General Council Report - Chapter 2

chapter 2 equal rights

• 2.1 Introduction
• 2.2 TUC equality conferences
• 2.3 Discrimination Law
• 2.4 Women’s equality
• 2.5 Race equality
• 2.7 Disability

2.1 Introduction

Equality issues have remained high on the General Council’s agenda, with detailed work being carried out by the Women’s, Lesbian and Gay and Race Relations Committees and the Disability Forums. A network of union equality officers has also been closely involved, with a great deal of two-way traffic between Congress House and unions.

A major new initiative, as part of the legacy of the Stephen Lawrence Task Group, is the proposed insertion of new equality clauses in the TUC constitution. This initiative will be backed up with recommended model clauses for union rules and a comprehensive regular TUC equality auditing process of unions. The aim of these changes is to provide a strong and specific statement of commitment to the promotion of race equality and other equalities issues by the TUC and the trade union movement, as well as to impose concrete and measurable obligations. Full details of the proposals are set out in the General Council statement included later in this chapter.

2.2 TUC equality conferences

Delegates from affiliated unions once again this year had opportunities to debate equality issues in depth at the three motion-based TUC equality conferences. Again, each conference was a mixture of informal and formal debates as well as addresses from guest speakers. The conferences enable delegates to exchange information with and learn from other unions, and the debates and resolutions give direction to TUC policy.

For the first time in 2001 the equality conferences selected one of their resolutions to go forward on to the Congress agenda. This followed rule changes agreed at the 2000 Congress. At each conference this year delegates voted for the motion for Congress, and in each case there was a clear winner. The Women’s Conference chose a motion on equal pay, while the Black Workers’ and Lesbian and Gay Conferences respectively selected motions on the constitutional changes and on anti-discrimination legislation.

The Women’s Conference met in Scarborough in March, with Pat Hawkes in the chair. Guest speakers included the TUC President Bill Morris and General Secretary John Monks, and the then Minister for Women Baroness Jay. Two hundred and sixty four delegates attended, together with 15 observers from TUC regional councils and trades union councils and 70 visitors. Formal debates covered a range of issues, including equal pay, flexible working, part time working, health and safety and international issues. There was a particularly lively debate about life-long learning.

This year’s informal session at the Women’s Conference reflected the conference theme ‘It’s time for women’s pension power’, with a theatre group illustrating women’s pensions issues and an expert panel discussing the issues in more depth and responding to delegates’ questions. Throughout conference, experts provided a ‘pensions clinic’, where delegates could receive tailored advice about their own pensions issues, and two new TUC publications were produced to coincide with the conference: a booklet Pensions for Women and a leaflet on the new TUC stakeholder pension scheme. On the afternoon before conference opened members of the Women’s Committee handed out the leaflet to women shopping in Scarborough town centre. The conference also had a presentation on the TUC stakeholder pension scheme

The Black Workers’ Conference was held in Perth in April, the first time a TUC equality conference had been held in Scotland. Mohammed Javed was in the chair. Delegates were welcomed by the STUC General Secretary Bill Speirs, and also heard from the TUC President Bill Morris. Other platform speakers included Barbara Burford from the NHS Executive, international visitors and representatives of family campaigns. As with the Women’s Conference, there was an informal session - this aimed to encourage the wider participation of black union activists in trade union education. The session was run by Dawn Lewis from Lewisham College.

The resolutions carried in the formal sessions ranged over a number of subjects, including education and training, institutional racism, discrimination laws, public services and refugees and asylum seekers.

A TUC report Black Workers Deserve Better was published at the conference. It showed that high levels of black unemployment were persisting despite the economic recovery that had benefited other groups; and it set out a range of suggested policy responses. The report received extensive media coverage.

The final conference of the Congress year was the Lesbian and Gay Conference, held in Congress House in July. The opening speech was given by the outgoing chair of the Lesbian and Gay Committee Ed Sweeney, with other addresses being from the Minister for Women Baroness Morgan, John Monks and Joel Donovan, a barrister from Cloisters Chambers. Four members of the Committee chaired sessions - Rita Nicholson, Nick Roe, David Lascelles and Maire Daley. Formal debates covered several issues of concern to lesbian and gay trade unionists, including anti-discrimination legislation, pensions, parental rights, international issues and section 28. There was a lengthy debate about transgender issues, and the Conference carried resolutions calling for TUC structures to deal with the discrimination faced by transgender people.

