THE ruling administration of Aberdeen City Council was yesterday accused of acting like "Nazis" following the decision to axe vital funding for a factory which employs blind and disabled workers.
The management of the Glencraft factory claimed they had been left with no choice but to close the plant with the loss of 56 jobs following the council's "cruel" decision to withdraw the £650,000 funding as part of a series of budget cuts.
Some
38 of the workers are blind or disabled.
Anthony Pratt, the acting general manager of the charity – established as the Royal Aberdeen Workshops for the Blind in 1843 – said he had been given no warning of the council's decision.
He said he had learned that the funds had been axed only through a chance phone call between a member of the council and a disabled employee.
"The naivety of believing that actions more appropriate to Nazi Germany in the 1930s are acceptable in 21st-century Britain is beyond belief," Mr Pratt said.
"It is an absolutely appalling way to treat 38 disabled people. This is an act of political vandalism perpetrated by an administration that lacks integrity, experience, compassion and skill.
"It has come as huge shock," he said. "It is absolutely appalling. It is a very, very cruel thing to have done. The whole process is totally inept."
Mr Pratt said: "The employment costs of the workers, including their wages and pension contributions, are met by the appropriate council. The withdrawal of the grant means that the workshops will have to close and the closure programme will have to be completed in a matter of a few months.
"I am not issuing redundancy notices today. However, all employees, both able-bodied and disabled, will become redundant unless the council changes its mind within the next two or three weeks."
Andy Laing, a partially sighted employee who has worked at Glencraft for 25 years, is one of the workers who faces losing his job.
He said: "I am devastated about what is going to happen, not only for myself but for another 50 odd workers in here.
"About 40 of them are disabled workers, and it's going to have a massive effect on their way of life," he said.
Glencraft is understood to have been losing money year on year at its plant in Wellington Road and had been looking to move to smaller premises which would be cheaper to run and more efficient. The management had been due to hold talks with the council about the move.
Councillor Kevin Stewart, the deputy leader of the city council, yesterday defended the controversial decision.
He said the council had judged that moving to smaller premises, in order to render Glencraft more financially stable and sustainable, was a very high-risk strategy.
"A decision has therefore been taken to withdraw the £650,000 core funding and instead offer a one-off £300,000 to the business – and consider what can be done to support the staff group who would not manage to sustain mainstream employment," he said.
The full article contains 521 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
