Bed factory’s disabled workers fear for ‘lifeline’ jobs

Council leaders were urged to look at the turnaround of Glencraft in Aberdeen for inspiration after announcing it was considering closing the Blindcraft factory in Peffermill to save £700,000.

The council-subsided charity, which has blind and disabled people among its 70 employees, has seen sales declining recently as customers such as hotels and retailers scale back spending. Employees at the factory produce beds from scratch, from building the wooden frames to stitching the mattresses.

Yesterday the SNP and Lib Dem administration was accused of “utter heartlessness” when it voted to begin a 30 day consultation period with the factory staff.

Labour councillor Paul Godzik said voting to look at closing the charity, which was founded in 1793, was “an immoral and disgusting decision.”

A report by Health and Social Work director Peter Gabbitas said the £700,000 savings were necessary and only achievable by closing the charity completely. The only other option tabled was to downsize the operation and “redeploy” 23 of the disabled staff elsewhere.

One of the charity’s employees, David Anderson, said he could earn more from the benefit system but would rather contribute to society by continuing to work.

He said:

    “I’m a plasterer to trade and have worked for 13 years. Blindcraft is a lifeline to me. I am hearing mixed messages. The current government wants us off benefits but today other people are saying they want me out of work.

    “All I want is to contribute to a society that values me. I pay my taxes and I do not want a handout. I want to work and enjoy my life and benefit from being part of society by contributing to it, not taking from it.”

Blindcraft campaigner Hannah Lister Blindcraft campaigner Hannah Lister: “Prepared to work tirelessly.”

Campaigner Hannah Lister, who has a friend who works for Blindcraft, made a passionate speech to yesterday’s City of Edinburgh Council meeting.

She started the campaign group last week, has set up a GoPetition website and a Facebook group to highlight concerns.

She told councillors:

    “Blindcraft is a unique organisation, with morally ethical principles. It makes quality British products from locally sourced materials – exactly the sort of organisation Edinburgh rightly prides itself on. It’s more than a business, it’s a lifeline to many of its employees.

    “As a council, you have a moral obligation to support these unique organisations in a difficult economic time and it is outrageous that people who have already been through more than most in life are now being faced with the prospect of abandonment and job uncertainty.

    “By jumping ship at a difficult time, you are abandoning one of the most vulnerable groups in society, with only a message that you are going to ‘reinvest the money in to employment opportunities for people with disabilities.’ That does not leave any of these employees with confidence about their future or working life.”

She added that it was difficult for visually impaired people to find jobs, and for employers to take them on over fully-sighted people.

    “As much as many businesses would like to employ people who are blind, it is not easy for them to adapt. Blindcraft is already adapted – in both a physical sense and in a supportive sense. Having a job at a company which has many people who have similar disabilities provides a valuable support mechanism and makes employees feel comfortable and not like they are the odd one out.

    “All Blindcraft’s employees feel socially included – something Edinburgh should surely take pride in. It isn’t easy to be socially included with such a disability, you ofthen have no choice but to rely on others. Being able to go out to work,however, to contribute back to the economy, give people with visual impurities a great deal of pride. That feeling of pride is priceless.

    “Austerity has become a word that we are all familiar with. However, making the right cuts at this time is crucial, and cutting support for jobs for blind and disabled workers, of which two thirds of Blindcraft workers are, is not the right decision.

    “We urge the Council therefore, not to pull the plug on funding before a sensible option is put in place to secure the jobs of everybody at Blindcraft. The organisation may need a shake up, but this should not mean that anyone at the company finds themselves unemployed – this is targeting the vulnerable. Our campaign group are prepared to work tirelessly for these employees to ensure that the Council helps the organisation recover from the economic recession in the same way that many other local organisations will need to.

    “We will all know what happened at Glencraft and how the wrong decision by the Council led to outrage, humiliation and shame. Let’s give a hand to people who most need our help and secure the future of jobs for people who are more unlikely to get a job elsewhere. We urge the Council to save and preserve community spirit in Edinburgh, and organisations like Blindcraft are an integral part of our community.”

Glencraft, an Aberdeen bed factory which struggled financially before getting outside support, was also cited by Labour councillors.

Referring to Mr Gabbitas’ report, councillor Lesley Hinds said:

    “There is nothing in this two and a half page document about what the cost of redeployment is. Glencraft is now a very successful enterprise which got help from the First Minister Alex Salmond. Have they been contacted? We must not just consider money. We must consider the lives of the most vulnerable.”

Her Labour colleague Ewan Aitken said:

    “This is a 200 year-old organisation and we get a two page report on it. That is a scandal and a real insult. This is not just about staff but about families, carers and communities and the fact this document makes no reference to that is a scandal. There is no analysis of the social enterprise model like Glencraft in Aberdeen. Why is that not there? Perhaps we should wait until the new council chief executive arrives from Aberdeen so we can look at it. This is not enough to make a serious decision and we are in danger of making fools of ourselves again.”

Paul Godzik, Labour, added:

    “My gut feeling is this is fundamentally wrong. Think about what it would be like to go out and work without the use of your eyes. Closing Blindcraft would be an absolutely shameful position to be in and an immoral and disgusting decision. It would bring shame on our city and the council to put Blindcraft on the road to closure.”

Conservative councillor Cameron Rose pointed out that there had been at least 18 meetings with trade unions regarding Blindcraft over recent years.

He said:

    “This is potentially a saving of £30,000 per annum per employee. Where has Lesley Hinds been recently with all these questions? This is a problem which we have been searching for an answer for for years.”

A Labour motion, supported by Edinburgh’s Green party councillors, called for further scrutiny of other options but was voted down.

Paul Edie of the Lib Dems said:

    “At Glencraft they sacked the staff then rehired them. We are only agreeing to consult further, not to close Blindcraft. The difficult economic climate is having an effect on sales. We provide £1.1m of funding per year to Blindcraft and we can’t continue to subsidise it at that level.

    “We are committed to supporting staff throughout this period of consultation.”

The charity’s workers went on strike in 2003 claiming it had been mismanaged.