Enterprise is set to lose two vital government contracts
First minister John Swinney is facing mounting political pressure from all parties to step in and save the jobs of 60 disabled workers at a registered charity.
The staff at Haven Products, in Larbert, Stirlingshire are likely to be made redundant if the Scottish Government does not renew two long-standing contracts with Haven - the production of NHS nurses' uniforms and the digital archiving of Scottish Government documents.
Now MSPs from different parties have come together to present a united front in a campaign to save the jobs.
MSPs from First Minister, John Swinney's, own Scottish Nationalist Party - Michael Matheson and Michelle Thomson - have written to Scottish Government cabinet ministers about the threat to the jobs of disabled workers at Haven Products.
The threat to these jobs has galvanised further cross-party support. Since news of the jobs threat broke, Labour. Conservative, and Green MSPs and an MP have visited Haven Products to show their support for the workers.
Labour MSPs Richard Leonard, Monica Lennon and MP Brian Leishman; Conservative MSPs Stephen Kerr and Graham Simpson and Scottish Green Party MSP Gillian Mackay have been the factory to give their backing to the campaign to save the jobs.
Stephen Kerr has also contacted all local MSPs to build a united front in defence of the workers and the campaign to save these jobs. The majority of MSPs have indicated they agree with this strategy.
He said: “I would like to arrange a meeting with the Minister for Employment and Investment to lay out my concerns and explore a resolution. I believe we will most likely find resolution if we work together.”
Labour MSP Richard Leonard emphasised the importance of Haven Products to the community and economy, pointing to a plaque commemorating the factory's opening in 2015 by then-Deputy First Minister John Swinney. “Nine years on, he should use his power as First Minister to step in and save these jobs,” Leonard said.
The urgency of the situation has also been highlighted by Jeremy Balfour and Pam Duncan-Glancy, convener and deputy convener of the Scottish Parliament's Cross-Party Group on Disability, who have written to Scottish Government Ministers urging them to prevent what they describe as a potentially “devastating circumstance where disabled people are left unemployed.
Karen Motherwell, head of Haven Products, stressed the severe impact the loss of these contracts would have on the workers. She said: “Almost all our staff are either disadvantaged or vulnerable and unless the Scottish Government move to have the contracts re-instated, this will have a devastating effect on our disabled workers.
“We really need to save these jobs and we've had a huge amount of support from politicians and the local community in our campaign to keep the factory open,” said Ms Motherwell.
“It seems counter-productive to the economy that not continuing with these contracts would mean our staff losing their jobs and having to claim social security benefits.
“As a charity, we have always appreciated and applauded the Scottish Government's commitment to helping people with a disability into employment, but by not renewing these contracts, disabled people will be forced out of work,” she concluded.
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Haven Products Ltd has done so much to provide employment for disabled and disadvantaged adults in Scotland.
“Scottish Enterprise has offered the firm advice and support with their current and future business model and we strongly encourage Haven to engage with them.
“All new contracts will be considered carefully, in line with subsidy control measures, to ensure value for money for taxpayers in Scotland.”
