AGENDA DISABILITY CONFERENCE WEDNESDAY 12 TH OCTOBER Mercure Leicester The Grand Hotel Granby Street Leicester LE1 6ES

Transcription

1 AGENDA DISABILITY CONFERENCE WEDNESDAY 12 TH OCTOBER 2016 Mercure Leicester The Grand Hotel Granby Street Leicester LE1 6ES

2 Message from the General Secretary Dear Colleagues, I would like to extend a special welcome to all delegates attending the 2016 Disability Conference, which this year is being held in Leicester. It is safe to say that at some stage in our lives, we will all have recourse to the Equality Act 2010, by virtue of the fact that as we grow older our health has a tendency to deteriorate. Whether it is physical or mental health, we are all prone to being vulnerable on the health front. For some it is a passing phase and people are fortunate enough to recover and go back to how their lives were prior to being ill. For many however, conditions can be degenerative and adjusting to this is normally a significant barrier to overcome. The Equality Act 2010 plays a huge part in protecting those members with disabilities. Our Union Representatives do a great job making sure that when a member is covered under the act everything is done to try to get the right reasonable adjustments in place. It is vital that whoever you work for, if you feel that you are being targeted as a result of your disability you must let the Union know. The CWU will come down very hard on employers where there is evidence of systematic targeting of disabled workers - we will not tolerate this. Moving on to the valuable work of the DAC I would like to place on record my thanks to the whole committee for the excellent work it has done in the last 12 months in promoting awareness of issues which affect disabled people. In particular there has been excellent work campaigning around the Government's Work Capability Assessment (WCA), which to be frank is an affront to humanity and has led to disabled people taking their own lives. The CWU motion at the TUC Disability Conference was adopted by its delegates to be heard at main congress and we look forward to the wider collaborative plans which will no doubt grow from this. Finally, it would be remiss of me not to mention the fact that the CWU has a period of change on the horizon. I am committed to ensuring that our union remains effective and viable as a stand-alone trade union. In doing so, we will continue to lead on equality pushing the agenda forward and maintaining our reputation in the movement as a leader in this field. I look forward to meeting you all - have a great Conference. DAVE WARD General Secretary [1]

3 Message from National Equality Officer to the Disability Advisory Conference Dear Colleagues, I would like to extend a particular warm welcome to all delegates, observers and visitors to the 12 th motion-based Disability Conference. The last year has again seen the Disability Advisory Committee (DAC) working tirelessly covering areas pertinent to their remit. The main focus this year has been to work with Disabled People Against the Cuts (DPAC) and other unions to highlight some of the challenges people with a disability face. These include: Rising Hate Crime Cuts to Access to Work Increasing benefit sanctions Massive cuts to living standards Rising levels of malnutrition NHS privatization Cuts to local authority support Closure of the Independent Living Fund Removal of Motability cars. All these cuts are driving disabled people to become: prisoners in their own homes, prisoners in institutions and to their deaths. And so we still have a lot of work to do. In closing I would like to express my thanks to the guest speakers who have kindly agreed to come to our conference to talk about disability issues. Have a great conference. I would encourage those attending for the first time to use this opportunity to join in the debates, or if you have any issues please contact the Equal Opportunities Department at Headquarters and my staff will be only too happy to help you. Thanks to headquarters staff who have assisted in making this conference successful. LINDA ROY National Equality Officer [2]

4 CONTENTS Message from the General Secretary 1 Welcome from the Equality Officer 2 Welcome from the General Conference Standing Orders Committee 3 Standing Orders 4 Timetable 9 Report to the Disability Conference 10 Section I: Industrial Issues Motions Section II: National Issues Motions Motions not Admitted to the Agenda 20 * * * * * * * * Welcome from the General Conference Standing Orders Committee Dear Colleagues, Welcome to the CWU Disability Conference of 2016 on behalf of the General Conference Standing Orders Committee. This year we have again used the same criteria for motions that will be used for General Conference next year and, as such, the Standing Orders are as close as possible to those that will be in place for that Conference. In doing so we hope to decrease the perception, ill-advised as it is, that these Conferences are less important than General Conference. We have, in both the guidance notes and the Standing Orders recognised the new right of the Regional Equality Committees to submit motions to this Conference. The Standing Orders Committee will be present during Conference should any Delegate have any question over procedure, and to conduct the Ballot(s) for motions to go forward to General or the Industrial Conferences. May you all enjoy a successful Conference. Yours sincerely, Page Phil Thomas and Dave Mitchell General Conference Standing Orders Committee [3]

