Chapter 6: equal rights
Chapter 6 - equal rights
Contents
The prospects for disadvantaged groups in the labour market have been transformed by the election of a Labour Government - but the General Council are aware that there is a long way to go before equal rights are a reality.
Working with Committees and trade union specialists during the year the TUC has continued to develop policy in equal rights areas and press Ministers to address trade union priorities. Equality issues have featured in all the General Council=s priority work - for example on trade union recognition, the minimum wage, the New Deal and the New Unionism campaign, all reported in other chapters.
At the same time the TUC has continued to help unions develop the service they provide for and on behalf of women, black, disabled and lesbian and gay members - through a series of publications, seminars and conferences - as well as the work of the National Education Centre, as reported in chapter 13.
Women=s interests have been at the forefront of the General Council=s concerns, across the TUC=s work and through the work of the Women=s Committee.
Members of the Women=s Committee have met various Government Ministers during the year to argue for action on TUC priority areas, including childcare, reform of the equality legislation, maternity rights and the implementation of the Parental Leave and Part Time Work Directives. Members of the Committee also met MPs as part of the TUC=s campaign on recognition rights, the meeting being based on a new TUC booklet A Woman=s Right to be Heard, which demonstrated the benefits to women of union membership.
The Committee has maintained its links with specialist voluntary organisations and with public bodies, in particular the Equal Opportunities Commission, where Anne Gibson serves as a TUC Commissioner, and the Women=s National Commission, on which the TUC has six representatives.
In the autumn the Government conducted a review of both the EOC and the WNC. TUC comments on the EOC pointed to the Commission=s considerable achievements and argued for the continuation of an independent equality agency with the EOC=s statutory authority and with strengthened law enforcement powers. The TUC=s comments were made in the context of speculation about the possible establishment of a Human Rights Commission that could encompass the powers of existing Commissions. Unions were invited to an informal briefing meeting on that issue in July 1997. The TUC argued against any dilution of the EOC=s functions, resources or statutory authority. The TUC also expressed support for the WNC=s work and its independent role, argued for the WNC to continue to be well-resourced from public funds, and endorsed calls for it to have a more widely representative membership. These points were approved by the Government.
In December the Part Time Work Directive was finally agreed and the TUC published a guide to its provisions. The TUC will making representations to the Government on the details of the Directive=s transposition into domestic legislation.
Childcare has featured heavily in the TUC=s work. The TUC 1998 Budget Submission called for childcare measures. The Government has said that it intends to use the New Deal to create 50,000 childcare work experience and training places, and last year=s Congress agreed a resolution on childcare which underlined the importance of safeguarding the interests of participants. The Government has not yet announced any further details of this policy; when it consults on this issue the General Council will bring unions= concerns to their attention. The resolution also expressed concern about the complexity and funding of the New Deal=s childcare arrangements, which are essential if there is to be equal access. The TUC guide to Negotiating the New Deal includes a section on childcare issues, and, in a briefing for Members of Parliament, the TUC has emphasised that childcare should be built in to all welfare-to-work initiatives.
The TUC gave responses to various Government consultations on aspects of early years services, and was represented on an Equal Opportunities Commission working group which drew up points for the Government to consider when drawing up their national childcare strategy. The TUC was also among a small number of organisations on the EOC group who met the Minister responsible for childcare in the DfEE, Alan Howarth. The national childcare strategy was published as a consultation document in May. The strategy echoed TUC policy in several respects. The TUC response to the consultation welcomed the national strategy, which correctly identified the problems, set out the key principles which the TUC has been arguing for many years, and put in place some of the solutions. The TUC sees the strategy as a framework and a beginning - and argued for more attention to be given to the expansion of childcare places for children aged 0-3; to long-term sustainability of new provision; and to employer support for childcare. These points were also made in a joint submission to the Government from the EOC childcare group.
As reported in chapter 4, the TUC opposed the Government=s abolition of lone parent benefits but welcomed support for families announced in the 1998 Budget.
Chapter 4 also reports on TUC support for the New Deal for Lone Parents, designed to help lone parents who want to undertake paid employment.
