Tuda News
Summer 2005
THE NEW LEGISLATIVE AGENDA
A flurry of disability
activity in Government circles in recent months. A new Minister. A new Act. A
new Public Sector Duty and with it a new Code of Practice. A new Government
Department coming soon and a Single Equalities Commission on the horizon. Plus
a 20-Year Plan to Improve the Life-Chances of Disabled People. And the
Paralympics come to London in 2012.
But to spoil it all, weíve David Blunkett, newly
installed at the DWP, proposing cuts in Incapacity Benefit, our needing to
campaign against those cuts and the TUC thinking of only having Disability
Conferences once every two years.
The New Minister Maria Eagle has gone and
Anne McGuire, MP for Stirling, replaces her as the Minister for Disability at the
Department of Work and Pensions.
The New Law The DDA 2005, passed on
April 7th, extends the definition of disability to include MS,
cancer and AIDS/HIV, covers housing and transport, and heralds a Disability
Equality Duty for Public Authorities in December 2006.
The Public Sector Duty Public Authorities, e.g.
Councils, must publish a policy saying how they will organise their services so
as to not discriminate against disabled people and must involve disabled people
in drawing up that policy
The 20-Year Plan The Strategy Unitís plan
seeks to achieve the full inclusion of disabled people by 2025, to map out some
of the milestones along the way and is pledged to full consultation with
disabled peopleís organisations.
The Paralympics London hosts the 2012 Paralympics.
It argues the end-dates for accessible transport should be brought forward from
2017 to 2011; so disabled athletes from all over the world can enjoy
barrier-free journeys. So we can, too.
The Office for Disability Issues will scrutinise all Government
Departments and all new draft legislation for how they impact on disabled
peopleís lives.
The Commission for Equalities and Human
Rights will
replace the DRC within 2 years. But will disability issues slip down the agenda
as a result?
THE NEW EDITORIAL TEAM
After 8 years as TUDA Co-Chair Sheila Blair
stood down at our AGM in May. She was also co-editor of TUDA News, with Richard
Cook and her invaluable support was much appreciated. Sheila remains a
disability activist in BCODP. Richard is now joined by a new co-editor, Bruce
Birchall, a fellow member with Richard of the TUC Disability Committee. Bruce
is on the Disability Committees of the NUJ, Equity and the Writers Guild and is
a former newsletter editor of the Theatre Writers Union.
TUDA's RESPONSE TO THE TUC CONSULTATION
The TUDA Executive learned on June 25th that the TUC is considering cutting back on the number, length, and frequency of TUC Congresses and Equalities Conferences and that we only had 6 days to reply to their consultation paper.Nevertheless we got a reply written, and what follows is the abridged version. If anyone would like to see the full version, we can e-mail it to you. If so, please contact BruceBirchall@Yahoo.co.uk
1. The timetable allowed for consultation.
This has been completely inadequate. The review document has not received wide circulation; few people know of it. Another 3 - 4 months is needed if union equalities committees (including the TUC's own committees) are to meet and give considered responses to it. And more information is needed for proper evaluation to occur.2. The need for a cost-benefit analysis of all proposals.
Detailed budget breakdowns need to accompany all options presented. And the case that Congress and the equality conferences should be the focus of TUCsavings is not demonstrable unless similar cost-benefits analyses can be conducted on other areas of TUC activity by providing comparable budget breakdowns for them, as part of an extended consultation period.3. A damage limitation exercise for Congress not to regress.
TUDA opposes reductions in the length or frequency of the TUC Congress. Doing this would impact negatively on the TUC's credibility and could well be financially counter-productive, putting the Congress' considerable (£300K) income at risk.Trimming the size of delegations seems the least damaging of the options offered, but it still has negative implications for many unions. Detailed costs for all the TUC's activities must be seen before any change to Congress can be properly evaluated.4. There is more need to confer than ever before.
The disability agenda grows ever longer. The DDA 2005 has implementation dates, Codes of Practice and the disability equality duty for Public Authorities in the pipeline. The separate Equality Commissions are due to be wound up and the Human Rights Act made applicable to disability for the first time.The Office for Disability Issues will oversee all new government legislation for how it will impact on disabled people. And the 20-year plan improving the Life Chances of Disabled People will be unrolled. And all this is supposed to involve consultation with disabled people and their organisations.And there is a campaign to be waged against the cuts in Incapacity Benefit. This is no time to consider having biennial TUC Disability Conferences therefore. Eventswill simply outstrip our ability to respond, if we were to go down that road.5. Diversity and discrimination.
