Committee report to Conference
2014 Disabled Workers' Conference
Contents
Disabled Workers’ Committee
Report
1 TUC Disabled Workers’ Conference
2. The continuing government onslaught on disabled people
3 Trade union opposition
4 Working with the Disabled People’s resistance movement.
5 Lobbying for change
6 Reclaiming our futures
7 Hate crime
8 Mental health
9 Disability History Month
10 Supported Employment
11 Access to Work
12 Sickness absence and disability discrimination
13 Neurodiversity, dyslexia and autism awareness
14 Transport
15 Disability rights abroad: East Africa
16 United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
17 Job-sharing for MPs
18 Education
19 Keep me posted
Committee attendances
Glossary ...... 169
Disabled Workers’ Committee
The General Council was represented on the committee by:
Manuel Cortes
Ged Nicholls
Seán McGovern
Malcolm Sage
The following were elected to serve on the Disabled Workers’ Committee at the 2013 conference:
Section AJanine BoothRMT
(General)Ann GalpinNUJ
Mandy HudsonNUT
Martin KellyBFAWU
Mark LeopardPCS
Lesley McCallumUnite
Robert MooneyCommunity
Patricia RocheUCU
Kim SilverUnison
Tony SneddonCWU
John SwaneyProspect
Cliff TowsonCSP
Michelle WilliamsNASUWT
Les WoodwardGMB
Section B Julian AllamUnite
(Black members)
Section CManjeet SandhuUnite
(LGBT members)
Section Dno nominations
(Women members)
At the first meeting, Seán McGovern and Mandy Hudson were elected co-Chairs of the TUC Disabled Workers’ Committee.
- TUC Disabled Workers’ Conference
The Committee has continued to discuss ways of making the Conference function better and in particular to seek to ensure maximum possible accessibility. given the constraints of the size of the venue. Among steps being taken to make the 2014 conference more accessible will be the provision of a quiet room for delegates.
- The continuing government onslaught on disabled people
The Committee has been focussed throughout the year on resisting the continuing and relentless coalition government attacks on the lives and living standards of millions of disabled people. This has involved the launch of a new TUC campaign briefing (paragraph 3) and working with disabled people’s resistance (paragraph 4) in order to consolidate alliances between disabled people and the trade union movement. The campaign has also involved lobbying for new policies in the event of a change of government at the 2015 general election (paragraph 5).
Government attacks on the benefits system as an integral component of the coalition’s austerity drive have deepened during the year, but have also been increasingly exposed to criticism. The government’s disregard for legal obligations was highlighted with the treatment of the court ruling quashing the proposed closure of the Independent Living Fund. The government responded by re-running the impact assessment, and then re-announcing its original proposals to close the fund and transfer responsibility to (non-ring fenced) local authority budgets despite the evidence of significant hardship reported by the assessment. This was not consistent with the intention of the Equality Act public sector equality duty, and it is not known whether there will be a further appeal.
The National Audit Office published the latest in a number of studies that confirmed that the switch from Disability Living Allowance to Personal Independence Payment has had catastrophic consequences for thousands of benefit recipients left waiting months without any payment, including people who have died in the meantime.
ATOS healthcare’s announcement that they are abandoning their contract to deliver the Work Capability Assessment followed continuous revelations of the unacceptable standard of decision-making and picketing and demonstrations organised by DPAC. The government however has never accepted criticism of the assessment system itself and continues to reject criticism of its negative impact.
Legal challenges against the bedroom tax and the housing benefit cap on the grounds of their detrimental impact on disabled people have now failed, on the argument that it is not for the courts to overturn the considered decisions of parliament.
- Trade union opposition
Following discussion at the Committee, the TUC prepared a new campaign briefing, Trade Unions and Disabled People fighting Austerity, which was endorsed by the TUC General Council and published to trade unions in January. A second edition, taking account of more recent developments including the court judgements reported in paragraph 2, was published in April and circulated to unions, trades councils and regional councils. The campaign briefing provides a summary of the government’s attacks on benefits for disabled people, explains how austerity policies are impacting on disabled people in the workplace, and points out that the government’s success in winning public support for its propaganda message about benefit claimants must be challenged by trade unionists in the workplace and in local communities.
The briefing forms part of the TUC’s overall campaign priorities over the period up to the 2015 general election that were discussed when the General Secretary, Frances O’Grady attended the Disabled Workers’ Committee and took part in an extensive discussion with committee members in March 2014. The next TUC national demonstration is being organised and will take place on October 18. The Disabled Workers’ Committee will consider how best to engage disabled people in the mobilisation for this event.
