Remploy workers in Dundee are to go on strike next week in protest at a Government announcement of 27 factory closures throughout the UK.
A total of 1,421 jobs across the country are said to be at risk, and workers have voted to take strike action to vent their fury over the closures.
The Dundee factory will not be closed, but is planned to be sold off by the government, giving rise to fears of job cuts in the future.
GMB union leader Phil Davies confirmed the workers will be taking industrial action to protest at the lack of consultation by the Department of Work and Pensions over the planned closures, in the form of a 24-hour strike on Thursday.
He said: ”We believe Dundee was always a viable factory and it shouldn’t be privatised. It should be left as it is but with the outside costs removed. We are now pressing for the government to come clean and say who has bid for these factories which are being sold off.”
Dundee West MP Jim McGovern said: ”The way this Tory-led government has handled the reform of Remploy has been disgraceful. Not only were staff and the trade unions little consulted, many of their colleagues across the country are now facing the prospect of unemployment.
”The excellent and historic work of Remploy to provide work opportunities and training to disabled and able-bodied employees does not deserve to be treated in this way.”
Dundee-based MSP Jenny Marra also expressed her support for the workers’ action.