Disabled people and members

Discrimination against disabled workers continues, and RMT is organising to oppose it

London Underground's disability poem. Monday's disabled child is fair of face and gets a job. Tuesday's disabled child is sacked

Submitted by Eamonn Lynch on 24 February, 2015 - 19:35

London Underground are the stellar employer of London. They set the moral and ethical tone for all the others to follow.

On Monday February 23 LUL were in the media, on TV, on the Radio highlighting the virtues of making the stigma of workers with disabilities a thing of the past.
A good thing you must agree.

On Tuesday February 24 LUL dismissed a young girl because she had a disability.
An absolute disgrace.
After 5 years of reasonable adjustments in place to allow her to continue in her role, they decide it is no longer "sustainable"

Autism In The Workplace Stage 1 Course - 25 March 2015

Submitted by rmtlondon on 20 February, 2015 - 13:25

Autism in the Workplace is a really exciting event being run at the Workers’ Educational Association - WEA - on 25 March 2015, 9.30am–4.30pm. It is sponsored by the Communication Workers' Union (CWU) and includes participation from Simpson Millar solicitors.

Please read on for details of the course and to register for a place.

Report: TUC Disabled Workers' Committee meeting, 27 November 2014

Submitted by Janine on 4 December, 2014 - 12:21

UPDATE ON PREVIOUS ISSUES

  • Shadow Report to the United Nations: still being prepared, as there is a lot of material to fit into a limited space.
  • Challenging myths and prejudice around disability and benefit claimants: Our proposal (from our last meeting) to have a leaflet for workplaces and a model article for union journals is being addressed through the new TUC campaign, ‘Save Our Safety Net’. This campaign includes a magazine for distribution in workplaces which is pretty cheap to buy (£2 for 50 copies; £3 for 100)

Report: TUC Disabled Workers' Committee meeting, 16 September 2014

Submitted by Janine on 28 September, 2014 - 18:40

The TUC Disabled Workers’ Committee elected two co-Chairs for 2014/15: Sean McGovern and Janine Booth.

Disabled Workers’ Conference 2014 - Resolutions

We looked at all the resolutions passed by Disabled Workers’ Conference in May. A document containing these resolutions will (eventually) be posted on the TUC website – until then, email me j.booth@rmt.org.uk if you would like me to send it to you.

Here’s a summary of what we are doing on each:

1. Zero hours contracts and disabled workers

Disabled Access to Public Transport: TUC Disabled Workers' Conference Speech

Submitted by Janine on 29 May, 2014 - 20:23

This is the speech I gave to TUC Disabled Workers' Conference on 28 May.

Many of you will have your own experiences of both the freedom provided by public transport and the difficulty using it – be that the railway, buses, shipping, air travel, trams, riverboats, taxis, or other modes of transport.

Let’s look at some statistics and facts – mainly about the railways.

In a 2013 survey of disabled people, nearly 80% used the railways, half of them at least monthly, often weekly or more.

TUC Guide 'Autism In The Workplace'

Submitted by rmtlondon on 2 May, 2014 - 14:03

RMT rep Janine Booth has written a guide to autism in the workplace for the TUC - their first ever guide on this subject.

Autism is a term covering a wide range of conditions that reflect neurological differences among people. It can cause social barriers which may affect the lives of people with autism at work. There are about 332,600 people of working age in the UK with autism. However, only 15 per cent of adults with autism are in full-time employment and only 9 per cent are in part-time work.

Tube Job Cut Plans Will Hit Every Equalities Group

Submitted by rmtlondon on 24 April, 2014 - 16:29

Fit For the Future – Stations will hit every stations worker with pay cuts, displacements, reduced work-life balance, etc. But its proposals will affect women, black and ethnic minority, LGBT, older, younger and disabled people in specific ways.

LU is obliged by law to assess what the impact on equalities groups will be. But LU has carried out a shabby and inadequate assessment. RMT and other unions’ reps have met LU about these issues in the last few weeks; management has revealed that it does not treat its obligation towards equalities groups seriously.

Every Job Matters Talks - Equalities Report & RMT Solutions To Concerns

Submitted by rmtlondon on 1 April, 2014 - 01:10

A group of union reps are examining the impact of London Underground Ltd’s proposals for Fit for the Future – Stations on equality groups including women members, black and ethnic minority members, lesbian/gay/bi/trans members, disabled members, older members (55+) and younger members (under 30).