New Labour betrays disabled workers

Despite government promises, disabled workers at Remploy factories face closures and cuts. Simon Basketter spoke to some of the workers who are angry and fighting back

After months of false promises from Labour, it has emerged that more disabled workers at government-owned Remploy factories will lose their jobs than under the original proposal to close 43 factories.

The government has approved the closure of 28 factories. Remploy also wants at least 650 voluntary redundancies from factories that aren’t closing plus one extra redundancy for every worker who transfers to a new site.

That means the decimation of Remploy jobs and will undoubtedly result in more factory closures.

Execution

Remploy is rushing to wind down operations in the factories earmarked for closure – even though they were supposed to have a stay of execution until the end of March.

In some factories, promotional material for Remploy products are simply being dumped in their thousands. In others, management are attempting to remove machines and leave workers sitting in empty sites until March.

Workers at the York Remploy site last Friday saw their machines packed away and ready to be removed. But the workers fought back.

The 51 workers have vowed to keep the factory open, so they stood in the way of vans which arrived to take sewing machines and other equipment away. The site’s gates were locked and the removal team was twice forced to turn back.

Caroline Johnson, who is 60 and has worked at Remploy for 11 years, joined the blockade. She told Socialist Worker, “We’re not just doing this for ourselves – we’re doing it for other disabled people who will struggle to find another job.

“We are like a family, a community, and that is being torn apart for no good reason.

“But we’ll believe there is a chance to keep the factory open right until the last minute.”

John Wilson, the GMB union’s assistant shop steward at the factory, said, “Preventing these machines being removed shows we are prepared to fight on a moral issue. It’s another example of what we see as bully-boy tactics from Remploy.

Disgrace

“We are doing this because we think what has happened to Remploy is a disgrace, not just for those working there now, but for disabled people in the future.

“As far as we’re concerned, new jobs for these people are not there and, even if they are, they will be at the lowest end of the service sector. We have called off industrial action once before as a peace gesture and been kicked in the teeth as a result.

“Now we are determined to do whatever we can to keep it open. Where there’s life, there’s hope.”

The workers at the York factory are voting on strike action, as are workers at factories in Hartlepool, St Helens, Treforest, Ystradgynlais near Swansea and Brynammon in South Wales.

Workers in Unite and GMB at two Merseyside factories have already voted to strike.

Some 73 percent at Aintree voted in favour of strike action, while 100 percent at the Central Cutting Unit in Wallasey, Birkenhead, voted in favour.

There was a national protest of Remploy workers at the employers’ forum on disability at Bradford Football Club on Tuesday.

GMB senior steward Paul Bragg told Socialist Worker, “We want a reversal of the policy. If the Labour government can get Northern Rock out of a £55 billion hole using taxpayers’ money, it can help us.”

There is a lesson here for all trade unionists. Last year the unions made a deal not to embarrass the government at the Labour Party conference over the Remploy job cuts. That was a costly mistake.

So was the GMB’s decision to hand over £15,000 of the union’s money to former work and pensions secretary Peter Hain, who pushed through the closures.

Paul Kenny, general secretary of the GMB, points out, “Remploy workers have been betrayed by the Labour government. This whole exercise has been a sham and a disgrace which will taint the relationship between the GMB and the government.”

Labour should not be allowed to get away with their betrayal of the Remploy workers.

That means supporting the workers’ fight and recognising that funding the Labour Party is simply paying for the government to attack us.

Source: SocialistWorker.co.uk

How the elderly and disabled are being left to fend for themselves

A growing number of elderly and disabled people are being denied help with washing, dressing and eating as more local authorities ration social care.

A report showed that seven out of ten councils restrict help to very serious cases, leaving others to pay for themselves or rely on family and friends.

The annual report from the Commission for Social Care Inspection found that thousands fewer people qualify for care now compared with three years ago, despite a 3 per cent rise in the number of people over 75. Only 840,000 people received social care services in 2006 compared with 867,000 in 2003. Those receiving funded care at home declined from 479,000 in 1997 to 358,000 last year.

The commission is also worried about the lack of help when an old or disabled person fails to meet the strict eligibility criteria. In many cases families get no help to find private services, or are sent to charities for advice.

“People who only five years ago qualified for council-arranged help are today excluded by the system and left to fend for themselves,” said Dame Denise Platt, chairman of the commission. “The poor experiences of people and their carers trying and failing to get sufficient help contrast starkly with those people who do qualify for council arranged care. People unable to rely on families or friends and unable to pay for care services themselves are simply left to cope with everyday life, while some become virtually trapped in their own home.”

