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CWU DISABILITY AND SPECIAL NEEDS CONFERENCE (DSNAC) CONFERENCE - APEX

24th October 2009

CWU DISABILITY AND SPECIAL NEEDS CONFERENCE (DSNAC) CONFERENCE - APEX

HOTEL, DUNDEE - SATURDAY, OCTOBER 24

Delegates at the CWU Disability and Special Needs

Conference held in Dundee spoke passionately on wide-ranging issues,

from changes to the Equality Bill, to diabetes, and even assisted

suicide. Organisers said it was their most successful equality

conference to date, and pressing issues debated will now be raised at

next year's main CWU conference.

Ted Stead, of the Disability and Special Needs Advisory Committee, urged

the union to launch a campaign to prepare itself for the impending

changes to the Equality Bill that will bring nine pieces of

discrimination legislation under the one umbrella of the Single Equality

Bill.

He said: "At the moment, there can be only one discrimination claim

raised at a time, but the new legislation will mean a black woman, for

example, could launch a combined race and sex discrimination claim, or

an elderly disabled worker could launch a race and a disabled case. We

need to make all of our reps aware of the changes and ensure they are

well-prepared in anticipation of this legislation expected to be

introduced next year."

The motion was unanimously passed and delegates voted for it to be

raised at the main union conference next year.

The other motion supported sufficiently for it to be put forward at the

main union conference, was another propositioned by Ted Stead, in his

capacity as Branch Secretary for the Oldham and Rochdale Amal. He garnered

support for DSNAC to produce a "disability leave policy" to protect

disabled members from falling foul of various sickness absence policies

that various employees utilise.

The conference also supported three separate motions designed to tackle

the growing issue of diabetes, described as "a hidden killer" in the UK.

They supported a motion raised by Alan Tait of the London Regional Motor

Transport branch, which called for DSNAC and the NEC to work closely

with Diabetes UK to campaign widely within Government and the TUC for

free NHS checks for all workers across the UK. Mr Tait said: "These

checks are painless and should be widely available for all."

But the most hotly debated motion, was one put forward by Gary Clark of

Scotland No. 2 branch on assisted suicide. He argued that the union

should lobby for this to be made legal and available on the NHS,

adding: "This is about freedom of choice. People should be allowed to

die with dignity." But he faced opposition from Lynne Hart who said that

her Thames Valley branch has conducted a survey of all of its 2,000

members, which concluded the matter would be better dealt with at a

national level. The motion was not carried.

Jeff Till of Central London branch gained support for a move to get more

Human Resources managers trained on "all aspects" of the DDA, while

Lynne Hart successfully called for hearing tests to be made available

for employees actively working with headphones on a daily basis.

Earlier, Tony Sneddon, chair of DSNAC, welcomed the delegates to Dundee,

City of Discovery. While he said that much progress has been made for

disabled workers' rights, he warned: "The fight for true equality is not

over."

Linda Roy, national equalities officer, echoed those views. She said:

"In the majority of complaints to our equality office - almost 15 years

after the DDA - is that management is either ill-briefed, ignorant, or

deliberately ignoring their legal responsibilities." Therefore, she said

that her primary aim is in providing employees with information on the

DDA, including fact sheets, guides, e-bulletins, and toolkits.

There was also some discussion about disabled workers become especially

vulnerable during the recession.

President of the STUC, Martin Keenan, told delegates: "As we strive to

move out of recession, equality matters even more."

Perhaps the most emotive talk was delivered by Robin Hood - the Scottish

director for DEBRA - the national charity working on behalf of people

with the horrific genetic skin blistering condition Epidermolysis

Bullosa (EB).

He spoke about his brave daughter's fight with the debilitating

condition, which results in skin and internal linings to blister, bleed

and peel off at the slightest touch. Mr Hood has devoted his life to

raising money for research into the condition, and despite his daughter

dying last year aged just 19, he has vowed to continue the fight for a

cure.

ROYAL MAIL - - - MOTION 2

The system employed by Royal Mail's occupational health service ATOS to

get sick staff back to work needs an urgent overhaul, according to

DSNAC.

At the CWU Disability and Special Needs Conference at the Apex hotel in

Dundee on Saturday, October 24, delegates highlighted issues with the

ATOS system of pressuring workers with mental health issues back to

work.

A spokesperson for South West Middlesex Amal spoke about the inadequaciesin conducting phone interviews to ask when staff off sick were planning on

returning to work.

He said: "The link between ATOS and Royal Mail needs to be clarified.

You cannot have telephone interviews with people with a mental illness.

You have no idea who you are talking to, and often have no idea how you

feel, or when you can come back to work.

"Royal Mail say that they don't question the validity of our illness,

but question our non-attendance. If you voice dissention over the phone,

they put the phone down on you and your case is closed. Then, you feel

even worse than when you started. The interviews must be done face to

face."

The conference voted for DSNAC to clarify the lines of communication

between ATOS and Royal Mail, and move for a better support package top

help workers with mental health issues to continue working and living.

BT - - - MOTION 4

While the conference welcomed the introduction of the BT Disability

Passport, concerns were raised that many managers lack awareness about

its content.

The BT Disability Passport is a formal record of any workplace

adjustments or local arrangements for BT employees with disabilities,

and should be passed on when an employee moves to a new team or has a

change of line manager.

However, a John Monk from the North West London branch said that while there

has been a single article featuring the BT Disability Passport on the intranetsite, he added: "It's almost like

BT is ashamed of it."

He said: "Nobody knows what this extremely useful piece of documentation

is and nobody understands it."

The conference unanimously voted for DSNAC, along with the National

Executive Committee (NEC), to work with BT and BT's People and Policy

team to raise awareness of the important document within the company.