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To have your say about what is going on in Remploy and the campaign you can post a message below. PLEASE NOTE the postings below are the personal views of the author(s) and not necessarily endorsed by the GMB. Please remember this is an open forum and we welcome your views and comments, but we request you avoid using offensive statements and language.

To have your views posted on the site e-mail les.woodward@ntlworld.com tony.gledhill@remploy.co.uk

 My manager has told me not to worry as my factory will be the last one tthey will close. Knowing Remploy the way I do I suspect all managers have been told to say the same thing. Does this mean then that there will be 83 factories which will be the last ones closing? Or does it mean that there will be 83 factories that will close first? or does it mean we are being given the mushroom treatment, kept in the dark and fed on manure? Chris South Wales

If the Remploy factory I work in were to close where would I get a job? Despite the Disability Discrimination Act we do not see long lines of employers just waiting to employ disabled people. When a disabled person goes for an interview most employers see only the disability rather than the abilities of the individual. These attitudes will take many years to be changed. Despite the Race Relations Act and the Equal Opportunities Act we still see disgraceful discrimination against Black and Ethnic Minority workers and against women, and those pieces of legislation have been in place a lot longer than the DDA. What chance do disabled people have without Remploy factories to provide training and skills so that we contribute to society and are not left to rely on state handouts Alison York

I am severely disabled with Muscular Dystrophy. Working in Remploy has given me the opportunity to learn skills and rise to new challenges in an environment that is supportive of my needs and requirements. That support enables me to earn a living and to be a productive member of society, just the same as non-disabled people. A person can become disabled at any time, whether due to disease, accident or genetic makeup. In a microsecond a person’s life can be changed forever and whenever someone becomes disabled their earning potential is very often severely curtailed. Remploy factories provide the help and support for people in that position just as the Swansea Remploy factory provided help and support for me for which I am very grateful. The government state they want to get thousands of disabled people off benefit and into work, that is a very commendable aspiration, just as long as they don’t end up putting thousands of disabled people from work onto benefit and destroying their lives and the lives of their families at the same time.

Neil Swansea

I am a disabled employee at Remploy Lanarkshire. Without Remploy i would be probably like many other disabled be unemployed. It is not the factories that Remploy should be getting rid of but the directors like Jill Hill and Bob Warner who are only working for Remploy three days a week. How can they justify the very high wages and expensive cars. Although the fight has only started, i would like thank Phil Davies and the Consortium of Trade Unions for there support with the disabled. TOGETHER UNITED...TOGETHER WE WILL WIN....

Mrs Linda Hills. 

Dear Sir or Madam, One and All, Thank you, for your help and support of the Campaign on going for Remploy. The two Unions of the Mansfield Factory (GMB and Community), wish to thank the region and beyond for their time and efforts. We have been absolutely overwhelmed by how much people have helped and care for us! We will keep you posted of events as they occur, we would like to list a special thanks to: The Ashfield Show Committee. Andy Worth, Regional Secretary. Paul Kenny, Deputy National Secretary. And a special thanks to: Les Woodward, Convenor for Remploy Affairs. Brian Davies, Deputy Convenor for Remploy Affairs. Les White, Regional President.

Julian Siggee GMB, Eileen Ley Community, Bob Binch GMB, and all  Trade Union Members of The Mansfield Remploy Site.

THE QUEEN NEVER REPLIED

 I have written to six people about the closure of our factory and the loss of our jobs. They were;

1) The Queen.

2) Mr Tony Blair the Prime Minister.

3) Bob Warner Chief Executive for Remploy Ltd.

4) Mrs C. Keane department for work and pensions

5) Linda Gilroy MP.

6) Alison Seabeck MP.

The first being the Queen, I wrote to her because I met her once in London when she opened a new factory for Remploy, I was so honoured to meet her, I felt she listened to what disabled people like myself had to say, and hoped she would care enough to at least reply to my pleas for help, in keeping our standing in the community. But maybe no one cares about us enough to cry out and help to save our jobs, or our dignity; instead they want to put us on the scrap heap not earning, Just saving on the state benefits, which none of us want?

Beverley Stevens - Remploy Plymouth