This year’s informal session was devoted to discussion about diversity issues, particularly about ways of involving more disabled and black lesbians and gay men in union structures and activities. The debate was facilitated by Linda Kelly, Director of the TUC National Education Centre, and led by conference delegates: Hassan Ortega from UNISON, Matt Chase from the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy, and Lesley Mansell from MSF.

From 2001 a fourth TUC motions-based equality conference will join the programme. The first Disability Conference will be held at the beginning of December and that conference will elect a new TUC Disability Committee. This will mean that the Disability Conference will, each Congress year, be the first equality conference in the TUC calendar.

2.3 Discrimination Law

The TUC’s annual Discrimination Law Conference was held in January 2001, and once again attracted over 400 participants. Discrimination law reform remains a priority for the TUC’s three equality committees and the disability forums, as explained in separate paragraphs in this section. As well as arguing for improvements to existing legislation, the TUC has been involved in work on the transposition of the EU framework employment directive, which will extend the law to cover religion, sexual orientation and age. A briefing/consultative seminar on age discrimination legislation was held in July in collaboration with the Employers’ Forum on Age, and the TUC is represented on a ministerial advisory group on the implementation of the age aspects of the directive.

2.4 Women’s equality

The Women’s Committee continued to oversee the TUC’s extensive programme of work on women’s concerns. Links were maintained with other organisations and with the Ministers for Women and the Women’s Unit. The Women’s Committee have continued to work closely with the Equal Opportunities Commission, the two TUC Commissioners being Jeannie Drake and Kay Carberry.

‘Family-friendly’ employment

There has been much progress made in 2001 in the area of parental and maternity rights. The TUC submitted a full response to the Government’s Work and Parents Green Paper in March. This response was backed up with research involving a group of lower income mothers. The response and the research highlighted and reinforced the issues raised in last year’s Congress resolution on parental and maternity rights.

In this year’s Budget, the Chancellor announced new rights to paid paternity and adoptive leave from 2003. The TUC welcomed this announcement, as well as the increase in paid maternity leave from 18 to 26 weeks. However, the TUC will continue to campaign for rights to time off to be accompanied by payment based on earnings replacement rather than low flat-rate payments. Discussions are also ongoing with the DTI on the details of the new rights and the TUC is lobbying to ensure there is no discrimination against same-sex partners.

In May 2001, the TUC’s legal challenge to the 15 December 1999 cut-off date for eligibility for parental leave was concluded successfully. One week before the hearing date in the European Court of Justice, the Government reversed its position and agreed to amend the parental leave regulations to remove the cut-off date. All the TUC’s legal costs are to be paid by the Government. The case was a landmark victory for the TUC, both in terms of extending parental leave rights to over two million working parents, and also as part of a wider strategy for ensuring that European social and employment legislation is implemented correctly.

As part of the Green Paper review, the Government has announced the establishment of a task force, due to report in November 2001, on implementing a new right for parents of young children to have requests for flexible working seriously considered by employers. The TUC is represented on the Task Force and will be pressing for its outcome to be that parents will have a meaningful right to have requests for reduced hours working granted unless employers can justify refusals on objective grounds.

Part-time work

As underlined by last year’s Congress resolution, the TUC continues to be extremely concerned about the deficiencies of the new Part-time Work Regulations. The TUC has participated in an ETUC survey on this issue, and is working with unions on identifying possible test cases. The difficulties for part-time workers in establishing comparisons with full-timers for the purpose of claiming equal treatment rights under the Regulations is a particular priority for test cases on compliance with the Part-Time Work Directive. It is hoped that the outcome of the Work and Parents Task Force referred to earlier in this section will give many more parents the right to work part-time, as called for in the 2000 Congress resolution on part-time workers’ rights.

Work-life balance

The subject of work-life balance has continued to enjoy a high profile over the past year and continues to be a major TUC concern. TUC work in the area of working parents’ rights is summarised above. In addition the TUC has continued to be represented on the ministerial advisory committee on work-life balance (now in DTI) and has continued to tackle the issues from a practical perspective.

