Conference agrees that since the Disability Equality Duty was placed upon public sector employers in December 2006, in many cases the application has been more wishful than realistic. We fear that public sector employers would rather pay lip service to the duty than actually deliver. Conference having already affirmed in 2005 its support for local […]
Conference motions
Conference agrees that the concept of free bus travel for disabled people and those aged 60 and above has been a welcome advance for many citizens within the United Kingdom. However, we are concerned that some local authorities issue travel vouchers instead of an open permit for free travel. Vouchers, by their nature, ration the […]
Conference welcomes the great advances in cancer research. This has meant the availability of new drugs and treatment therapies, for some of the most common cancers affecting patients in the United Kingdom, resulting in many more people surviving, living and working with cancer. Cancer has a very strong impact on women. For example the vast […]
Conference notes the recent implementation regarding Disability Equality Schemes. 1.We call upon the NDMC/NEC to liaise with a)Service groups to monitor what is happening in branches; b)Send out guidance to branches to encourage employers to promote Disability Equality in the workplace. c)Liaise with all service groups, the Audit Commission and the Disability Rights Commission to […]
Historically disabled people have been victims of discrimination, marginalisation and in some cases, murder under fascist regimes. This National Disabled Members Conference applauds and fully supports UNISON nationally for its publicity campaigns that expose the British National Party for what it really is – an organization that discriminates against people on ground of disability, sexual […]
Disabled people are constantly presented with barriers, and in some cases hazards arising from modern methods of packaging products. In terms of labelling particularly foods stuffs and medications there are major barriers as a consequence arising from the formats used to produced such information. Therefore this conference calls upon the National Disabled Members Committee to […]
Conference applauds UNISON’s commitment to ensuring that its members are kept informed on various health issues. This information is generated by various committees within UNISON including Health and Safety and Women’s Self Organization etc. Many of these leaflets and publications could be used to inform members of their rights under the Disability Discrimination Act. The […]
This Conference notes that the Government published its ‘Welfare Reform Bill on 4th July 2006. This Bill contains powers to replace incapacity benefits with a new Employment Support Allowance. The Government have said that they do not intend to force people back into work where it is not appropriate and that people will continue to […]
Conference is appalled by the continuing discrimination by employers towards disabled members when using Sickness Absence policies. Many of these employers carry the two tick logo. Schemes like the ‘Bradford Factor’, where a disabled member could pick up 1000’s of points with ongoing treatment for their disability, place staff under massive pressure to reduce their […]
The Scottish Disabled Members’ Group is concerned that no accurate statistics exist on the number of disabled members in the union. The interim report of the Equalities Review would indicate that as many as 1 in 4 people in the UK could be classified as disabled under the DDA. Impending legislation would increase this number, […]
Conference recognises that many disabled people are living in poverty, and the proportion of disabled adults who are unemployed but want to work are almost three times higher than those without a disability. This demonstrates that discrimination in the labour market is a continuing issue. We know that even where disabled people are in employment, […]
This Conference welcomes the new Equality Duty that will be imposed on public bodies and some private organizations from December 2006. Conference knows that no new resources will be made available to implement this piece of new legislation. Conference therefore calls upon the National Disabled Members Committee to liaise with the NEC, Labour Link and […]
Conference warmly welcomes the new disability equality duty that is due to come into force in December 2006, we believe this will provide UNISON with a great new organising tool as well as the opportunity to challenge disability discrimination at work and within public services. It is a strengthened version of the race duty – […]
Conference welcomes the progress made on the introduction of a single Commission for Equality and Human Rights(CEHR). However Conference is very concerned that there are still no plans to introduce legislation relating to the CEHR’s powers, constitution, terms of reference and details of the various strands and their link to each other. Conference is also […]
Conference congratulates the Welsh Assembly in agreeing to eliminate the charges that the people of Wales pay for prescription charges. Already reduced to £4 per prescription item, and in the lifetime of the current Welsh Assembly there is commitment to having free prescriptions in Wales by the end of 2006. Conference notes that there are […]