satisfactory progress towards an "acceptable loss per disabled employee".

In the last financial year, Remploy lost £1.1m, or £34,454 for each disabled employee, at Birkenhead, and £1.3m or £18,926 for each disabled worker, at Aintree.