With DfEE (now DTI) support, the TUC has published a comprehensive range of materials and resources to promote a partnership and problem-solving approach to the inherent conflict between extending customer service and employees’ work-life balance.

A new TUC publication Changing Times sets out a practical step-by-step process which will help trade union reps and managers make changes in the way work is organised, giving staff the flexibility they require to manage their personal and working lives, whilst at the same time meeting business needs and improving competitiveness and job security. The publication makes the connection between work-life balance, domestic responsibilities, lifelong learning and participation in civil society.

In addition, a joint Industrial Society-TUC video on work-life balance was produced for use in training and education workshops. A new comprehensive work-life balance ‘microsite’ of the TUC website will be launched in the early autumn to assist union reps, TUC education tutors and employers to access up to date information and links. New courses and resources have been developed and will be available as a core part of TUC Education Services from the autumn. Customised courses for unions, or unions and employers will also be available.

Following the successful TUC Time of Our Lives project with Bristol City Council to extend services to customers with staff support, there has been widespread recognition of the positive role which unions played to improve the quality and delivery of a range of local services in Bristol, ranging from the Sunday opening of libraries to extended opening hours for council waste disposal sites and pest control.

During the year, the PCS and the Inland Revenue requested TUC assistance in setting up a work-life balance pilot that would assist the implementation of the national modernisation agreement, which is committed to improving public access to government services. TUC senior policy officer, Jo Morris, has been seconded to help set up a pilot in the Sussex area of the Inland Revenue to improve customer service with staff support, including some evening and Saturday opening. Through the pilot and with the involvement of TUC Learning Services, PCS-managed learning centres have been set up at each of the three area offices, available to staff for both vocational and non-vocational courses.

If successful, the process that the Inland Revenue and PCS are developing has the potential to be adapted more widely in both the public and private sectors.

Equal Pay

In the summer the TUC received funding through the Union Learning Fund for a pilot project that aims to train ‘equal pay representatives’ in workplaces across industry. The purpose is to give union representatives the confidence and skills to discuss and participate in equal pay audits with employers. A full-time co-ordinator has been appointed for the one year pilot, which will include briefings for trade union education tutors and full-time officers, new education materials, accredited training courses for 500 equal pay reps and a national evaluation conference. The Equal Opportunities Commission is an active partner in the project, and together with partner unions the EOC is represented on the project steering committee.

In April, the TUC held an equal pay seminar, aimed at initiating discussion on how trade unions can respond to the changing policy agenda and, in particular, the report from the EOC’s independent taskforce on equal pay. Speakers included Rita Donaghy, Chair of ACAS and member of the EOC Independent Taskforce and Sheila Wild, Director of Employment Policy at the EOC. Over 60 delegates attended the conference, including union equality officers, government officials, representatives from the STUC and ICTU and lawyers specialising in equal pay law. Discussion focused trade unions’ experience and campaigns on equal pay and practical proposals for developing, promoting and implementing workplace equal pay audits in line with EOC proposals. The conference formed part of an ETUC co-ordinated project focusing on union bargaining strategies for delivering equal pay. The conference was part-funded by the European Commission.

In November, the Government launched a consultation on the reform of tribunal procedures in equal pay cases. The Government made a number of proposals for simplifying and streamlining equal pay claims, a number of which the TUC supports including:

• the introduction of a questionnaire procedure in equal pay cases;

• the removal of the ‘no reasonable grounds’ defence;

• extending the ACAS Panel of Independent Experts; and

• simplifying procedures for filing multiple cases.

The Government also proposed more contentious measures, including: restricting applicants from calling on their own experts in equal pay cases; only permitting independent experts to give evidence; and the appointment of expert assessors to advise tribunal members with a view to speeding up decision making in equal pay cases. While supporting the objective of reducing the length of time it takes to process equal pay claims, in its response the TUC argued that the proposals should be amended to ensure that the interests of workers were safeguarded.

In addition, the TUC called on the Government to consider measures enabling the initiation of group and representative actions by trade unions and the EOC and the introduction of a statutory duty on employers to carry out equal pay audits. The submission was supported by the inclusion of key findings from the Women’s Pay Survey which had been launched at the TUC Women’s Conference 2000 and research commissioned on business case for equal pay.

