Workers at the Remploy factory in Bradford are right to be concerned about the current shake-up in their organisation, which has raised fears that they could lose out if their workplace is merged with a similar plant in Leeds.

No doubt the Remploy set-up, which employs disabled people at factories across the country with the help of a £94 million Government grant, needs looking at. It has probably not been overhauled for years. But the notion that the Bradford factory might be closed is deeply alarming.

It would be a blow to Bradford if the factory was to go. It is an old-established Bradford business, employing print workers at the publishing factory in East Bowling since 1945. This is the fourth largest metropolitan district in the country. Surely it is capable of sustaining a Remploy factory. It has as many disabled people as any other administrative district in relation to its size.

The 42 workers deserve better treatment than being told (as they fear might happen) that they must travel to Leeds for alternative work with the organisation. The Remploy policy of not making people redundant would guarantee them a job, but it is nonsense if they are forced to travel many miles further if they want to keep their employment with the company. It flies in the face of the whole ethos of the Remploy scheme.

If it turns out that the workers' fears are justified and the Barnard Road factory is indeed earmarked for closure, a vigorous campaign is needed to persuade the company to change its mind.

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