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Attention: industrial, legal, social affairs, political correspondents, gay media

Unions and Government in court over new rights for gay and lesbian workers

The TUC today (Friday) announced that it is to co-ordinate a union-backed legal challenge to new Government regulations which could allow pension schemes and religious organisations to continue to discriminate against lesbian and gay workers.

Seven of the TUC’s affiliated unions (including Amicus-MSF, UNISON and the National Union of Teachers) have lodged papers with the High Court because they believe the regulations - which come into force on 1 December and which seek to outlaw discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation in employment and work-based training - are not being implemented as required by the original EU Employment Equality Framework Directive.

The unions argue that aspects of the Government’s Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003, which are meant to give lesbian and gay people additional legal protection, will actually end up discriminating against them.

The union legal challenge is based around two key points of the proposed UK law - regulation 25 which relates to pensions and 7(3) which affects people working for religious organisations.

TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: 'The Government’s new sexual orientation regulations as a whole will make a real difference to gay people, giving them real legal protection at work for the first time. But it is unfortunate that the Government has decided to exempt those working for religious organisations and wants to bar lesbians and gay men from receiving benefits from certain pension schemes.

'This is a good law made less effective by two small but significant restrictions. If gay workers are to achieve true equality with their colleagues, the Government needs to scrap the offending clauses.'

The unions argue that because regulation 25 will allow UK pension schemes to continue to discriminate in favour of married people (it says that discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation is not unlawful if it is done to prevent or restrict access to a benefit by reference to marital status), it amounts to indirect discrimination as gay people are not able to marry their partners.

Because most public sector schemes still only give benefits to married partners, and around a quarter of private sector pensions schemes do not provide pensions to unmarried partners, the unions are concerned that large numbers of gay and lesbian workers will continue to miss out if this regulation remains in its current state. The unions will argue that apart from a misinterpretation of the EU Framework Directive, the Government’s proposed regulation may also be a breach of the Human Rights Act 1988.

The other aspect of the unions’ legal challenge relates to regulation 7(3) which allows for sexual orientation discrimination where someone works for an organised religion. Under the proposed law, employers will effectively be able to prevent gay, lesbian or bisexual people from working for any school, voluntary organisation, charity or private company with a religious ethos.

This exemption for religious organisations was absent from the draft regulations when the Government put them out for consultation at the beginning of the year. This change was made at the last minute, without any consultation.

Notes to Editors:

So far eight unions have signed up to the sexual orientation legal challenge - Amicus-MSF, Unison, NUT, the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers, the Public and Commercial Services Union, the National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers and NATFHE, the University and College Lecturers’ Union.

The unions have asked for their case to be heard quickly, which should mean that judges get to consider the initial arguments sometime next month.

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Contacts:

Media enquiries: Liz Chinchen on 020 7467 1248 or 07699 744115 (pager) or email media@tuc.org.uk

Press release (700 words) issued 26 Sep 2003