Childcare

In July 2000 the TUC gave oral and written evidence to the independent Childcare Commission, highlighting the need for an improvement in the terms and conditions of childcare workers and a better provision of childcare facilities for shift workers and those who work untypical hours.

In October, the TUC organised a joint seminar with the Childcare Commission, focussing on a range of issues, including the provision of better training, health and safety measures and pay rates for childcare workers. Participants in the seminar included trade union officials and representatives from the voluntary sector, childcare providers and the Low Pay Unit.

In addition, the TUC has worked in partnership with a range of organisations, including the DayCare Trust, attending seminars and working parties dealing with the changing policy agenda on childcare provision.

Further to a resolution of Congress 2000, the TUC has met with a number of organisations, including SPRITO and the Association of Playworkers, with a view to exploring the potential for partnership work between these organisations and relevant unions. The TUC is also in the process of establishing a trade union working party on childcare in partnership with the DayCare Trust which will focus on both childcare and play related issues.

2.5 Race equality

The Race Relations Committee continued its programme of work on a range of race equality issues. Particular attention was given to supporting the work of the Stephen Lawrence Task Group in challenging institutional racism. This included briefings on ethnic monitoring: an informal meeting in November 2000 followed by a seminar for affiliates in July 2001. The seminar encouraged affiliates to establish monitoring systems relating to their role as employers, union membership and in the workplace. Speakers at the briefing included the Acting Chief Executive of the CRE, Andrew Housley, Hugh Lanning of PCS and Aveen McHugh of Connect.

A composite resolution to Congress 2000 drew attention to the treatment of refugees and asylum seekers. In particular the resolution was concerned to see the end of the voucher scheme for asylum seekers. The TUC submitted a response to the government review of the voucher scheme which called for the scheme to be discontinued. At the time of writing the outcome of this review had not been announced. In addition a high level TUC delegation including the President, General Secretary and Maureen Rooney from the
General Council, met the then Home Secretary Jack Straw to press him to abandon the voucher scheme.

The TUC has continued to maintain close working links with the Commission for Racial Equality (CRE). Bob Purkiss continued to serve as the trade union CRE Commissioner until July 2001 when he was appointed as the Chair of the European Monitoring Centre Against Racism and Xenophobia.

A joint briefing for affiliates on the implications of the new Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 was held in February 2001. This briefing was particularly concerned with assisting affiliates to make the most of the new general and specific duties contained within the Act. Speakers at the briefing included the CRE Chair Gurbux Singh, Sarah Palmer from the Local Authority Race Relations Information Exchange and Barbara Cohen of the CRE. The TUC submitted a
response to the government consultation on the scope of the new Act and the nature of the specific duties which can be called on by the Home Secretary.

The Race Relations Committee has expressed its concern over the disturbances in several English towns over the summer and the role of far right groups in instigating violence. In addition concern has been expressed about the electoral success achieved in these and surrounding areas by
openly fascist candidates. The General Secretary met with representatives of the Race Relations Committee and the National Assembly Against Racism in July 2001 to begin the process of co-ordinating the national and local support from trade unions for local communities in the areas affected.

The SERTUC was a co-sponsor, with the Greater London Authority and the National Assembly Against Racism, of the Respect Festival in Finsbury Park, London on 21 July 2001. This festival was a free anti-racist event which celebrated London’s multi-cultural diversity. Amongst those performing at the festival were Run DMC and Courtney Pine.

The TUC is working with the International Congress of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) in participating in the United National World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance. This Conference is taking place in Durban, South Africa from 31 August 2001 to 7 September 2001. The TUC has also been an active participant on the United Kingdom Race Equality Network, which has been delegated responsibility by the Home Office to co-ordinate local consultation in the lead up to the World Conference. Several British trade unionists, including members of the Race Relations Committee, attended the conference.

The TUC has participated in the European Trade Union Confedertation (ETUC) Migrant Workers Working Group. During the last year this working group has participated in developing an ETUC response to the European Commission proposals on a common European wide immigration policy. The Working Group has also discussed the promulgation of the new Race Directive into law in Member States.

Stephen Lawrence Task Group

The 2000 Congress received a special report by journalist Gary Younge on the first year of the work of the task group. The Task Group, chaired by the General Secretary, was established in 1999 to oversee the work to tackle institutional racism. The focus of the work of the task group in its second and final year was to stimulate wider activity amongst affiliates.

