Remploy workers strike in protest at factory closures

  • Granada
Staff on the picket line outside the Remploy factory in Pemberton, Wigan Credit: ITV Granada

Staff at Remploy factories across the region have gone on a 24 hour strike in protest at the planned closures of 7 factories in the North West. Remploy specialises in employing disabled people but the Government says the money spent on the subsidised factories could be better used on integrating disabled people into the mainstream workforce. Disabled employees have told Granada that the factories are a financial lifeline, keeping them off benefits. They say it would be very hard for them to find work anywhere else.

The North West factories earmarked for closure are:

  • Birkenhead

  • Bolton

  • Cleator Moor

  • Manchester

  • Oldham

  • Preston

  • Wigan