TUDA opposes subsuming all four strands into a Single Equalities Conference with strand-specific sessions within it. The TUC opposes a Single Equalities Commission, so why is it proposing a Single Equalities Conference?Those advocating this option havenít grasped that people have multiple identities: which session should a Black disabled lesbian attend if all four are heldat once? The TUC must stick with four separate conferences so she can attend all of them and these conferences should address problems of multiple discrimination.A 3-4 days conference would be discriminatory for people with stamina problems, and for parents with childcare issues and exclude many who currently participate.6. Location for Congress and Conferences.
Facilities for disabled delegates at Congress House are inadequate. The lifts are too small for many wheelchair users. These access problems need rectifying (and the costs need to be calculated) before it can be used satisfactorily.
Richardís friend Joanna Whisker, wrote
this charming story. I asked her to share it with us. I am sure you can
probably identify with it. A wheelchair user since 1984 when an accident
resulted in a high-level spinal cord injury.
Following rehabilitation at Stoke
Mandeville Hospital, sheís now busy writing, motorcycling and promoting the
rights of disabled people. Having fun is a top priority, too, as is enjoying
her family and meeting lots of lovely people.
Iíve been sitting here watching her for some time now. What
is it about her that keeps me looking? Sheís a bit of a funny shape and sheís
not young, but she doesnít look that old either. Her hairís going grey but I
like the way her eyes crinkle up when she smiles ‚ and she does smile a lot. In
fact, just now she laughed so much she nearly choked on her drink.
Strange way she holds the glass. Her hands donít seem right.
She doesnít pick things up properly. Sometimes her legs twitch about. I wonder
why they do that? Does she do it? Or do they do it on their own? Freaky!
My Nan was in a wheelchair. Didnít look like hers though.
Nanís looked like a beefed-up shopping trolley. Bloody heavy, too. So was Nan ‚
she needed it for all that weight. She doesnít look fat, more sort of round.
Her wheelchair looks pretty smart, more like those ones on
the tele. I wonder if she does marathons in her wheelchair? Can you do anything
else in a wheelchair? They play wheelchair basketball donít they? How do they
reach to get the ball in the basket?
They must be fit.
My Nan wasnít fit. She didnít move about at all. She didnít
do much at all. She did fart when she coughed. She coughed a lot. And farted a
lot. Not those big smelly ones, just little pop ones. Do all people in
wheelchairs fart a lot? Or was it just my Nan? Bit embarrassing. Nan didnít
seem to notice. Mind you, she had the tele really loud so perhaps she didnít
hear them. Me and my brother used to laugh but mum got cross and ësshh-edí at
us. We pretended we didnít understand and carried on giggling. Nan just ignored
us. She was addicted to soaps.
I wonder if she watches tele? She doesnít look like a soap
fan, more the documentary type ‚ what about comedy? Perhaps she is the
arty-farty type. I donít reckon she does actually fart. She wouldnít be here.
Thereís too many people, and she canít turn the sound up. Mind you, it is noisy
in here, all these people talking.
Wonder what she talks about? Should I go and talk to her? Oh my God,
sheís looking right at me. Iíll look the other way and pretend I havenít
noticed.
She wheeled straight past me! Whereís she gone? I canít see her
near the bar. With all these people standing up itís difficult to see her. I
wonder what she sees sitting down? Must be horrible in a crowd. Fat bellies and
fat bums right in her face. Thatís
all I can see sitting here. Bet she gets a cricked neck, keep looking up.
Bet she gets really pissed off. Not minor pissed off, like
when my sister nicks my last bit of chocolate, or tries it on with my mates but
mega PISSED OFF. Like my mum when she packs her suitcase for the umpteenth time
and stays with her sister for a few days ëcos dad has really, really, done it
this time.
She always comes back, though. Then theyíre all lovey-dovey.
Puke-making. We have bets on how
long it will take before they have another row. They did manage ten days once.
We couldnít believe it. Paradise on earth. Bit boring, though. Bloody hell, didnít the crockery fly on
the tenth day! Mumís always down Asdas buying another load.