Stephen Lawrence Task Group

General Council : John Monks (Chair), Ken Cameron (until September 2000), Bill Connor, John Edmonds, Andy Gilchrist (from September 2000), Pat Hawkes, Gloria Mills (from October 2000), Bill Morris, Dave Prentis, Bob Purkiss (until October 2000), Maureen Rooney, Ed Sweeney, Jenny Thurston, Tony Young.

Unions: Lucy Anderson (MSF), Roland Biosah (PCS), Garrett Brooks (FBU), Paul Gates (KFAT), Mohammed Javed (AEEU), Naledi Kline (MSF), Hugh Lanning (PCS) (from February 2001), Paul Mackney (NATFHE), Roger McKenzie (PCS) (until October 2000), Colin Moses (POA), Cordell Pillay (Napo).

Other members: Lord Ouseley, Richard Stone, Satnam Virdee.

TUC Staff: Lucy Anderson (from January 2001), Mick Connolly, Hilary Hargraves, Linda A Kelly, Bandula Kothalawala, Roger McKenzie (from October 2000), Jo Morris (until January 2001), Iain Murray, Frances O’Grady, Mike Power, Liz Rees.

Mainstreaming race equality

A key aim of the Task Group was to mainstream initiatives against institutional racism across the whole of the TUC. All TUC departments have made a contribution towards initiatives of the task group. There have been 15 publications produced by the task group, including five research reports. There has also been an intensive media campaign to support TUC initiatives against racism.

Root out Racism Hotline

The task group Root out Racism Hotline was launched at a celebration evening in June 2000. There were 450 calls received during the five days of the hotline. These calls clearly demonstrated the distance that trade unions still need to travel in order to respond to the challenge of racism in the workplace.

Congress 2000 witnessed a powerful performance of extracts from calls received to the hotline. The performance was produced and directed by Philip Hedley and Kerry Michael of Theatre Royal Stratford East and starred Sylvester Williams, Roger Griffiths, Shobna Gulati, and Nina Wadia. A video of the play has been produced by the TUC for use, as a resource, for union conferences and education courses as well as for youth and school projects.

Assisting with race discrimination cases

The Root out Racism Hotline provided a clear indication of the perception that is held by a number of black members that some trade unions are not providing sufficient assistance with race discrimination cases. The CRE have also reinforced this view and have suggested that more needs to be done in this area by trade unions.

In addition to the efforts to improve performance in supporting race cases, through the regional education service, the TUC has also published a new resource handbook, Challenging racism at work - using the law. This handbook provides an outline of race discrimination law and is designed to assist union representatives to identify and take up race discrimination cases more effectively.

Discussions are also taking place with the CRE in order to identify further means of support that can be offered to trade unions to assist in taking up race discrimination cases. Discussions with the CRE have highlighted the need for user-friendly guidance and consistency of approach by affiliates in assessing the likelihood of race discrimination cases being successful at a tribunal.

Partnership

The Task Group and the Race Relations Committee have both highlighted the need for partnership with employers to tackle institutional racism in the workplace. One consequence of this approach is a joint project with the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) which is currently underway. The objectives of the project are to examine labour market barriers to black workers and to jointly identify practical measures that the government and agencies can take to remove barriers to employment. It is projected that this initiative will include a short statement on the shared values of the TUC and the CBI on race equality.

Developing black officers, staff and senior representatives

The TUC National Education Centre (NEC), as part of its contribution towards the work of the Task Group, has launched a series of developmental courses aimed at black officers, staff and senior representatives. These courses offer opportunities to develop management, presentation and leadership skills as well as help in assessing, planning and progressing careers within the trade union movement.

The Task Group have expressed their concern over the initial take up of these courses. The view of the Task Group, shared by the Race Relations Committee, was that affiliates should seek to identify alternative sources of funding to support the courses. The courses which initially failed to recruit are to be re-advertised and fresh approaches made to affiliates towards a more bespoke approach.

A mentoring programme has also been launched by the NEC to support black union officers, staff and senior representatives. This programme provides participants with a different form of developmental support. The longer-term benefit of such a programme should be to provide an additional route for unions to change the ethnic profile of their workforce. The programme will also provide an effective means to identify talent from within union memberships.

