THE UK Business Secretary is to urge the Government to give Dundee’s Remploy staff a post-Christmas stay of execution.
But Vince Cable last night admitted there was no hope of the doomed workforce escaping the axe in the long term.
Mr Cable said he wanted the redundancies to be managed in a ”proper and sensitive” manner and would press the Department of Work and Pensions to consider keeping people employed until after the festive season.
He said: ”I don’t have any role in that decision but when I get back to London I will definitely report it back and ask them to look at the specific issue in the run up to Christmas.
”It is not going to chance the decision but we can look at how it’s managed.”
Dozens of disabled workers could lose their jobs after the Government announced the closure of Remploy in Dundee.
Tearful staff were told that the textiles business is ”not commercially viable” and all 43 are now facing redundancy, days before Christmas.
Meanwhile, 65 employees at two Remploy factories in Fife could also be thrown out of work if a buyer is not found for sites in Cowdenbeath and Leven.
Earlier this year, the Government acted on the controversial Sayce Report, which recommended that disabled workers would be better served in mainstream employment rather than a supported environment such as Remploy.
More than 30 factories have ceased operations since then and the Dundee site has been targeted in the latest tranche of closures, announced yesterday.
Politicians and union leaders have condemned the decision and called on ministers to reconsider.
Derek Milligan, shop steward at the Dunsinane Avenue site, said: ”Obviously, we’re all gutted. I was expecting it but when you are told it’s still a shock.
”There were quite a few people in tears. There are a lot of vulnerable people in there.”
Staff were summoned to a meeting yesterday and told there will be a 90-day consultation, before being sent home early.
Mr Milligan added: ”Basically, we’ve been thrown on the scrapheap because a lot of people will find it very difficult to get jobs.
”It’s hard enough for able-bodied people to find jobs at the moment.”
In a statement to Parliament yesterday, the Minister for Disabled People Esther McVey MP said Remploy in Dundee is ”not commercially viable” and has ”little realistic prospect of being sold”.
The factory is ”now proposed for closure with all the staff working there and at the associated Business Offices at risk of redundancy,” she added.