Disabled workers ‘face losing jobs’ if government contracts not renewed
DOZENS of disabled workers at a factory in Stirlingshire face losing their jobs if the Scottish Government doesn’t renew a contract, company bosses say.
Managers at Haven Products in Larbert say the Scottish Government risks putting 60 people out of work, if it doesn’t act now to renew contracts they’ve had for years to make NHS nurses’ uniforms and digitally archive documents.
Haven Products’ says it has been told that the number of tunics and trousers it makes for NHS staff in Scotland will be drastically reduced in the last four months of its annual contract.
It means that there will be an annual revenue gap of around £1.1 million, according to head of Haven Products, Karen Motherwell.
She said: “This double-whammy will destroy our business and immediately make 47 disabled workers redundant.
“When this happens, the factory at Larbert will not be economically sustainable and we’ll have to close, making the remaining 13 staff redundant as well.
“The Scottish Government want to do the digitising work themselves at their records department in Saughton House, in Edinburgh.”
“Almost all of our staff are either disadvantaged or vulnerable, and unless the Scottish Government move to have the contracts re-instated, their decisions will have a devastating effect on our disabled workers.”
Now that the factory in Larbert faces the “agonising” prospect of closing, employees with various disabilities fear it will “ruin” their lives, as many have bills and mortgages to pay and have no other prospects of work.
One worker at Haven Products, Calum Stewart, has Asperger’s syndrome and fears he may lose the house he bought with his fiancé only two months ago if he is made redundant.
The 28-year-old from Bo’ness said: “If we lose these contracts and this place is forced to close, the Scottish Government will be condemning the workforce here, who have many different kinds of disabilities, to life on the dole and their lives will be ruined.
“The people who work here will have the security, self-respect, and dignity of having a job and earning a living taken away from them.”
Calum has worked in the Larbert factory since he was 18 years old. Since
This double-whammy will make 47 disabled workers redundant
starting 10 years ago, he has worked his way up from being on the production line to being promoted to the role of supervisor.
He added: “I wouldn’t have been able to save enough money to pay the deposit on the house, nor get a mortgage in the first place, if I didn’t have this job at Haven. If I’m made redundant and can’t quickly find another job, I could well lose my house, as I wouldn’t have a wage to pay the mortgage.
“If this place closes a lot of my colleagues will struggle and find it difficult to get another job.
“Colleagues have told me they are petrified that this place will shut down. This is the only workplace locally that gives full-time work to people with disabilities.”
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Haven Products Ltd have done so much to provide employment for disabled and disadvantaged adults in Scotland.
“Scottish Enterprise have offered the firm advice and support with their current and future business model, and we strongly encourage Haven to engage with them.
“All new contracts will be considered carefully, in line with subsidy control measures, to ensure value for money for taxpayers in Scotland.”