- Conference
- 2003 National Delegate Conference
- Date
- 20 February 2003
- Decision
- Carried
Conference notes with concern the failure of the Government to deliver its commitment to full comprehensive civil rights for disabled people in the UK.
Conference is further alarmed by the Government’s apparent intention to proceed with the establishment of a single equalities commission with accompanying single equality legislation, despite severe misgivings on the part of disabled people’s organisations. UNISON’s disabled members, along with these organisations, fear that the limited impact of the existing Disability Rights Commission could be diluted within such a large all encompassing organisation.
Conference re-affirms UNISON’s full commitment to the demand of its disabled members for the enactment of full comprehensive civil rights legislation, and its commitment to work alongside organisations with the same objective to achieve this aim.
Conference recognises the confusion and difficulties created by the Government’s back-peddling on its weak commitment to implement some of the recommendations of the Disability Rights Task Force, and regards current proposals to make further minor modifications to the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 as shamefully inadequate.
Conference regards the recommendations of the Disability Rights Task Force as an absolute minimum standard for determining the basis for discussions on the acceptability of any legislative proposals, from wherever they originate.
There have been a number of initiatives both from inside and outside the disabled people’s movement. These intend to address the current civil rights vacuum. Most notable of these initiatives is the proposed Rights and Freedom Bill, a legislative proposal, being drawn up by the disabled people’s movement, including UNISON activists, that sets proposals for a future legislative framework within a social model of disability.
Conference calls upon the General Secretary, National Executive Council and the National Disabled Members’ Committee to work together, as a matter of priority, to:
1)Strive to achieve the union’s objective of winning full comprehensive civil rights for disabled people as set out in the Rights and Freedom Bill;
2)oppose any other legislative proposals which do not match the proposals described in the full recommendations of the Disability Rights Task Force;
3)vigorously campaign for the expansion of enforcement powers relating to disabled people’s legal civil rights in any future administrative proposals to support anti-discriminatory legislation;
4)work with organisations of disabled people and UNISON’s self-organised structures to draw public attention to, and oppose, the establishment of any proposals for changes in commission arrangements if, in the view of UNISON’s disabled members’ self-organised structure, such proposals would lead to the lessening of enforcement, financial and human resources support, and/or political and legal influence on behalf of and in defence of disabled people’s civil rights.