In response to this latest report, the Government announced a review into the eligibility criteria used by local authorities, saying that regional variations were unacceptable. The report found variations in how local authorities interpret “critical” and “substantial” cases, even within the same local authority, where the rules were sometimes applied inconsistently.

West Berkshire, Wokingham and Northumberland have the tightest restrictions, offering help in “life and death” cases only. Many others are planning to follow suit, but are waiting to see the result of a legal challenge against Harrow Council, which attempted to toughen its criteria last year. Sunderland and Calderdale in West Yorkshire are the only councils that still offer help with care in cases judged to have low-level needs.

The latest review brings to five the number of government-backed investigations under way into social care. Others are examining dementia, palliative care and the role of unpaid family carers. Government underfunding is largely to blame for the looming crisis, campaigners say. In the three-year spending round, funding for social care increased by just £190 million to £1.5 billion in 2010. Political pressure is mounting, largely from Britain’s six million carers who look after elderly or disabled relatives.

Sources: Times Online

Author: Rosemary Bennett' Social Affairs Editor

Bakti's Phase 2 programme for disabled

Bakti (the Association of Wives of Ministers and Deputy Ministers) will be launching the second phase of the Semai Bakti programme to help the disabled on Feb 1. 

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi will launch the national programme at the PDK Puteri Gunung in Taman Tasek Indah, Simpang Ampat, South Seberang Prai here. 

In a press statement, Bakti, headed by Datin Seri Jeanne Abdullah, the Prime Minister's wife, announced that the objectives for the second phase would be to get the public's commitment in building a caring society regardless of race or religion. 

The programme would involve all MPs' and assemblymen's wives to get constituencies' allocations that would be channelled directly to the disabled. 

Bakti also aimed to better the education quality for the less fortunate through a series of courses to improve the skills of PDK teachers, parents, management staffers and the community. 

A complete research and campaign would also be held under the programme to decrease the number of disabled by working with the Welfare and Health departments to help pregnant mothers. 

Semai Bakti was first launched by the Prime Minister in April 2005.

 

Source: The Star Jan.29, 2008

Identity of Disabled People: When do you want to be called “disabled people”?

Written by Hisayo Katsui

I am heading for Uganda in the end of January for one month to conduct my fieldworks especially on development cooperation activities. When preparing for the trip, I came across with a very important issue of disability identity that I should pay special attention to. In this article, therefore, I am trying to discuss this issue of identity.

Who are disabled people? The official definition of “disabled people” is diverse from country to country. They are usually based on medical diagnosis, on the basis of which people are entitled to certain services, devices, medications and so on. In Northern countries, the definition is increasingly diversifying as more new diagnosis are found and also because the population is aging. When it comes to Southern countries, the definition tends to be more “classic” ones which include often people with observable sensory or physical impairments. This is one way to look at the identity and possibly the easiest way for a researcher to approach “disabled people.”

For instance, in my last article in the newsletter (No.3/2007), I introduced some figures: “10-12% of the population is disabled people in the world and 80% of them live in the South.

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Clubs fail on disabled standards

Only Bolton and Blackburn meet the recommended spacing requirements outlined by the association, although Arsenal come close with 96%.

Tottenham, Portsmouth and Fulham fall short with less than a third of the required space at their grounds.

It is estimated 30,000 disabled fans regularly attend matches in England.

The National Association of Disabled Supporters (Nads) laid out their recommendations in their Accessible Stadia Guide in 2003, which was endorsed by the Premier League and the Football Association.

However, the majority of top-flight clubs are failing to meet the required wheelchair spaces four years on.

A report by 5 Live drew responses from Chelsea, Portsmouth and Fulham with Chelsea, who provide less than half the required seating, pointing out that they provide free tickets for disabled fans at home matches.

Portsmouth said they would aim to increase their capacity for wheelchair spaces should they move to a new ground in the future.

A Fulham statement said: "Fulham Football Club has recently received approval by the local authority for planning consent to redevelop areas of the ground.

The club will continue to investigate ways in which improvements can be made to the current facilities at Craven Cottage for all of our supporters.

"This is in-line with the club's guiding principle of providing a 'Best in Class' service and to be inclusive to all fans."

However, a Nads statement said: "Nads feels that is important that clubs meet these demands whether they are in the business of building new facilities or not.

"Nads believes that clubs should now be moving towards reconciling disabled seating supply and demand and the guidelines.

"It may be that with the pressures exerted by owners and shareholders to maximise profits, the only way forward will be through government intervention and clear legislation."