- Conference
- 2006 Retired Members' Conference
- Date
- 16 June 2006
- Decision
- Carried as Amended
Conference welcomes the introduction of Age Regulations which will outlaw age discrimination in employment and training from October 2006. Although it may be possible to outlaw age discrimination in the work place, changing the culture of ageism will be much harder. Older people continue to have to accept differences in treatment on the grounds of age outside the workplace, which would be unacceptable if these were issues of sex or race.
Examples of how older people face ageism in their everyday life can be illustrated by the following:
1)being refused interest-free credit or a new credit card because of an individual’s age;
2)finding that an organisation’s attitude to older people results in them receiving a lower quality of service;
3)age limits on benefits such as Disability Living Allowance;
4)a doctor deciding not to refer an individual to a consultant because they are ‘too old’;
5) substantial increases in insurance premiums after reaching the age of 65.
Conference believes that age discrimination is unacceptable and is determined to highlight its effects and campaign against it. Conference further believes that all older people should have equal rights to participate, and enjoy all the benefits of a modern society.
Therefore, Conference calls on the National Retired Members’ Committee to;
a)pursue with the National Executive Council and appropriate organisations an extension of the powers of, and sufficient resources for, the new Commission for Equality and Human Rights to be effective and to promote age equality in all areas of life;
b)seek the assistance of Labour Link in calling on the Government to:
i.introduce a duty for public bodies such as Local Authorities and the NHS to promote age equality;
ii.end discrimination in health and social care e.g. upper limit on breast cancer screening invitations, the denial of Disability Living Allowance to people over 65, age limits on the Independent Living Fund and different levels of entitlement for social care;
iii.ensure that older people are recognised as major consumers and contributors to the economy and not refused services.