TUC Regional Education Service

The regional education service is often one of the first contacts that local union representatives have with the TUC. The Task Group identified this, at an early stage, as being a central and important part of the strategy to tackle institutional racism within unions and with employers. The Task Group has also tried to ensure that the message of anti racism reaches beyond those representatives who already recognise it.

One of the key resources, for many years, in supporting the regional education service has been the Tackling Racism workbook. This has been re-written and was launched at a high profile evening with jazz musician Courtney Pine in March 2001. The workbook is now available for training union representatives on basic or bespoke courses and is being widely marketed to schools, colleges and youth and community organisations.

The Task Group has also supported the work of the education service in seeking to encourage more black activists to become involved as trade union education tutors. These efforts, along with specifically targeted courses, have attracted a group of black union activists to trade union education.

The Task Group recognised that the task of tackling racism through trade union education is not the sole prerogative of black tutors. All tutors are required to play a full and active role in ensuring that anti-racism is discussed on every course. The TUC is also reviewing all materials and will be re-training tutors so that the confidence and skills to address racism on union courses can be developed.

Supporting trade unions

The primary focus of the second year of the work of the Task Group has been to consolidate the work already undertaken and to roll out the activity to affiliates.

A composite resolution to the 2000 Congress highlighted the need for trade unions to examine their own practices and procedures. Presentations, by Task Group members to union executive committees have sought to encourage unions to review practices and to develop action plans.

A further resolution to the 2000 Congress highlighted the need to provide support for unions in the film and broadcasting industry to tackle institutional racism. The TUC has met representatives in this sector in order to identify the additional support required including support in tackling institutional racism by employers at the same time as removing barriers from within our own structures.

The Task Group has also established a union personnel network to review practices in this field and to share good practice amongst affiliates. The aim of this initiative is to increase the numbers of black union officers and staff.

The TUC is also developing a consultancy service to support trade union action against institutional racism. Central to this new service will be a new facility for equality audits for trade unions. This will mean that trade unions will be able to call in expertise to audit their organisations and to set the basis for the development of action plans.

Whilst there is an eagerness amongst affiliates to make progress in tackling institutional racism the Task Group agreed that it would be helpful for a clearer set of tools to be available to help them to follow through the tasks and to measure success. The TUC is working with the CRE to develop self-assessment standards for trade unions to assist in this process.

Representatives of the Task Group have also made presentations to union executive committees to encourage use of the published resources and the development of union-specific action plans. The Task Group will also be publishing guidance notes for unions as appropriate. These will act as additional support for unions after the completion of the work of the Task Group.

The next stage

The formal work of the Task Group has now been completed. This does not mean that the campaign against institutional racism will cease.

The Race Relations Committee will play an increasingly central role in maintaining the momentum on initiatives to tackle institutional racism. This will include offering advice on those projects that have been established by the Task Group but which are targeted for completion after the the Group’s work is completed.

The Task Group has given its support to the proposal for a constitutional change for Congress. The aim of this proposal is to ensure that the process of tackling institutional racism continues long after the the Task Group and that it is mainstreamed into union activity alongside other areas of equality.

The proposal involves the insertion of new equality clauses in the TUC constitution, backed up with recommended model clauses for union rules and a comprehensive TUC equality auditing process of unions. The audit would inform a report, including an assessment of progress made, to Congress every two years. The proposal has been considered and endorsed by the Task Group and by the TUC Executive, and initial consultation has taken place with unions. The design of the audit process will take into account extensive further consultation with unions in the next Congress year. The necessary rule changes and further details of the proposal are contained within the following General Council statement for approval by Congress:

General Council Statement

The Stephen Lawrence Task Group and the General Council are concerned to ensure that recent progress within the trade union movement on tackling institutional racism and other forms of discrimination and actively promoting equalities issues is maintained and accelerated.

For this reason, it is important that part of the legacy of the Task Group should be lasting TUC constitutional change, giving a strong and specific statement within the TUC’s rules of commitment to promoting equality and eliminating discrimination.

With these aims in mind, it is necessary to amend the TUC rules to require the promotion of equality and elimination of discrimination by the TUC and unions. This involves both a clear commitment as a requirement of affiliation and an express TUC objects clause. There should also be amendments throughout to update the terminology of the TUC constitution to include both male and female pronouns when referring to individuals.