Does she go shopping? They have those funny basket things
that join on to the wheelchair. How does she reach things? Iíd hate it if I had
to keep asking. Better than going
hungry, I suppose. I suppose she has to be nice to people, all the time, so
they help her. Now that would piss me off.
Perhaps she thinks ìStupid cow!íí while sheís got a nice smile on her face. Perhaps she is
just a nice person. Nah. No-oneís nice all the time. I bet even Mother Theresa
wasnít nice ALL the time. My mum
definitely isnít. Hormones my dad says. CRAZEEE I call it. And now my sisterís
going just the same way. No wonder dad goes down the pub. That definitely gets
mumís hormones going. Me? I dive
under the duvet, lights out, headphones on, mouth zipped tight in the morning.
Sheís coming back. She winked at me. Oh my God, she fancies
me! Sheís too old. Iím sweating.
Iím too young to be a toyboy. What shall I say to her? Nothing. Gotta get out
of here.
Oh Ö sheís gone past. She didnít say a word. Wonder if she
likes sex Ö?
© Joanna
Whisker 2005. All rights reserved.
COMPOSITE 1: Disability and Employment.
Employment rates of disabled people remain low
and their employment prospects look bleak. Conference therefore encourages
affiliated unions to prioritise disability employment issues and defend the
jobs of any disabled members under threat.
Disabled workers faced with redundancy should be
retained, supported and given reasonable adjustments. In every workplace,
recognise elected equality and disability reps, give them training and time off
work to promote equality for all, and conduct disability audits to identify and
promote good practice.
Conference calls on the Government to promote
Access To Work and resource it properly, give employment tribunals powers to order
reinstatement and re-engagement in disability discrimination cases, and
introduce legislation to provide disability leave for those with new or changed
impairments.
COMPOSITE 2: Defending Public Services and
disabled Civil Servants.
The savage cull of 100,000 Civil Service jobs
will impact adversely on disabled people across the UK. Closure of local
offices will reduce face-to-face contact with decision-makers. Relocation plans
could disproportionately affect disabled Civil Servants, both through prejudice
and discrimination leading to their selection for compulsory redundancy, and by
the paucity of housing stock, lack of accessible transport and variable
provision of support and health care services making relocation an unrealistic
prospect for them. Conference pledges its support for the Civil Service unions'
fight to defend jobs and services.
MOTION 4: Access to Work.
Research indicates that 1.2 million unemployed
disabled people want to be in paid employment. Conference recognises the Access
to Work Scheme is vital to removing disabling barriers in the workplace and
instructs the TUC Disability Committee to lobby Government to extend the
scheme, increase funding and publicity and replace discretionary eligibility
for ATW by statutory entitlement.
MOTION 5: Funding for Employment
More Government funding for decent long-term
jobs for disabled people. More choice for disabled people in education and
employment. All Sector Skills Councils to have at least 2 seats available for
disabled members.
MOTION 6: Sickness Absence and Long-term
Disability
TUC asked to establish the true facts about
whether disabled employees in fact incur the high levels of sickness absence
they are reputed to incur, and educate and inform employers accordingly. The
stigma attached to disabled employees is unjust and needs challenging, to
encourage emplotyers to employ more disabled people.
MOTION 7: Public Sector Duty and the Role of
Unions:
We welcome the new DDA 2005 extending the DDA to
cover all the functions of public bodies and introducing a significant new duty
on them to promote equality of opportunity for disabled people and publish
schemes to do so.
Conference calls on the TUC to
(1) provide affiliated
public sector unions with the guidance needed to play a key role in the implementation
of the new duties
(2) organise seminars
for union officers, reps and shop stewards in advance of the new legislation's
December 2006 implementation date.
(3) press public bodies
to consult with affiliated unions and networks of disabled people over all
aspects of their equality schemes, and to appoint Equality Officers and to run
disability equality training for all staff.
Amendments were accepted and passed, seeking to
lobby Government to extend the duty to the Private Sector.
MOTION 8: Consultation and the Disability
Discrimination Act 2005.
Public bodies must consult widely with disabled
people, recognising their expertise and their ability to determine appropriate
benchmarks and standards. The DRC should meantime capacity-build with disabled
people's organisations to enable them to be effective when consulted.
