Remploy Workers Revert to Strike Action To Protect Jobs
News from Celtic Press
Remploy factory workers in Wales staged a twenty four hour strike last week (20th July 2012) over UK government plans to close their factories.
The strike action is the first of two such strikes by the disabled workers, whose factories have been targeted for closure by the UK government. The UK government argue that the Remploy factories are loss-making and that the money used to support the factories would be better spent elsewhere. Consequently half of all the Remploy factories face closure by the end of the year, while the remaining factories face an uncertain future in 2013.
The first Remploy factory was build in Bridgend, Wales in 1946 to employ soldiers who had been made disabled as a result of military service in WWII and Remploy workers in Wales have campaigned vigorously over the last year to get the Welsh government to act in their favour. As an admission the Welsh government has pledged to subsidise employers who take on Remploy workers who have been made redundant as a result of the factory closures in a move that the Unite union want the UK Government to replicate.
The Celtic League took the campaign to the United Nations this month, in an attempt to highlight the plight of Remploy workers during the 2012 High Level Segment of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) which took place at the UN headquarters in New York between 2nd and 22nd July 2012.
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Link to UN statement from the Celtic League:
For comment or clarification on this news item in the first instance contact:
Rhisiart Tal-e-bot
General Secretary,
Celtic League
Tel: 0044 (0)1209 319912
M: 0044 (0)7787318666
gensec@celticleague.net
The General Secretary will determine the appropriate branch or General Council Officer to respond to your query.
ISSUED BY THE CELTIC LEAGUE INFORMATION SERVICE
22/07/12
The Celtic League has branches in the six Celtic Countries. It works to promote cooperation between these countries and campaigns on a broad range of political, cultural and environmental matters. It highlights human rights abuse, monitors all military activity and focuses on socio-economic issues.
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