- Working with the Disabled People’s resistance movement.
An inspiring resistance campaign has been increasingly evident in the coordinated activities of groups such as Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC). DPAC representatives have been participants at TUC Disabled Workers’ conferences and at a fringe event at TUC Congress in September 2013 and the many demonstrations, lobbies and campaigns organised by disabled people at national and local level around the country have been increasingly supported by trade union activists. Close links have been established through these activities and members of the TUC Disabled Workers’ Committee participated in the DPAC national conference on 12 April 2014. These links were also developed through work around the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (paragraph 16) and the drafting of the Reclaiming our Futures manifesto (paragraph 6).
The Committee has been pleased to offer its support to struggles by disabled people and trade unionists, including the dispute between teachers and the National Autism School, and the occupation by service users against attempts to close the Life Works centre in Cambridge.
- Lobbying for change
The TUC and trade unions have continued to attempt to influence the political agenda by persuading politicians to adopt policies that support disabled people. Unions affiliated to the Labour Party have been making their own attempts to persuade Labour to adopt policies to reverse the attacks of the coalition government. The TUC has also presented the policies it wishes to see a new government put in place. Following discussion with the Disabled Workers’ Committee, a paper outlining the changes to employment law and practice was presented at a meeting with Kate Green MP. These proposals covered restoring lost sections of the Equality Act (particularly around the Equality Duty), introducing a statutory right to disability leave, extending protection to volunteers, an extension of Access to Work, a re-examination of options around supported employment, and a review of section 60 Equality Act (the ban on pre-employment health and disability questions) with a view to making it more effective.
It has been more difficult to achieve progress on the agenda for benefit reform as a result of majority public support for coalition government and media lies. The Labour party has already agreed to repeal the bedroom tax if elected to government. The TUC presented arguments calling for a replacement of the WCA with a system that would be transparent and fair, designed with disabled people, and in particular paying proper attention to fluctuating conditions and to medical evidence in general. The committee considered that alongside policy discussions a more vigorous campaign may be necessary to win the commitments that are needed.
The same points were made in a response to a consultation paper from the Liberal Democrat party.
- Reclaiming our futures
A coalition of disabled people’s organisations has come together under the umbrella of “reclaiming our futures” and the TUC is represented by the chair of the committee. Late in 2013, this coalition agreed to produce a manifesto of progressive demands around which to campaign in the period up to the 2015 election. The manifesto was launched at a fringe meeting held at TUC Congress 2013. When the text was brought to the Committee, there was broad agreement with the majority of its proposals. However, the committee was unable to support the manifesto’s proposals around employment policy, which called for a return to a quota system. The TUC has responded to the manifesto therefore with a reasoned critique of the quota proposal and with the alternative demands consistent with those presented to political parties.
Reclaiming our futures is also responsible for organising the shadow report on the UNCRPD (see para. 16).
- Hate crime
Progress continues to be made on tackling hate crime where the resources are put in and a correct approach is adopted, but under-reporting continues to be a significant obstacle. The TUC continues to maintain close relations with the Disability Hate Crime Network. Following a motion at the 2013 conference, the topic has been discussed at all the TUC equality committees and a joint seminar on hate crime is being organised at Congress House with speakers representing disabled people, women, LGBT and black communities. It is scheduled for 3 July 2014 and will be targeted at trade union officers and activists and relevant NGOs.
An emergency motion in 2013 drew attention to the hate crime murder of Steven Simpson, a gay autistic student, the short sentence imposed on the murderer at court, and the words of the judge describing it as “horseplay gone too far”. The General Secretary wrote to the Attorney General, Dominic Grieve QC MP, to call for a review of the sentence. The TUC letter was already too late as the 28 day deadline for an appeal had passed but the AG responded that an appeal against the leniency of the sentence had been lodged as a result of information from the Disability Hate Crime Network. Unfortunately, the Court of Appeal, meeting on June 6, declined to increase the sentence.
- Mental health
Conference motions continue to draw attention to a worsening crisis of mental ill health in workplaces, at least in part in response to management drives for greater productivity and the consequences of repeated restructuring exercises especially in the austerity-hit public sector, the continued failure generally to challenge employers to adopt appropriate policies for dealing with it (despite the good practice examples that do exist), and the impact of funding cuts on National Health Service provision. The issue of stigma surrounding mental health issues remains the single greatest obstacle to dealing with it effectively, and combined with pressurised workplace cultures where admitting of a problem might be thought to be likely to lead to loss of the job, the proportion of people with mental health problems who are unemployed remains unchanged. The TUC and affiliates have produced workplace guidance which continues to be in demand. TUC officers have blogged about the issue. Awareness that this is also a pan-equality challenge is growing and the TUC LGBT Committee has agreed a policy briefing highlighting the exceptionally severe level of mental health issues for lesbian, gay, bisexual and especially transgender people.