MOTION 10: Disability/Deaf Equality Training
Disability/Deaf Equality Training must be
integrated within youth, community & playwork qualification courses.
Disability Awareness training and compliance must be integral to all vocational
training. The relevant bodies to ensure that it is.
MOTION 11: Accessibility and Communication in
Government Buildings
Monitoring numbers of disabled people is likely
to be intrusive and distract from the real need to make the environment and
communications fully accessible. Without proper access, the full integration of
disabled people into society canít be achieved.
The TUC to campaign to persuade Government to ensure that
(1) all its buildings
comply fully with the current versions of BS 8300 or Approved Document M of the
Building Regulations
(2) all forms of mass
communications are fully user-friendly and freely available in formats required
by disabled people
MOTION 9: Commission for Equality & Human
Rights
A legislative anomaly remains, whereby some
public bodies providing a public function, e.g. independent schools, are exempt
from the new Public Sector Duty. A single Commission could potentially lead to
a hierarchy of equalities issues. The legacy of under-funding and
under-capacity of the DRC must be addressed before the new CEHR is established.
Conference urges the TUC to press the Government
to
(1) extend the
disability equality duty to all organisations with public functions.
(2) introduce a single
Equality Act to harmonise the levels of protection offered all groups facing
discrimination.
(3) guarantee the CEHR
budget for disability equality and all the other equalities strands is
protected and sufficient for them to all meet their remit.
MOTION 12: Disabled Access to Theatres and
Cinemas.
Many places of entertainment remain
inaccessible, despite DDA implementation on October 1st 2004. Premises need
modernising to be fully accessible both to arts workers, and the public. The
TUC to campaign to
(1) persuade the
Government to provide grants, loans or tax allowances to arts organisations to
enable them to upgrade premises and comply with the DDA,
(2) press the DRC to
enforce the Act and prosecute, especially commercially successful
organisations, who cannot plead poverty to justify non-compliance
(3) publicise good
disability practice and the worst infringements of the Act
MOTION 15: Chip-and-Pin Technology and
Disability Access
The introduction of chip-and-pin technology for
bank cards is making paying for shopping and collecting benefits inaccessible,
for disabled people, particularly where
(1) fixed keypads are out of wheelchair users'
reach
(2) keypad design hasnít considered the acces
needs of visually-impaired people
(3) people with
impairments affecting their memory cannot remember their PIN or people with
dyslexia cannot type it in correctly.
Conference is concerned at the widespread use of
this technology before access to it has been resolved. The TUC to campaign to
make "Chip-and-Pin" much more accessible and to ensure a clear
co-ordinated strategy is developed to provide alternative methods of paying
bills and accessing benefits.
EMERGENCY MOTION 1: Incapacity Benefit
The proposed changes in Incapacity Benefit are
unjust. The TUC must campaign against them, Conference condemns
(1) cuts in entitlement to or levels of
Incapacity Benefit
(2) coercion of disabled people to seek
employment when theyíre not ready to do so
EMERGENCY MOTION 2: Disability Rights
Commission
The DRC will close their casework teams in late
2005. It is vital this service is maintained, else many disabled people will be
left defenceless, unable to assert their rights. TUC to ensure CEHR funding
makes adequate provision for casework.
EMERGENCY MOTION 3: Radical Welfare Reform
Conference opposes DWP plans, announced February
2nd 2005, which were not in the Labour Election manifesto, to require disabled
people receiving Incapacity Benefit and Disability Living Allowance to submit
to periodic medical tests in order to continue to receive these benefits.
EMERGENCY MOTION 4: United Nations Draft Disability Convention
Conference welcomes the UN drafting a Disability Convention. As currently drafted though, it weakens several Articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. To rectify these weaknesses, the TUC must campaign for a UN Convention which would confer on disabled people, as an overriding priority, the right to be treated with dignity and respect, to be protected from degrading treatment and to enjoy all human rights on an equal basis with others.Noting the Convention, when ratified, will require member states to revise current policies and legislation in line with it, the TUC to monitor if this occurs in the UK.MOTION 16: Equalities Seats on the General Council.