The TUC published a guide for unions on lone parents in time for the 1998 Congress. The guide outlines the issues that affect lone parents at work - both those already in work who become lone parents, and those who are going back to work or entering the workforce for the first time. It gives advice designed to help unions give a service to lone parents - such as addressing their particular needs with employers and pointing them to sources of specialist advice.
In December, for the third year, the TUC jointly hosted with the Equal Opportunities Review a Discrimination Law Conference. The conference was again over-subscribed with 450 participants registered and more turned away - participants were from trade unions, citizens= advice bureaux and law centres, voluntary organisations, and statutory organisations such as ACAS, the EOC and CRE. The popularity of the conference reflected the high quality of speakers - some of the best discrimination law lawyers available who were able to guide participants through recent case law and the implications for bargaining and representation of members in workplace disputes. New areas of law which extended workers= rights were identified and Lord Lester QC called on the Government to adopt a radical restructuring of equality legislation in the UK.
A resolution of the 1997 Congress called for a review of discrimination legislation. In May the TUC responded to an EOC consultation on proposed amendments to the equality legislation. In a detailed submission, the TUC argued for several amendments to the Sex Discrimination and Equal Pay Acts and for improved maternity rights. In particular the TUC set out a proposed pro-active equal pay strategy based on new obligations for employers designed to establish equal pay without the necessity of expensive litigation. Where litigation was unavoidable, the TUC argued, representative actions should be possible. The TUC favoured improved maternity and parental rights remaining with other employment rights legislation, rather than, as the EOC proposed, being absorbed into a new Equal Treatment Act. The EOC=s final proposals are expected in the autumn, and the TUC has on several occasions reminded Ministers of the importance of early action on reforming the legislation.
This year the TUC completed its latest project on equal pay with a series of regional seminars and the production and distribution of a campaign leaflet, Claim Equal Pay. The seminars were designed to promote the recent Equal Opportunities Commission and European Commission Codes of Practice on equal pay and to help enable unions to work together on making the best possible use of them.
The TUC has continued to promote >family-friendly= employment practices. The TUC response to the Fairness at Work White Paper included comments on maternity rights reforms and implementation of the Parental Leave Directive stressing in particular that parental leave would need to be paid.
Work has continued on the production of an updated version of the TUC Maternity Rights and Benefits Guide, which will include parental rights as well as maternity issues.
In February 1998, the TUC and the Maternity Alliance held a ground-breaking conference on reproductive health and safety. The conference was held at Congress House and was attended by around 70 delegates from affiliated unions and voluntary and public sector organisations. It was a practical day examining the principles and practice of health and safety at work, before, during and after pregnancy, as well as looking at reproductive health and safety issues for men.
As reported in chapter 4, the TUC response to the welfare reform green paper in July included detail on the role of the welfare state in supporting families and children. The response concentrated on a number of themes including: recognition of the value to society of the unpaid caring work mostly carried out by women; a more inclusive definition of >the family=; considering individualisation as a goal for welfare reform and the need for gender-proofing of all welfare initiatives.
The 68th TUC Women=s Conference was held in Scarborough from 11-13 March. The conference was chaired by Anne Gibson and attended by 293 delegates from 44 affiliated organisations, 19 representatives from trades union councils and Regional Councils and over 100 visitors and exhibitors.
Speakers at the conference included the general secretary, TUC President John Edmonds, and Harriet Harman, Secretary of State for Social Security and Minister for Women.
For the first time, the Women=s Conference held workshops. These were designed to increase delegate participation, and were focused on the results of a pre-conference survey of non-unionised women workers which had been carried out by delegates. All workshops reported back to the main conference on the issues identified as being of concern to working women, and the workshops= suggestions for action to achieve change on those issues.
In the formal conference sessions, 31 resolutions were carried, which included five composite and two emergency resolutions. These resolutions dealt with a wide range of subjects including: promoting >family-friendly= policies; childcare issues; bullying at work; securing equality for black and Asian women; reaffirming TUC and union support for the WomenÕs National Commission; and the need for reforms to establish a womanÕs right to decide on abortion.
The Time of Our Lives: Gender and Flexible Working Hours
As reported last year, the TUC, along with trade union confederations FNV in the Netherlands and SAK in Finland, the ETUC, an Italian research foundation and a womenÕs community organisation in Barcelona, won EC funding for a project on working time and flexibility. The project looked at examples of how EU policy objectives on flexibility and security for workers could be achieved, to the benefit of both employers and employees.
