Glasgow 'Quiet Bunch' MSPs
An equal pay claimant made an excellent point on Facebook the other day about a local Glasgow MSP, Bob Doris, who has been speaking out publicly over the future of Blindcraft (part of Glasgow City Building) while having nothing of substance to say about the fight for equal pay.
Just read that blindcraft in Springburn is worried that £500,000 might be cut from their budget which is a manufacturing side of city building (GCC ALEO)and MSP Bob Doris is in there fighting to keep funding from DWP. My question is I thought anything to do with local gov was nothing to do with MSPs. Well that’s what they tell us. Their actions are getting so loud for everything else but the equal pay fight.
M
Now it's good to see Glasgow politicians supporting and sticking up for a Blindcraft, but it's also fair comment to point out that they should be doing the same thing when it comes to the fight for equal pay.
I''ve just done a quick check and all 8 of Glasgow's MSPs (all SNP by the way) have been very active on Twitter, sharing their views on a wide range of topical issues, as they should be.
But unless I've missed something there's not a single word on the long running fight for equal pay in Glasgow City Council despite the huge importance of the subject for their local constituents.
Have a look on Twitter and Facebook yourself and if you find any comments about:
I plan to have a look myself over the weekend and will share what I discover on the blog next week.
I''ve just done a quick check and all 8 of Glasgow's MSPs (all SNP by the way) have been very active on Twitter, sharing their views on a wide range of topical issues, as they should be.
But unless I've missed something there's not a single word on the long running fight for equal pay in Glasgow City Council despite the huge importance of the subject for their local constituents.
Have a look on Twitter and Facebook yourself and if you find any comments about:
- the fight for equal pay
- Glasgow's 'unfit for purpose' WPBR
- the Council's discriminatory 37 hour 'rule'
- the consultative strike ballots of Unison and GMB members
- the lack of cooperation from senior officials over FOI and the WPBR
I plan to have a look myself over the weekend and will share what I discover on the blog next week.
By Stewart Paterson @PatersonHT - Evening Times
RSBi employee Martin McGarvie with Jamie Hepburn
FEARS that Government cuts could put jobs at risk at Glasgow’s Blindcraft factory have emerged.
The Royal Strathclyde Blindcraft Industries, in Springburn, employs around 250 people, half with with sight-related disabilities.
More than 100 of the jobs are supported by half a million pounds a year from the Protected Places programme funded by the DWP.
However, reforms to the supported employment model have left politicians and unions concerned for the future of the jobs.
Maryhill and Springburn MSP Bob Doris said he wants to ensure the UK Government recognises the importance of RSBi and the impact a funding cut would have on the workforce.
He said: There are people there who wouldn’t make the transition to mainstream employment.”
Mr Doris as well as union representatives at RSBi wrote to the UK Government Minister for Disabled People, Sarah Newton to invite her to the factory.
Mr Doris said he had wants to ensure the same fate does not befall RSBi as it did Remploy when it was forced to close.
He said: “A change to the use, distribution or criteria of the fund could place the future of both individual employees and the wider workplace at risk.
“Indeed, in recent years when the UK Government reformed a related employment area, it saw the closure of the local ‘Remploy’ facility. This was something that caused significant pain and despair. The human cost of lives blighted by that closure endures.”
Blindcraft makes furniture, kitchen units, storage, beds and timber construction kits to a variety of clients, including Glasgow Housing Association.
Glasgow City Council leader, Susan Aitken, also raised concerns about the review of funding.
She wrote to the minister with “grave concerns” about the impact on Blindcraft and also invited her to Glasgow
She said Blindcraft’s employment models allow those who face challenges to thrive.
She added: “The potential loss of UK Government supported employment model funding to RSBi is therefore of mounting concern. This would have a severe impact on the organisation and lives of staff.”
Ms Newton has accepted the invite and arrangements are being made for a visit.
RSBi employee Martin McGarvie with Jamie Hepburn
FEARS that Government cuts could put jobs at risk at Glasgow’s Blindcraft factory have emerged.
The Royal Strathclyde Blindcraft Industries, in Springburn, employs around 250 people, half with with sight-related disabilities.
More than 100 of the jobs are supported by half a million pounds a year from the Protected Places programme funded by the DWP.
However, reforms to the supported employment model have left politicians and unions concerned for the future of the jobs.
Maryhill and Springburn MSP Bob Doris said he wants to ensure the UK Government recognises the importance of RSBi and the impact a funding cut would have on the workforce.
He said: There are people there who wouldn’t make the transition to mainstream employment.”
Mr Doris as well as union representatives at RSBi wrote to the UK Government Minister for Disabled People, Sarah Newton to invite her to the factory.
Mr Doris said he had wants to ensure the same fate does not befall RSBi as it did Remploy when it was forced to close.
He said: “A change to the use, distribution or criteria of the fund could place the future of both individual employees and the wider workplace at risk.
“Indeed, in recent years when the UK Government reformed a related employment area, it saw the closure of the local ‘Remploy’ facility. This was something that caused significant pain and despair. The human cost of lives blighted by that closure endures.”
Blindcraft makes furniture, kitchen units, storage, beds and timber construction kits to a variety of clients, including Glasgow Housing Association.
Glasgow City Council leader, Susan Aitken, also raised concerns about the review of funding.
She wrote to the minister with “grave concerns” about the impact on Blindcraft and also invited her to Glasgow
She said Blindcraft’s employment models allow those who face challenges to thrive.
She added: “The potential loss of UK Government supported employment model funding to RSBi is therefore of mounting concern. This would have a severe impact on the organisation and lives of staff.”
Ms Newton has accepted the invite and arrangements are being made for a visit.