Currently these are elected at Annual Congress. Conference believes the Equalities Conferences are the correct electoral constituency for these seats. The TUC Disability Committee to work to reform TUC procedures accordingly
Just a thought from the TUDA newsletter editors
In an attempt to try to save both TUDA money, and
speed up the provision of information. If you have e-mail (and we understand
not everyone does) would any TUDA members like to have all future newsletters
via e-mail? Please let us know!
TO
CONTACT TUDA
Our web site, www.tuda.org.uk
has lots of information you may like to see. The Secretary, Alan Martin (alanmartin@hotmail.com),
Membership Secretary, Sherrell Brett and Co-Chair, Caroline Gooding can be contacted
via our box number, BM TUDA, London WC1N 3XX. The newsletter editor, Richard
Cook is at 141 Vale Road, Northfleet, Kent DA11 8BX or at findcook@hotmail.com.
Please tell us of any issues you feel we should cover. We
encourage people to submit both information and articles for inclusion, so get
writing if you can.
Views expressed in this Newsletter are not necessarily those
of all the trade unions represented on our Executive but reflect the opinion
and policies of most of them.
TUDA held a Fringe Meeting at the TUC Disability
Conference,
called ìPeople in Glass Housesî. Speakers:
Ju Gosling (TUDA Executive and NUJ member) and Peter Weck (Unison) but I have
no room to report on him, so sorry, Peter. A good attendance with lots of
information about Juís case, some of which I highlight below.
PUTTING OUR OWN HOUSES IN
ORDER
Ju Gosling, who recently won a disability
discrimination case against the NUJ, looks at the challenges facing the trade
union movement
When thousands of workers lose their jobs
overnight and face an uncertain future, as the Rover workers did recently, it
rightly makes the headlines. But thousands more workers lose their jobs every
year without a word being saidóbecause they are disabled. Once unemployed, they
are highly unlikely ever to work againóeven though the majority wish to do so.
Now the Government intends to cut Incapacity
Benefit for new claimants, and force them to undergo regular 'reviews' by the
Department of Work and Pensions. But the reason why so many disabled people are
out of work is not due to any lack of effort on their part. Instead, it is due
to employers' refusal to make appropriate and adequate 'reasonable adjustments'
to working practices to allow disabled people to obtain jobs and remain in
work. The pursuit of profit, and the erroneous belief that employing disabled
workers reduces that profit, overrides every other consideration.
The world has changed
As trade unionists, we have the power to change
this situation. But in order to do so, we have to undergo our own cultural
shift and accept that the world has changed. We have to accept that the old
days have gone; the days when negotiating a decent redundancy settlement or
early retirement ensured that a worker who had become disabled could live out
the rest of their life in dignity.
The value of state benefits and pensions has
been massively eroded in comparison to average earnings. Employers' pension
funds have been plundered and pension levels cut; private pension funds have
not performed as promised; and we are all living longer. Someone who loses
their job because they have become disabled can now face forty or fifty years
of poverty and social exclusion as a result, and this of course affects their
dependants too.
The right to participate and the right to
work
And gone, too, are the days when disabled people
were prepared to be treated as 'welfare cases'. Disabled people in the 21st
century are not interested in charity or pity; instead we want an equal right
to take part in society, including the right to work and to receive equal
respect. And we cannot achieve this without our trade unions.
But before trade unions can take effective
action to support disabled workers to find and keep jobs, we have to put our own
houses into order. Yes, there have been many trade union disability initiatives
that we can be proud of, including most recently Amicus' Disability
Champions
project. But my disability discrimination case against the NUJ showed that,
overall, trade unions' attitudes to and treatment of disability rights are
still stuck in the 20th century.
In the NUJ's case, their failure to make the
agreed 'reasonable adjustments' for me when I attended their 2000 annual
conference was described by Thompsons, Solicitors in an Employment Tribunal as
being 'trivial' and as 'not being real discrimination'. This was despite the
fact that the NUJ was found guilty on four counts of discrimination ‚ two of
them being described by the Tribunal as 'major' ‚ and one of personal
injury. Rather than apologise to me, the NUJ behaved throughout the case as if
the union, and not myself, was the victim.
