date: 6 January 2015
embargo: 00.01hrs Thursday 7 January 2015
With nearly half of disabled people not in work, the TUC has today (Thursday) published its manifesto to promote equality for disabled people and challenge discrimination against them.
The Labour Force Survey reveals that just 48% of disabled people are currently in employment compared to 79% of non-disabled people. This employment gap has persistently been more than 30% since 2008. And for some disabled people it is particularly hard to get a job – just one in five (20%) of those with learning difficulties, less than one in four (22%) with mental illness or phobias, and only one in three (33%) of those who suffer from depression or anxiety are in work.
The TUC’s manifesto finds that progress in reducing the employment gap between disabled and non-disabled people has ground to a halt. It also highlights reluctance from some employers to make ‘reasonable adjustments’, as well as the government’s failure to extend effective schemes such as “Access to Work”, as being part of the problem.
For some disabled people the barriers to getting work begin as soon as they leave the house, as public transport is ill-equipped to help physically disabled people get into work, says the TUC. In London just 25% (67 out of 270) of underground stations are step-free.
The manifesto calls for a variety of actions to promote disability equality both in the workplace and in wider society, including:
· Proper interpretation of the reasonable adjustment duty
· More employment rights and decent pay and conditions for carers
· A British Sign Language Act
· Improving legal recognition of disability hate crime
TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said: “Far from being a friend of disabled workers, this government has shown its true colours by a series of measures that have hit them in the home, in the workplace and in education.
“Unions are working hard to win decent pay, opportunities to training and promotion at work for disabled people.
“Disabled people deserve a fair deal at work and the chance to participate and progress in all areas of life. We need to change the approach to disability and remove the barriers that prevent disabled people participating, rather than focus on what an individual cannot do.”
Ellen Clifford from Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC) said: “DPAC welcomes the launch of the TUC disability equality manifesto. With the UK having now become the first state in the world to be investigated for grave and systematic violations of disabled people’s rights, it is definitely time to get disability equality firmly back on the political agenda.”
Director of the Alliance for Inclusive Education Tara Flood said: “An inclusive education is a prerequisite of a fair and equal society so it is good to see it at the heart of the TUC’s manifesto for disability equality.”
NOTES TO EDITORS:
- The TUC’s disability manifesto is available at www.tuc.org.uk/sites/default/files/Manifestofordisabilityequality.pdf
- All TUC press releases can be found at www.tuc.org.uk
- Follow the TUC on Twitter: @The_TUC and follow the TUC press team @tucnews
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