During the autumn the TUC commissioned the Labour Research Department to conduct a survey of workplace representatives and trade unions to find examples of negotiated flexible working arrangements which benefited employees and employers. In December 1997, at a seminar in Barcelona, case studies from the five European partners were exchanged. The case studies and European examples were incorporated into a series of five publications produced by the TUC during the spring, including the booklet The Time of Our Lives. This explored the way working people use their time and the relationship between the organisation of work and personal life, which for many people has increasing responsibilities. Other publications were Flexible Friends? - case studies of positive flexibility; City-Time Policies - the Italian experience of reorganising time in the cities; a bibliography and Polls Apart Ð the results of a TUC- MORI Opinion Poll on attitudes to working time in the UK and Netherlands. The opinion poll found that about half the British workforce said they would be happier (53 per cent) and perform better at work (48 per cent) if they had more say in how their working hours were organised.
A conference on these issues was held in April 1998, co-chaired by Bernadette Hillon and by TV presenter Sheena McDonald. Speakers included Government Minister Alan Howarth (DfEE Parliamentary Under-Secretary), Minister for Women Joan Ruddock, Adair Turner, Director-General of the CBI, Dr Jane Pillinger of Northern College and the General Secretary.
Drawing on both the publications and conference material, the South West Region of the TUC developed and piloted a new TUC education course on negotiating flexibility with security. The course will be available as part of the TUC mainstream education provision in the coming year.
A second stage of the project is planned to start later in 1998. Models of positive flexibility will be piloted in the UK and Netherlands, with a partnership with Modena City Council in Italy which has developed some innovative approaches. The TUC, with Bristol City Council, local council trade unions and the Local Government Management Board, will develop models to establish whether flexible working patterns can enhance both employee choice and council services.
The TUC has again conducted an extensive programme of work on race equality issues during the year.
One area where attention has been focused is developments at European level. A priority has been to press for action on the Amsterdam Treaty Article which gives the EU competence to >take appropriate action to combat discrimination based on racial or ethnic origin=. In various meetings and conferences the TUC has pressed European Commission officials to begin work on taking forward a new instrument on race equality in advance of the Treaty ratification. The European Social Affairs Commissioner, Padraig Flynn, said at the closing conference of the European Year Against Racism, where the TUC was represented, that the Commission would launch an action plan based on the new anti-discrimination Article. This was published in March and welcomed by the TUC. Further, at the TUCÕs prompting, the ETUC has applied for European Commission funding for a European conference on the new Treaty article, to be hosted by the TUC during 1998.
In November, the TUC asked the UK Government to hold a conference on European race issues during the UK Presidency of the EU. The TUC was represented at the Conference, held in June. Also on these issues, the TUC and the 1990 Trust jointly hosted a conference, held in Congress House in March 1998, for unions and the non-governmental organisations involved in the Starting Line Group to discuss a proposed draft EU Directive on race equality. In another important development an EU Racism Monitoring Centre was set up at the end of 1997. Bob Purkiss was nominated to the Board of the Centre by the UK Government and was elected as deputy chair.
In February, the CRE consulted the TUC on priority proposals for improvements to the Race Relations Act. The CRE were not engaged in a wholesale consultation exercise, because this would delay producing proposals to the Government that might be incorporated in legislation at an early point in the GovernmentÕs legislative timetable. The TUC broadly supported the CRE=s proposals, based on existing TUC policy, but
pointed out that a more thorough-going exercise would be needed to produce up-dated race equality legislation. These issues were discussed in meetings with Ministers. Also on equality legislation, in responding to the EOC=s consultation on amendments to the Sex Discrimination and Equal Pay Acts the TUC argued for amendments specifically to protect black women.
The TUC continued its close involvement with the CRE, with Bob Purkiss continuing as TUC commissioner. The General Secretary made a personal approach to the Home Secretary in March to argue against the Government=s proposed cuts in the CRE=s Government grant. The Parliamentary Under-Secretary at the Home Office, Mike O=Brien, used his speech at the 1998 Black Workers= Conference to announce that the cuts had been rescinded. While welcoming this decision the TUC was aware that this nevertheless still involved a reduction in real terms for the budget, and that it would be necessary to remain vigilant in defence of the Commission and its work.
