- Conference
- 2024 National LGBT+ Conference
- Date
- 17 July 2024
- Decision
- Carried
Conference notes the eroded rights of LGBT+ disabled workers over the past decade, exacerbated by austerity measures, inadequate policies and continued attack over the last 14 years by the United Kingdom (UK) Tory government. The incoming UK Labour government’s commitment to social justice and equality, provides a crucial opportunity to address these issues.
UNISON has been at the forefront of campaigning for LGBT+ and disabled members, most notably by being the only trade union to be one of the founding members of the Disability Employment Charter.
The United Nations (UN) Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), outlines comprehensive rights and freedoms for disabled individuals, including those who are part of the LGBT+ community. The UN accused the last government of “grave and systematic” violations of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Disabled People (UNCRDP). Systematic barriers and discrimination that disabled people experience were highlighted and the UN challenged the absence of a holistic approach to delivering benefits across devolved government and disabled people with intersectional experiences. The UN described the current benefits system of being “trauma inducing” which is compounded by research into deaths of benefits claimant.
Conference believes that our LGBT+ disabled members face unique challenges and discrimination that must be specifically addressed in legislation and workplace policies.
The new UK Labour government should prioritise restoring and enhancing the rights of disabled LGBT+ individuals in line with the Disability Employment Charter and the CRPD.
Conference calls upon the national LGBT+ committee to work with the national disabled members committee to campaign through Labour Link to raise with the Labour government:
1)The need to restore and enhance the rights of LGBT+ disabled workers
2)To fully implement the Disability Employment Charter, including action on closing the disability pay gap and for employers to have a two-week deadline to respond to requests for reasonable adjustments
3)The need for a human rights approach to disability that aligns with the CRPD.