In order to ensure that these rule changes have the desired effect, the Task Group and the General Council have also decided that they should be backed up with a detailed model equalities ‘objects’ clause for unions. This is to be non-binding in nature but would act as a good practice standard, bearing in mind variations in union size, resources and activities.

Furthermore, the Task Group and the General Council have concluded that the rule changes should be accompanied by a TUC equality audit process with unions that would inform a report, including an assessment of progress made, to Congress every two years. There would be an expectation that affiliated unions participate in this process, which would be designed in further consultation with affiliates, and in order to help maximise the dissemination and adoption of best practice throughout the trade union movement.

Rule changes

The proposed rule changes are as follows:

A. In Rule 1: Insert new third paragraph (following paragraph beginning ‘Any such organisation…)

‘It shall be a requirement of affiliation that an organisation has a clear commitment to promote equality for all and to eliminate all forms of harassment, prejudice and unfair discrimination, both within its own structures and through all its activities, including its own employment practices.’

B. In Rule 2(a): Insert new second subparagraph (following subparagraph beginning ‘To do anything…).

‘To promote equality for all and to eliminate all forms of harassment, prejudice and unfair discrimination, both within its own structures and through all its activities, including its employment practices.’

C. The Rules shall be amended throughout so as to ensure that all references to individuals are references to ‘she or he’, ‘her or his’ and ‘her or him’ respectively. The following paragraphs of the Rules shall therefore be amended:

4(d), 5(b), 7(g), 10(a), 10(b), 10(c), 10(d), 11(c), 12(a), 12(e), 12(f), 14(b), 18(b), 19(b), 20(b), 24, 26(e), 26(f), 26(g)

Model clause

The proposed model clause to be recommended to unions is as follows:

‘The objects of the union shall include:

(a) The promotion of equality for all including through:

(i) collective bargaining, publicity material and campaigning, representation, union organisation and structures, education and training, organising and recruitment, the provision of all other services and benefits and all other activities;

(ii) the union’s own employment practices.

(b) To oppose actively all forms of harassment, prejudice and unfair discrimination whether on the grounds of sex, race, ethnic or national origin, religion, colour, class, caring responsibilities, marital status, sexuality, disability, age, or other status or personal characteristic.’

2.6 Lesbian and Gay Rights

The TUC Lesbian and Gay Committee, now in its third year, have continued a busy programme of initiatives and campaigns. The main focus has been the continued campaign to secure anti-discrimination legislation (see below). There has also been some progress in other legislative areas. The Home Office working party on sexual offences law made its report and, as expected, has recommended widespread and fundamental changes to the law to establish a new legislative framework based on equality. The TUC welcomed the report. The continued problem of homophobic bullying has been addressed through a meeting of unions in all sectors of education to organise a coordinated trade union campaign to tackle the issue, and with the integration of homophobia into the TUC’s general anti-bullying campaign through a series of seminars for employers and unions in the regions.

The committee have continued to address the need to mainstream lesbian and gay equality issues in the unions, devoting a session of the conference to this discussion (as reported above) and at the same time beginning the discussion on how to make the structures truly representative of the diversity of the lesbian and gay community. An informal seminar, chaired by Pat Hawkes, was held at Congress House on 24 May 2001 with members of seven unions present, to begin to explore the question.

A major initiative was taken to ensure a TUC presence at every lesbian and gay Pride event throughout 2001, closely linked with the legislation campaign (see below).

The campaign for legislation

The campaign for effective, comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation to protect lesbians and gay men has continued to be the central focus of TUC campaigning in this area.

As mentioned above, the EU framework directive will, for the first time, introduce lesbian and gay anti-discrimination legislation into British law. As a result of the directive, work on the voluntary code of practice being prepared by the EOC was shelved. The TUC, alongside Stonewall and other community organisations, has been pressing the Government to take advantage of the requirement to transpose this legislation by the end of 2003 to ensure that the resultant legislation provides the same scope of protection as is currently provided on the grounds of race and sex by the Race Relations Act and Sex Discrimination Act. At the same time, the TUC is examining the prospects of using the Human Rights Act to challenge existing discriminatory laws and practices, such as the denial of pension survivor benefits to unmarried and same-sex partners.

