Call for SNP's redundancy policy to apply to BlindCraft

Employees at the Craigmillar bed-making factory have been told it will close on July 31 as part of council cutbacks and campaigners say many of the disabled workers will have little chance of finding other jobs.

In the first Scottish Parliament debate since the election, Mr Salmond highlighted job security across the public sector as one of his priorities. He told MSPs: "Already we have secured a no compulsory redundancy deal. Our commitment is to extend this first to the tens of thousands of workers in our NHS, before ensuring no compulsory redundancies across the public sector."

John Paul McHugh, campaign manager for the Community union, which represents the majority of BlindCraft workers, called on him to make them a priority.

He said: "The First Minister has a perfect opportunity to turn his words into action and ensure the BlindCraft workers are not forced on to the dole."

The city council decided in February to shut BlindCraft - which dates back to 1793 - to save 700,000 a year. Economic development convener Councillor Tom Buchanan has said there is interest from other businesses in taking over the enterprise, but only once it has shut down, so the new owners are not bound by current agreements on pay and conditions.

But the union says there is no guarantee of such interest translating into jobs.

Branch organiser Fraser Queen, who has worked at BlindCraft for 23 years but leaves next week, echoed the call for no compulsory redundancies at the factory.

He said: "We feel this is something that should be put straight into place without any need for negotiation.

"We are frustrated the First Minister has not responded to our request to have a meeting.

"I know they have been busy, but time is of the essence for BlindCraft."

The Scottish Government has no direct control over individual councils' redundancy policies, but it argues the government has had a ten per cent reduction in its own administrative budget and has adopted a no compulsory redundancies policy while local authorities have had a comparable cut of 2.6 per cent.

A spokesman for the First Minister said: "We will be in touch with the BlindCraft workers in the very near future to assess what options there may be."

Yesterday the News reported how city leaders had launched a bid to find a firm to take over the running of the BlindCraft factory. The city council is to formally advertise the opportunity of taking over the facility in the hope that a voluntary firm or private company will come forward.