- Disability History Month
Trade unions have continued to be the main source of support for UK Disability History Month (November-December) and the TUC encouraged unions to organise activities during the Month in 2013. In April, the funds remaining in the TUC-hosted Disability Oral History project were transferred to UK DHM.
- Supported Employment
DWP statistics on the fate of former Remploy factory workers indicated that at least half continued to be unemployed despite some of the former funding being diverted into offering support, while the high costs of closure have also been revealed in parliamentary questions. The fate of remaining enterprises supported by local government remains a continuing source of concern. The TUC has urged an incoming Labour government to give sympathetic consideration to how to move forward on this agenda through support for social enterprises, workers’ cooperatives (etc) for disabled workers.
- Access to Work
The TUC has highlighted the fact that although the money due to be saved by withdrawing funding from Remploy factories was expected to support an increase in the numbers of people assisted through Access to Work, the quarterly statistics (up to December 2013) showed no significant changes in the number of people assisted which remained around 30,000 per year. It had also been expected that government awareness of the mental health crisis would lead to a rising proportion of AtW funding being deployed to assist with keeping workers with mental health issues in work – for example, by supporting employers to recruit cover while the worker took time off to recover. Statistics show very little change in the proportion of funding applied to this purpose (3.2 per cent at December 2013).
In December 2013, Deaf trade unionists using interpreters began to highlight a new policy by AtW of reviewing this support with the intention of limiting it to salaried interpreters only, with significant and serious impact on Deaf users who need (for example) interpreters able to function in particular areas of expert knowledge. The TUC has circulated unions with information about this change of approach by AtW and sought further case studies, and has offered support to the network of Deaf users that has come together to challenge this change.
- Sickness absence and disability discrimination
Conference motions have continued to highlight the problem that employers are misusing sickness absence procedures to get rid of disabled workers who require time off because of an impairment, and that the use of the Bradford Factor is particularly threatening because of the way it treats short-term absences. The TUC guidance, both in separate form (available from the TUC website) and as part of “Disability and Work” (3rd edition), continues to be available to assist union officers and representatives to know the legal position, what represents good practice, and how disability leave policies might reduce the problem, and the issue has been raised in lobbying. However, despite repeated requests to unions for case studies of the impact of the Bradford factor, none have been forthcoming making it impossible to date to produce a TUC report into the issue that could be used as the basis of campaigning across the trade union movement.
- Neurodiversity, dyslexia and autism awareness
The issue of neurodiversity has climbed the trade union agenda during the last year, reflected in a number of initiatives promoting trade union awareness of the issues affecting workers who are neurodiverse, and enabling trade unions more effectively to represent them.
The TSSA neurodiversity project was launched at a fringe event at TUC Congress in 2013 and heard from champions who, through the encouragement and support of the union, are now challenging workplace ignorance and prejudice and encouraging neurodiverse colleagues to come forward. The project team made a presentation to trade union equality officers in March 2014.
Working with author Brian Hagan, the TUC published a revised and updated third edition of its well-received advice for union officers and representatives, Dyslexia in the Workplace, early in 2014.
Meanwhile, and following up the motion at the 2013 conference, the TUC worked with Janine Booth, RMT member of the Disabled Workers’ Committee, to publish online a comprehensive guide to Autism in the Workplace, based on the training work carried out by Janine Booth and the Workers Educational Association that has already trained some hundreds of trade union members. The guide was published in Autism Awareness Month (April) 2014, and as with the Dyslexia guidance was highlighted through the TUC press release.
- Transport
The work of the Disabled Workers’ Committee on transport accessibility was dominated by the issue of proposed reductions of staffing and closures of ticket offices across the rail network as a result of the McNulty report and massive cuts to transport funding. The work was coordinated by the Transport for All campaign that included the TUC, all the rail unions, Unite, DPAC, People First and National Pensioners’ Convention. The campaign commissioned research that confirmed the negative impacts of these proposals. A number of high-profile actions were organised at railway termini that attracted good publicity. On the occasion of the RMT and TSSA industrial action against plans to close all underground ticket offices in London and cut nearly one thousand station staff jobs, members of the Disabled Workers’ Committee rallied in support at Tottenham Court Road station at the end of the scheduled committee meeting.