Conference applauds Government for recognising British Sign Language as the fourth indigenous language of the United Kingdom 18th March 2003. We applaud the Disability Equality Duty that requires public authorities to produce Disability Equality Schemes. However, we have concerns that the Duty does not recognise the cultural/linguistic model which is a vital part of Deaf […]
Conference motions
Conference welcomes the Governments commitment to supporting disabled people into work. However, conference is concerned that the proposals on welfare reform focus on sanctions, rather than on removing the barriers that disabled people face in accessing the labour market. High levels of unemployment and discrimination make it hard for disabled people to gain and retain […]
This Conference recognises the disproportionate incidence of disability status of women compared with men. Women experience female organ Cancers of the cervix and uterus, twice as many women than men are diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis and the incidence of mental health impairment is considerably higher for women than men. The impairment consequences of Female Genital […]
This conference welcomes the changes to the Disability Discrimination Act that introduce new Disability Equality Duties (DED) upon public authorities from December 2006. We recognise the valuable requirement for employers and service providers to involve disabled employees and service users in order that institutional disability discrimination can be eliminated rather that the current individualised reasonable […]
This Conference recognises and welcomes the ongoing work being done on the British Sign Language Project since British Sign Language was recognised by Governments as the fourth indigenous language of the United Kingdom 2003. Conference notes the growing recognition of the need to combat discrimination against Deaf people as a marginalised group within society. We […]
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, […]
The Scottish Disabled Members’ Group recognises the excellent work done by coalitions of disabled people and Centres for Inclusive Living in the field of access audits. Conference calls on the NDMC to work with the NEC to: 1)Raise awareness of the expertise available to support the work of UNISON 2)Encourage partnership working, where appropriate, with […]
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 […]
This Conference believes that there is specific disadvantage experienced by disabled women in respect of pensions which can result in greater poverty in older age. We experience breaks in employment history because of discrimination in employment, failure by employers to make adequate reasonable adjustments and as a result are unable to make consistent contributions in […]
Conference notes with concern the growing number of energy utilities deciding to offshore work overseas. In the last twelve months npower, British Gas and Vertex have publicly announced their offshoring plans, each leading to significant reductions in their UK workforce. This trend is largely stimulated by the competitive pressures of the liberalised UK energy market […]
The Service Groups covered by the Business and Environment Unit held a successful Seminar of Health & Safety Reps at National level in the early part of this decade. Many Health and Safety related legislative changes that affect members in the Energy Service Group have occurred since this time and this Energy Conference calls on […]
This Energy Conference welcomes the Disability Discrimination Act 2005 which will impose a new Disability Equality Duty upon energy employers from December 2006. We believe these duties could help reconstruct a barrier free society and provide equality of opportunity for the millions of disabled people who are in work or wanting work but who need […]
Conference welcomes the growing recognition of the need to combat discrimination against LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) workers and the agreements reached with some energy employers to integrate work towards LGBT equality into their equality programmes. Conference further notes that some energy employers are seeking to introduce monitoring of workers’ sexual orientation and / […]
Male Energy members who work in the electricity and gas industries who have tried to donate blood have found that the National Blood Service has a ‘blanket’ ban in place against men who have ever had sex with other men, and so they are advised in their workplaces that their blood will not be accepted […]