Report: TUC Disabled Workers' Committee, 21 April 2016
Campaign updates:
- TUC Manifesto for Disability Equality is gaining support: unions are encouraged to endorse it and promote it
- We will press the Labour Party to endorse the Manifesto and include its demands in its own manifesto
- There is a model article about the Manifesto for trade union journals.
- The government is consulting on reducing the disability employment gap: the difference between the 46.7% of disabled people who are employed and the 80.3% of non-disabled people who are employed.; the TUC is submitting a response to this consultation.
- The TUC has also submitted a response to a Parliamentary consultation on how people with multiple sclerosis can access and retain work.
Preparations for Disabled Workers’ Conference
- All motions and amendments and in order; a few drafting errors corrected.
- The Committee supports, without reservations, all motions and amendments: this suggests that there may be little controversy or disagreement in the debates at conference: on the positive side, this may reflect a powerful unity in the face of government and employer attacks on disabled workers; on the more negative side, it may reflect that the motions and amendments are so broad-brush as to overlook actual areas of disagreement.
- The Committee agreed its report to the conference.
- There will be a two-hour session given over to the Labour Party’s disability equality roadshow: the Committee is organising this to ensure that delegates get to articulate their demands on the Labour Party, rather than it being simply a platform for the Labour Party.
- John McDonnell MP will address the Conference on the Friday morning at 09:30
- The Committee will hold a fringe meeting on the Thursday lunchtime on direct action, hosted jointly with Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC).
- There will be a social on the Thursday evening, showcasing disabled musicians, poets and comedians; unions are asked to make donations towards the cost.
- Unions and campaigns may book stalls at the conference.
We also discussed making future conferences more accessible, perhaps by considering alternative venues.
- Janine's blog
- 3368 reads