WORKERS FROM THE threatened Remploy program occupied their manager’s office in protest to the planned closure of their workplaces. Remploy is a government-run group of workplaces, providing employment for people with a range of disabilities. By the end of the year, the Coalition plans to close more than half of Remploy’s 54 sites, resulting in the loss of over 1,700 jobs. As part of its brutal program of austerity, and in keeping with its passion for hitting the poorest and most vulnerable hardest, they insist that the workers should be able to find ‘normal’ jobs in private industry. The facts paint a different picture – following the last round of jobs cuts at Remploy two years back, 85% of workers are still unemployed. After the most recent round of factory closures, some bosses didn’t even have the guts to let the workers – some with learning difficulties – know face-to-face that they were being made redundant. The hypocrisy is doubly hard to bear when it comes from a government attempting to ride a wave of popularity off the back of the Paralympics, while tossing disabled workers – including Brian Davies, a Remploy worker who has won four Paralympic gold medals – on the scrapheap.
On August 23rd, having booked a meeting to talk with a senior Remploy boss in Leicester, Remploy workers decided it would be more productive to occupy his office, refusing to leave until the Disabilities Minister, Maria Miller, committed to further negotiations before the closing of any factories! The workers are determined to fight back, with five days of strike action planned for early this month. They have called for solidarity in their fight for dignified employment; if you would like to support the Remploy workers, check out their website at http://www.remployworkers.info.
On the other hand, what to do when strikes and occupations fail? Well, we hope Remploy won’t follow the burning example of the Maruti Suzuki carplant staff in India. On the 9th July, following over a year of wage disputes and a poorly-timed nasty comment from a supervisor, the workers kicked off, ransacked offices, and then apparently locked the execs in a room and lit them up! Nine police were injured in the battle, an H.R. Manager fried, and at least 99 arrests were made. But honestly, we’ve all dreamed bout torching the boss, right?
http://rt.com/news/india-suzuki-plant-clashes-567