The General Secretary has supported the CRE Leadership Challenge by making a personal public commitment to promote racial equality through the TUC=s activities. In 1997 he sent details of the Leadership Challenge to all union general secretaries, urging them to make a similar commitment, and many have already done so.
Three important seminars were held during the winter, following on from resolutions of the 1997 Black Workers= Conference. They covered: Black Women in the Labour Market, which included the presentation of TUC-commissioned research into black women=s position in the labour market; Black School Exclusions; and Bargaining for Equality, which included, again, presentation of TUC-commissioned research, this time on the involvement of black workers in trade unions. To coincide with the final seminar, the TUC published a negotiators= guide Bargaining for Race Equality.
Black Workers' Conference 1998
The 1998 TUC Black Workers= Conference was held in Cardiff on 24-26 April. Chaired by Pauline Abrams of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS), it was attended by 213 delegates from 38 unions, together with 13 trades union councils and Regional Council representatives and over 100 visitors and exhibitors. The theme for the conference was >Recruiting for Race Equality= and the report Black Trade Unionists Today was released. This identified the position of black trade unionists in the labour market. The Conference achieved much local and regional publicity and many Afro Caribbean and Asian radio stations carried news items about the Conference.
Speakers were the Deputy General Secretary, Mike O=Brien - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Home Office, the three black trainees from the Organising Academy, representatives from the Stephen Lawrence Family Campaign, shop stewards from the Noon Foods Dispute and a speaker from the Aboriginal Land Rights Campaign. Resolutions were carried on a wide range of issues including strengthening equality legislation; the National Minimum Wage; the New Deal; deaths in custody; the Crime and Disorder Bill; ethnic monitoring of the workplace; under representation of black full time officials; and the representation of black people in the media.
The Unite Against Racism campaign was taken into the regions during 1998. Several TUC Regional Councils undertook local activity involving trade unions, businesses and the black community. The Yorkshire and Humberside Regional Council sponsored the Chapletown Festival in Leeds. The Southern and Eastern Regional Council organised a joint >Respect=/ May Day festival which was held in Finsbury Park, London. Over 20,000 people enjoyed music and entertainment on three stages (one was dedicated to Respect), a cabaret marquee, a childrenÕs zone, exhibitions and stall. The crowd was addressed by Deputy General Secretary, Kumar Murshid from the National Assembly Against Racism and Oona King MP. The South West Regional Council held a Respect festival which attracted 15,000 people: musicians included RSVP and reggae artist Bim Sherman. The Wales TUC, in partnership with the City and County of Swansea, sponsored a Wales Respect event in August.
Also as part of the Unite Against Racism campaign, in December, a series of TUC anti- racist workplace posters entitled Have Pride Not Prejudice were produced, showing the positive contribution that British black workers have made to business and the public sector. These have been widely distributed among trade unions and other organisations.
A resolution of the 1997 Congress called for support for a Disability Rights Commission to replace the National Disability Council. The resolution said the Commission should report on the introduction of full, enforceable civil rights legislation within a year. In the autumn the Government set up a Disability Rights Task Force charged with making recommendations on a new Commission and on comprehensive civil rights legislation. The TUC has been closely involved with the Task Force=s work, through the TUC representative Joe Mann, General Secretary of the National League of the Blind and Disabled. The Wales TUC General Secretary, David Jenkins, also serves on the Task Force. The Task Force made detailed recommendations on a Disability Rights Commission in May and the TUC has urged the Government to legislate at the earliest possible opportunity to establish the commission. In the second stage of its work the Task Force is examining disability rights legislation and it is expected to report on this in the summer of 1998.
The TUC has been aware of the question mark over the future of disability benefits. A General Council delegation met the Prime Minister in December and argued against cuts in benefits to disabled people, and the issues were discussed in the TUC=s response to the Green Paper on welfare reform, as reported in chapter 4.
Following suggestions that it would be useful to hold a conference dedicated to considering disability issues, the TUC was pleased to be able to organise such a conference jointly with the National League of the Blind and Disabled on 17 July.
