Unions develop strategies to combat disability discrimination

With the EU having declared 2003 as the European Year of People with Disabilities, this article reviews initiatives by the UK trade union movement to combat disability discrimination and promote equal rights for workers with disabilities.

This article outlines a range of initiatives being undertaken by the UK's Trades Union Congress (TUC) and its affiliated unions aimed at combating disability discrimination and promoting equal rights for workers with disabilities, in the context of 2003 being designated by the EU as the European Year of People with Disabilities (EU0209201N), and European-level social partner statements in this area.

Following a declaration in 1999 by the EU-level social partners on the employment of people with disabilities, the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) produced an action plan in late 2002, which aims to mobilise and raise the profile of trade union action for people with disabilities. This focuses on three priorities:

• the right of disabled people to a job;

• the right to education and training; and

• the right to dignity.

As part of its campaign, ETUC wants to increase the involvement of trade unions in policy-making on disability issues. Specifically, it calls for trade unions to be consulted by employers on policies which have an impact on the employment of people with disabilities, and for the inclusion of clauses on disability rights in collective bargaining and collective agreements.

TUC action

At the centre of the TUC's activities on disability discrimination is a petition campaign for a tougher disability law to correct the perceived weaknesses of the 1995 Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) (TN0102201S). The TUC says that a new bill should be introduced at the earliest possible date to:

• broaden the definition of disability to include those unfairly outside the law's protection, particularly people with mental health problems;

• remove the unjustified exemptions from disability discrimination law for a range of particular jobs, as well as for firms with fewer than 15 employees; and

• close the loophole established in a recent court decision that allows employers to discriminate on grounds of disability as long as they have justified their decision, even if the justification is flawed

These demands are supported by the Disability Rights Commission and disability organisations. Although the government has announced that there will be reforms (UK0104127F), it has not disclosed their likely nature. Therefore, the TUC campaign aims to ensure that these key demands are built into new legislation. The TUC claims that these measures will help 1 million disabled people into employment and it has provided supporting evidence in the form of a new report on The experience of disabled trade unionists in the workplace based on a survey of unions. The report covers five issues:

• pay and conditions/appraisals;

• 'reasonable adjustments';

• access to insurance schemes;

• compliance with the 'two ticks' disability symbol; and

• mental health issues.

On pay and conditions, the survey finds that disabled workers are frequently located amongst the lowest grades and consequently lowest paid. Appraisal systems frequently contain considerable potential for discrimination, with reports that members with disabilities are often unable to meet the company's performance targets due to ill-health or impairment and are routinely given lower ratings than non-disabled staff.

One of the TUC recommendations concerning 'reasonable adjustments' is for employers to grant 'disability leave' to provide the time for an employee to undergo any necessary treatment and as a period for consideration of the ways in which the individual could return to their job. Survey responses uncovered very few examples of this policy, although the finance trade union Unifi is attempting to get finance industry employers to adopt a disability leave policy and the Communication Workers' Union and Prospect reports that, although there is no formal policy, telecommunications employers do allow time off as part of sick leave policy.

The evidence on other reasonable adjustments was uneven; whilst there are examples of good practice, for example in local authorities and the voluntary sector, there are also serious problems, where - on grounds of cost or because of ignorance of the legal requirements - employers have failed to make reasonable adjustments. One of the main problems is a failure of employers to take a 'holistic' approach, by making any necessary reasonable adjustment and then considering how this affects work organisation issues. For example, in one case a government department worker with arthritis was supplied with voice-activated software to reduce keyboard usage, but although this proved to be much slower, there was no equivalent reduction in the worker's targets, which meant that their performance appraisal rating and performance-related pay were negatively affected.

The two ticks disability symbol is awarded by the Employment Service to signal to the public an employer's commitment to action on employing people with disabilities. To comply, employers should review annually what has been achieved and plan ways of making further progress on the employment of people with disabilities. However, the TUC survey found that many employers fail to maintain the policies which they have implemented to obtain the symbol. One of the most common areas of non-compliance is a failure to maintain commitment to a regular review of progress of disabled employees.

The worst record was found on employer policy and practice for dealing with mental health. It seems that employers frequently use the ambiguity of the present legislation to avoid tackling the problem.

As part of its action on disability, the TUC is also reminding unions of their obligations under the DDA. In particular unions need to ensure that their meetings and events are accessible to all members, and the TUC will be publishing a list of fully accessible venues following consultation with affiliated unions.

Action by individual unions

Union action on disability has stepped up several gears over the last few years, with many unions providing guidance, information and resources for local trade union negotiators and representatives seeking to develop strategies on disability rights. Much of this is now provided via the unions' websites. For example, the public service union Unison has a negotiating checklist on its website. This provides comprehensive advice to union branches on disability issues, and urges them to:

• ensure that all equal opportunities policies and procedures include references to disability issues;

• build on the minimum legal requirements of the DDA;

• get employers to develop an action plan;

• monitor and evaluate the implementation of the plan;

• challenge the employer if it refuses to employ or retain a disabled person;

• raise awareness of disability in the employer's purchasing and property management procedures; and

• make sure that issues for disabled staff are included on all training programmes the employer runs.

On its website, the National Union of Teachers sets out the history of its work since 1988 on promoting equality for disabled teachers. This includes surveys of members, national conferences on disability, training courses for local union officers, government lobbying and an updated 'tool bag' for supporting disabled members.

Other unions have also taken innovative action on disability in employment. The manufacturing union Amicus has recently announced a series of nationwide conferences to train a team of 50 'disability champions', who will offer advice and guidance to both employers and employees on disability issues with the aim of breaking down barriers. The Graphical, Paper and Media Union has successfully fought a battle against the closure of nine Remploy factories across the UK, which threatened the jobs of 1,000 people with disabilities, enlisting the support of Labour Party MPs, the TUC and the government.

Commentary

The ETUC call for unions to be more involved in policy-making on disability points to equality 'mainstreaming' as the way forward and it also suggests that collective bargaining will remain an important tool for achieving this. Whilst the TUC's call for three key reforms to the DDA is of undoubted importance in achieving disability equality, its own research indicates that these reforms will not entirely resolve the problem of disability discrimination and ensure equal rights for people with disabilities. In particular the TUC research suggests that closer monitoring and tougher penalties for non-complying employers will be necessary, as will greater awareness raising in order to promote more holistic approaches, which focus not simply on the physical environment, but also on work processes and job design. The Unison negotiating checklist points to what this involves for unions and also highlights the fact that this is no small task.

It seems that trade unions can no longer be accused of tagging disability onto the end of a long list of other equality issues. Tackling disability discrimination and promoting disability rights now seem to have earned a place at the centre of trade union equality agendas. It also seems that despite the existence of the long awaited DDA there is still much work for unions to do in this area. (Gill Kirton, London Metropolitan University)