Remploy site saved from closure

Workers at Bridgend's Remploy factory, which was one of five in Wales under threat of closure, have been told the site will remain open. It was one of 43 across the UK which the disabled employment service had earmarked for closure in May, with mergers for another two.

Remploy said it wanted to put 2,270 of its 5,000 disabled employees into mainstream employment. But Bridgend's 89 staff have been told the site has more work than expected. The service said it now had confidence, which it had not had in May, that its main customers were committed.

The 89 staff - 85 of whom are people with disabilities - were told the site has also won additional work from one of its current customers. The site, which assembles automotive components, opened in 1990.

Bob Warner, Remploy chief executive, said: "There is no doubt this is a result of the hard work, commitment and actions of the management team in our automotive business and staff and employees at the Bridgend site."

However, factories at Aberdare, Abertillery, Treforest and Wrexham are still scheduled to close. Two other factories, at Brynamman and Ystradgynlais, are due to merge with one in the Neath Port Talbot area.

In May, Remploy said that all of the factories facing closure in Wales, which manufacture goods like wheelchair parts and furniture, were running at a loss.

Some 365 employees in Wales, most of whom are people with disabilities, could be affected if the remaining closures go ahead. Last week, 100 people attended rallies in Wrexham as part of a UK-wide effort to generate opposition.

The rallies were part of a month-long mobile trade union campaign which began in Aberdeen and will end in Bournemouth at the Labour Party's annual conference later this month.

The tour, called the Remploy Crusade by organisers, will visit the Swansea Shared Service Centre on Tuesday. On 12 September it will be at Bridgend, Treforest, Aberdare and Port Talbot, and the following day will visit Brynamman, Ystradgynlais and Abertillery.

GMB, Unite and Community, known as the Consortium of Trade Unions, have called for the sites to stay open and have put together alternative business proposals to save the factories.

But announcing its "modernisation" proposals, Remploy said it wanted to transfer resources from loss-making factories to find jobs for people with disabilities in mainstream employment.

It said no disabled person would face compulsory redundancy and those who wished to continue working could do so on their current terms and conditions, but with another employer. On Monday, the service said it was still consulting with staff representatives about the rest of it proposals. A final decision on the fate of all threatened factories will be taken later this year.