MP in bid for training centre

A NEW training centre for disabled workers could be set up in Oldham to replace the under-threat Remploy factory, says Oldham MP Michael Meacher.

Mr Meacher is drafting a submission to Maria Miller, Minister for Disabled People, in the hope of establishing the centre with up to £3 million pounds of government funding.

It comes after the Oldham West and Royton MP held a meeting with five Remploy employees concerned about the future of the organisation.

Plans to withdraw funding from specific institutions such as Remploy are currently under consultation, which could mean the closure of 54 factories, including the factory in Ashton Road, Bardsley.

Mr Meacher, MP for Oldham West and Royton, said: “These workers are in despair and they’re angry. One woman I spoke to even went in and worked unpaid because she was so keen to do something useful.

“People like this find it hard to get jobs when employment is at 2.5 million, they’re facing enormous competition and reduced opportunities and they need support.”

Following suggestions from the workers, he is now attempting to set up a meeting with the minister and a Remploy delegate in the hope of establishing a professional training centre for disabled workers, if funding was allocated.

Mr Meacher added: “Everybody wants to have a purpose and skill they can be proud of, these people deserve that and they deserve respect.”

The move comes as the GMB union claims thousands of workers are being excluded from consultation meetings over the future of Remploy.

If the proposals go ahead, 4,000 people nationally could lose their jobs.

The union planned to protest this morning at a consultation meeting in Manchester.