DISABLED workers yesterday staged a protest in Downing Street and handed over a petition signed by thousands of people as part of a campaign to prevent the closure of their factories.
Unions fear that a number of sites run by Remploy, the largest employer of disabled people in the country, could close under cost-cutting plans.
Yesterday's protest, pictured, was the latest stage in a six-month campaign led by the GMB union against the possible closures, which Remploy has dismissed as speculation.
Remploy has factories in the North-East in Newcastle, Gateshead, Jarrow, Sunderland, Spennymoor, in County Durham, Hartlepool, Stockton and York.
Phil Davies, national officer of the GMB, said: "The protest is typical of the spirit being shown by disabled workers in fighting to keep their factories open."
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