Following the successful postcard campaign that was run up to the end of 2000, when more than 30,000 postcards were distributed for sending to MPs, a petition campaign was launched at the end of May 2001 calling for comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation. The primary target for the petition was the sequence of lesbian and gay Pride events that take place in most major cities during the summer. The TUC was represented at every event that took place, often in partnership with individual unions, and thousands of signatures were collected. At the same time, the TUC stalls promoted the message that lesbian and gay workers needed the protection afforded by union membership. A team of volunteers from the TUC Organising Academy collected signatures and took the trade union message to the crowds at the London Mardi Gras events on 30 June, operating from a prominent TUC marquee in which many individual unions took stalls. The volunteers also helped out at other Pride events around the country. The petition forms have also been taken by many unions, by Stonewall and the NUS.

2.7 Disability

Disability Action Plan

In response to a resolution of Congress 2000, a survey was carried out of unions’ disability policies and practices. On the strength of the responses, a Disability Action Plan has been prepared to serve as a best practice guide for all unions. The plan, drafts of which were considered by meetings of the TUC Disability Forum, whose advice had been sought, offers advice and recommendations on a wide range of areas concerned with ensuring that unions are properly and fully representative of their disabled members, illustrated with examples of current good union practice. The plan will act as a resource for all unions and can be updated as needed.

Towards Inclusion

The Government finally published its response to the report of the Disability Rights Task Force, entitled Towards Inclusion. The TUC, which had welcomed and supported all the Task Force’s recommendations, was pleased that the Government had adopted the majority of the report. The TUC response indicated a few areas of concern, of which the most important was disappointment that the Government will not remove the exemption of small employers (with fewer than 15 employees) from the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) until 2004. The TUC will continue to press the Government to legislate on the proposals at the earliest opportunity, which, taken together, will reduce many of the problems with the DDA.

Education

The Government has dealt with another major exclusion from the DDA by the Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Act 2001, through which the education system has been brought into the coverage of the Act. The TUC warmly welcomed the measure, in which the Government had to resist pressures to weaken the commitment to inclusive education wherever possible, and the new law should remedy the situation whereby so many disabled people begin to be excluded from the very beginning of their lives.

European Disability Forum

In January, the TUC was involved with the UK Disability Forum for Europe’s conference on access to work for disabled people to mark the European Day of Disabled People. Pat Hawkes addressed the conference on behalf of the TUC and Dave Stephenson (UNIFI) led one of the workshops.

Disability Rights Commission

Following the establishment of the Disability Rights Commission in 2000, the TUC has continued to work in close collaboration with this body. Richard Exell, TUC Senior Policy Officer and Disability Rights Commissioner, has addressed a number of union meetings and a joint meeting between DRC legal workers and union legal officers has explored developing closer links. Regular reports on the DRC’s work have been made to the TUC Disability Forum and the views of members reported back to the DRC. The chair of the DRC, Bert Massie, has been invited to address Congress 2001.

The TUC participated in the launch of the DRC by becoming one of the main supporters of the Louder than Words campaign organised to accompany the public launch of the Commission, in which major organisations made a commitment to an action that would improve the position of disabled people. The TUC’s pledge was to use a video, Talk, as part of all the basic shop stewards’ training courses, and the short film has been very effective in raising awareness of disability issues. (See also Chapter 8).

Disability Forums

Three further Disability Forums have been held, chaired by Pat Hawkes. The meetings have been very well attended by disabled members, equality officers and General Council members. Among issues discussed have been reports from the DRC, comments on the TUC Disability Action Plan, arrangements for the first motions-based TUC Disability Conference, the SEND Act, genetics, the access to work scheme and the proposed ILO Code of Practice on management of disability-related issues in the workplace. Guest speakers have included Nick Goss and Caroline Clipson from the Disability Employment Consortium and barrister Andrew Short. With the establishment of the new Disability Conference, the Forum, which has had 27 meetings, will no longer meet.

Disability Conference

As reported above, the first motions-based TUC disability conference will take place on 11-12 December 2001 at Congress House. It will be addressed by the minister for disabled people, and there will be an informal session discussion on the controversial issue of genetics.