The purpose of the conference was twofold: to allow trades unionists to consider the Government=s approach to achieving civil rights for disabled people, and to exchange experiences of different unions of negotiating for disabled members. Chaired by Rita Donaghy, the conference was addressed by, the General Secretary of the National League, Joe Mann; by Alan Howarth, the DfEE Parliamentary Under-Secretary responsible for equal opportunities and chair of the Disability Rights Task Force (see above) and by the General Secretary. There were 140 delegates present, representing 21 affiliated unions.
The final session of the conference considered the future organisation of disabled people within the TUC structures.
TUC Forums on Disability have continued to provide the opportunity for unions to guide and support the TUC=s work on disability. Forums are attended by General Council members, union equality officers and disabled members, and Disability Appeal Tribunal members nominated by affiliates. There have been two forums during the year, chaired by Rita Donaghy, each attracting around 60 participants. The Forums have discussed the Government=s work towards achieving civil rights for disabled people. This has included the New Deal for Disabled People, and the Disability Rights Task Force, along with discussion to help in the preparation of the trade union input into discussions at the Task Force.
Following consultation with the Forums and with unions, a new TUC booklet, Words can never hurt me?, was published. It examines the way in which language can reinforce stereotypes and prejudices against disabled people and suggests ways in which non-disabled trades unionists can avoid this.
The election of a new government offered the prospect of significant improvement in the legal position of lesbian and gay people and the TUC has played a part in pressing for the extension of lesbian and gay rights at work and beyond. In June the General Secretary wrote in support of the amendment to the Crime and Disorder Bill which equalised the age of consent for gay men.
A central issue has been the extension of anti-discrimination legislation to protect lesbians and gay men from discrimination at work, an issue highlighted by the failure of the case of Grant v. South West Trains at the European Court. The TUC has responded to the Equal Opportunities Commission=s consultation on reforming the sex equality legislation in support of the suggestion that a new Equal Treatment Act should cover discrimination on grounds of sexuality. The TUC=s response to the Fairness at Work White Paper included recommending the extension of parental and adoptive rights to same-sex parents.
The denial of access to the benefits of pension schemes to unmarried partners including lesbian and gay partners has been the cause of much concern to trades unionists and the TUC=s campaign against this has been sustained with the launch of a postcard campaign. This issue is fully reported in chapter 8.
Lesbian and Gay Rights Conference
Following the decision of Congress in 1997, the 1998 TUC Lesbian and Gay Conference was motions-based and took place at Congress House on 2/3 July, immediately preceding the lesbian and gay Pride March on 4 July. Chaired by Donna Covey, the conference was attended by 145 delegates, 40 visitors and six observers from 30 unions. Motions submitted by unions dealt with the main areas of concern to lesbian and gay trades unionists, including equal rights at work, campaigning for equality legislation, pensions and benefits, repealing Section 28 and dealing with homophobia in education. The conference was also addressed by Alun Michael, the Home Office Minister responsible for the criminal law; Lisa Grant; Angela Mason; Baroness Muriel Turner; Paul Craig and the General Secretary. Workshops were run by Stonewall, Thompsons solicitors and trainees from the TUC Organising Academy, on topics agreed in a consultation with unions.
Members of a Lesbian and Gay Committee were elected at the Conference and will begin to direct the TUC=s work on these issues from now on.
In preparation for the Lesbian and Gay Conference, the TUC=s compilation of unions= policies and activities on lesbian and gay rights, Unions Working for Lesbian and Gay Members, was updated, expanded and re-published.
In the autumn the Government announced that, contrary to the impression given when Labour was in opposition, they did not intend to legislate on age discrimination. Instead they intended to consult widely on a voluntary code of practice on eliminating age discrimination in employment. The TUC expressed disappointment at the decision, reminding the Government of the arguments in favour of legislation. However, the TUC has been closely involved in the consultation on the proposed code, including through membership of a small working group charged with drafting the code. A first draft is expected to be available for wider consultation in the autumn of 1998.
In February the TUC supported a Private Member=s Bill by Linda Perham MP which sought to outlaw age discrimination in job advertisements. The Bill, which was not supported by the Government, was unsuccessful.
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