And at no point did the NUJ management take
responsibility for what had happened; instead, the only witnesses to appear in
court were the union's admin workers, who were not themselves NUJ members. This
was despite the fact that the NUJ's management had failed to turn numerous
conference motions on disability rights into policy; had failed to brief staff
on the union's responsibilities under the Disability Discrimination Act; and
had failed to provide staff with disability equality training. The management
continued to be in complete denial about their own disabilism.
As a result, other disabled NUJ members have
continued to suffer similar difficulties in participating in union activities
in the six months since the case finally came to a close. Requests for
reasonable adjustments to allow disabled members to attend and participate
fully in residential events have either been denied altogether, or only agreed
after protracted arguments. And the general level of access at the venues being
used for these events has been consistently poor. Sadly, this is not a problem
that is restricted to one renegade unionósimilar stories emerge across the board.
Trade unions cannot expect to represent disabled
members' interests successfully to employers if we are not, ourselves, models
of good practice. But the harsh reality is that many employers are now more
conversant with how to implement the Disability Discrimination Act than trade
unions are. And many workers, particularly within the retail sector, have a
much greater understanding of disability discrimination and how to combat this,
than the people who represent us.
It is time to put our own houses in order
Anyone can becom e disabled, and at some point in our lives, most of us will be. Disability is not an issue that only affects an unfortunate few; it is an issue that concerns us all. There is no lack of expertise available to help achieve disability equality within the trade union movement, and the financial impact is often zero.
All we need is the will, including the willingness to admit where we have gone wrong in the past. Then, and only then, can we achieve change in the workplace!
TRADE
UNION CHARTER FOR DISABILITY EQUALITY
2) The
union will promote the principle of self-determination for disabled people.
Advisory committees or forums of disabled members will guide the unionís work
on disability equality, and when working with other organisations on disability
issues, the union will seek to ensure that disabled people exercise an
appropriate degree of control.
3) Disabled
trade union members will be enabled to participate in an equal way in all union
meetings, events and structures, and to benefit equally from all union
services. The remaining points of the Charter set out the steps which will
enable unions to achieve this goal.
4) All
union staff will be provided with disability equality training, including
specific training on their legal obligations to both colleagues and members
under the Disability Discrimination Act and the unionís own disability
policies. Staff will also be provided with additional training as relevant to
their particular roles. This training will be provided by appropriately
qualified disabled consultants or organisations run by disabled people.
5) A
proactive strategy will be adopted to secure accessible venues for all union
events. Venues appropriate on some occasions, for instance for one-day meetings
for a small number of people, will not be used inappropriately, e.g. for a
residential conference for a larger number of people.
6) Information
about the accessibility of a venue will be included in the basic information
about that venue. In addition, disabled union members attending events will be
invited to indicate any additional needs which they may have in order to
participate fully in the event.
7) The
unionís own accommodation will be professionally audited by appropriately qualified
access auditors to ensure equal access for those attending union events and/or
working in them, with preference given to qualified disabled auditors. Any
remedial work necessary will be given priority when deciding future
expenditure.
8) All
information provided to union staff and members will be made available in
accessible formats as required (e.g. large print, on disk, in Braille, on
tape), and websites will be designed to be accessible to disabled people.
9) Additional
support will be provided to disabled staff and members as required to enable
their full participation in union activities e.g. the provision of a support
worker, reader or Sign Language Interpreter.
10) When
determining access needs, these will be defined by the disabled person themself,
with appropriate support provided by the union as necessary. Any requirement to
disclose medical information will be kept to a minimum, and this information
will be kept confidential.
11) A
central budget will be established to meet the costs of adjustments for
disabled members in circumstances where it would be too expensive for these to
be funded by individual committees or branches.
12) Training
and other resources will be provided to members representing the trade union
movement on Employment Tribunals, so that they have a full understanding of
disability discrimination and the Disability Discrimination Act.
13) Training
and other resources will be provided for branch and workplace representatives
on disabled peopleís employment rights, so that they are able to support union
members who encounter disability discrimination at work. This training must
extend to participation in trade union activities, as this is the first point
of support for disabled members facing discrimination.
14) The
union will not enter into collective agreements containing terms that
discriminate against disabled people. The union will strive to enter into
collective agreements at national and local level in respect of
anti-discriminatory policies and practices, and will monitor the effectiveness
of any such agreements.
