Six charities intervened over the weekend to back plans to close some of the Remploy factories in return for placing more disabled workers in jobs in ordinary workplaces.
Mencap, Mind, Radar, Scope, Leonard Cheshire and the Royal National Institute of Deaf People said in a letter to the Guardian that disabled people were more likely to have fulfilling lives working in "the inclusive environment which the rest of us take for granted".
Yesterday the GMB union said disabled workers from Remploy planned to picket the headquarters of the charities in protest at their support for the government scheme. The unions have drawn up a plan to keep the factories open and expand the number of jobs outside.
Phil Davies, the GMB national secretary, speaking on behalf of the trade union consortium backing the Remploy workers, said although a clash seemed "inevitable", it was not too late for the government and management to back down and answer the unions' plan.