15) Complaints
about disability discrimination made by staff or members will be dealt with
quickly and openly, with the aim of resolving complaints effectively. All
necessary steps will be taken to ensure that disabled people making complaints
are not disadvantaged by the process, and are not victimised as a result of
their actions.
16) Discriminatory
conduct by union staff or members will not be tolerated, and will be dealt with
under the unionís disciplinary procedures.
17) The
unionís staff and membership will be monitored on a regular basis, and action
will be taken to remedy any under-representation of disabled people.
18) The
effectiveness of all disability policies will be reviewed regularly, and the
findings will be acted on as necessary.
19) All
union policies will be amended as necessary to comply with current and future
disability discrimination legislation.
20) All
staff and members will be provided with copies of the unionís disability
policies.
NB: A briefing document on
this charter is available from TUDA.
Based on the Disability Discrimination Act Code of
Practice for Trade Organisations and Qualifications Bodies (TSO 2004), this links the Charter and the
legal requirements placed on trade unions by current disability legislation.
TALKING POINT: DISABILITY EQUALITY AND
HOUSING
Your co-editor Bruce Birchall is chair of the Tenants
Disability Action Group and wrote submissions to the Joint Select Committee and
the Strategy Unit on disability and social housing. Here, he explores some of
the issues ...
Disabled people try and lead independent lives in the
community in housing stock that wasnít designed for that purpose. What use is
it if disabled people gain and retain jobs in accessible workplaces, if they
cannot get in and our of their homes to go to work? If they lack accessible
door-to-door transport to get them there? And have nowhere to garage that
transport adjacent to, or as part of their home?
The architect Le Corbusier once wrote ìA house is a machine
for livingî. We
might add that as regards disabled living, it is one of several (workplace,
education, social life, transport facilities Ö) which are all connected, and
all of which have to be accessible, if we are to be able to function, and have
meaningful disability equality.
DONíT CRAM A QUART OF DISABILITY NEEDS
INTO A PINT POT OF HOUSING
Some of the most oppressive barriers we face are the
definitions of planners and social landlords about our needs. Single person =
one bedroom flat, they decree oblivious to the fact that we may have to house a
power wheelchair or a mobility scooter, part of our home is used as a District
Nurseís Treatment Room, we have to have storage space for the specialist
equipment we need, our extra laundry and the nursesí supplies, and may need a
live-in carer or a succession of sleep-over carers.
So we have the paradox that we need more space than
non-disabled people need. And we need a ìDisabilitty Living Space Allowanceî
just as we need our Disability Living Allowance because of the extra costs of
disability. Few would dispute we need more cash to achieve disability equality.
Many have yet to agree we need more square footage to live in, too.
Paradoxically, you only get equality by unequal provision. People get confused,
thinking equal treatment means equal provision. But the working-class movement
has long argued ìTo each according to their needsî
ALL LIFETIME HOMES SHOULD BE A MINIMUM OF TWO BEDROOMS IN
SIZE
All new homes in London, Wales and Northern Ireland now have
to be built to the Lifetime Homes Standard. This means that if you become
disabled, some years after you
move in, you donít then have to move; it is a home for life, as the structural
work for a lift, a stair lift or a hoist that you may need later was built in
at the start.
But what if you then need a live-in carer to operate that
hoist or give you the support you need, where is that carer to sleep, if your
Lifettime Home was only built with one bedroom? (S)he cannot sleep on the couch
for years but needs her/his own space within you home. Which is why I argue all
Lifetime Homes must be a minimum or two bedrooms. As it would totally defeat
the purpose of a Lifetime Home if you then had to move, once disabled, to gain
an extra bedroom. Like the work for the hoist, it needs to be built in at the
outset. And that needs in turn, to
be built into BS 8300!
Inside This Issue Ö
Page 1 The
new Disability Agenda and the new editorial team.
Page 2 to 3
TUDAís
response to the TUC consultation.
Page 3 to 4
Short
story by Joanna Whisker.
Page 5 to 8
TUC
Disability Conference report.
Page 9 to
10 TUDA
fringe meeting, Putting our own houses in order.
Page 11 to
12 A Trade Union
Charter for Disability Equality
Page 13 Talking
Point: Disability Equality and
Housing
I wish
to receive more Information about TUDA: -
Please send
post to: Alan Martin at BM
TUDA, London WC1N 3XX
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applicable)____________________________________
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