5 DISABILITY CONFERENCE 2016 STANDING ORDERS 1. The sessions of the Disability Conference shall commence in accordance with the timetable. 2. TIMETABLE a (i) Chairperson s Opening Remarks (ii) Equality Officer s Address (iii) General Secretary s Address (iv) Adoption of Standing Orders Committee Report (including appeals/ reference back) (v) Sections of Conference Business b The doors of Conference will open at with conference commencing at and closing at Conference is divided into two half-day sessions. If the business of any section is completed within the timetable, the Conference shall proceed immediately to the next section of business. If all the business of the final section is completed within the timetable, the Conference shall return to the earliest uncompleted business. 3. PROCEDURE IN DEBATE a Every member of the Conference must remain in their seat, except the one who may be addressing the Conference and, should the Chairperson rise, no-one else shall continue standing nor shall anyone else rise until the Chairperson has resumed the Chair. SPEAKERS b A delegate when speaking from the rostrum shall address the Chairperson. If two or more persons desire to speak at the same time the Chairperson shall decide to whom priority will be given. No person shall be allowed to speak twice on the same question. c d e All speeches shall be confined to the subject under discussion. Delegates may only refer to documents which have a bearing on the subject under discussion. (i) Motions must be moved by a delegate from the submitting body. (ii) Motions must be seconded or else they shall be deemed to have fallen. f A motion may be seconded formally or by a speaker making a seconding speech. COMPOSITE MOTIONS g Members of the Advisory Committee cannot move or second or speak on behalf of their branch. All sponsors of a composite motion will be responsible for agreeing the allocation of moving and seconding speakers from amongst those named within the composite motion, notwithstanding the terms of SO3e(i) and (ii). h The mover of a motion shall be allowed to speak for not more than 5 [4]

6 minutes and any other speaker (including the mover exercising the right of reply) for not more than 3 minutes. In EXCEPTIONAL CIRCUMSTANCES a speaker may request the special permission of Conference to speak for a longer period, if agreed, it shall not exceed a further 3 minutes. i j k l The moving speaker shall have the right of reply to the debate only if there has been opposition and shall not introduce any fresh matter but shall be limited to answering the debate. The Advisory Committee (including the relevant Officer) shall in addition to moving and exercising the right of reply be allowed a maximum of one speaker in a debate on motions standing in the name of the Advisory Committee (SO3e1 applies to the Advisory Committee). The Advisory Committee (including the relevant Officer) shall only be allowed one speaker in debate on all other motions not standing in the name of the Advisory Committee. No motion shall be spoken upon except by the mover, until it has been seconded. The mover of a motion who sits down without speaking upon it shall lose the right of addressing Conference, but shall still have the right of reply (SO3e1) applies. The seconder of a motion who sits down without speaking upon it shall not lose the right of addressing Conference. ENDING DEBATE m Any delegate who has not spoken on the motion before Conference may move That the motion be now put on the seconding of which the Chairperson shall immediately and without discussion put this motion to the vote. In the event of it being carried by a simple majority of Conference, Conference shall proceed to vote on the question itself, subject to SO3k and the right of reply as stated in SO3e1 being exercised. n WITHDRAWAL o Any delegate who has not spoken on the motion before Conference may move That Conference proceeds to next business, on the seconding of which the Chairperson shall immediately and without discussion put this motion to the vote. In the event of it being carried Conference shall at once proceed to the next item on its agenda. Any motion or composite motion may be withdrawn from the Agenda at any time by the sponsor(s) who shall notify the Standing Orders Committee at the earliest opportunity. Once it has been moved and seconded, however, it shall not be withdrawn except with the agreement of Conference by a simple majority vote. POINT OF ORDER p q Any person wishing to question the proceedings of Conference may rise on a point of order, and when called shall state the procedural point in exact terms, whereupon the Chairperson shall immediately give a ruling or refer the matter to the Standing Orders Committee for a decision. Any person raising points of order must seek to prove one or more of the following:- (i) That the speaker is using unparliamentary language. (ii) That the speaker is digressing from the subject of the motion. (iii) That the rules of the Union are being broken. (iv) That there is an infringement of the customary rules of debate. (v) That there is an infringement of the Standing Orders (which shall be referred to the Standing Orders Committee). The Chairperson s ruling on a point of order shall be final unless it is challenged. The correct method of challenging the ruling shall be to [5]

7 move: I wish to challenge your ruling. Such a motion shall be carried by a simple majority. r The Standing Orders Committee shall have the right to enter debate on all matters affecting the decisions and role of the Committee. 4. VOTING PROCEDURE a Voting at Conference shall normally be by a show of hand voting cards which shall be issued on the basis of one per Branch in attendance. b A formal count may be called for either by the Chairperson of the Conference or when 5 or more delegates call for such a vote immediately on the announcement of the decision of the hand vote. DURING A FORMAL COUNT ALL PERSONS MUST REMAIN IN THEIR SEATS AND NO PERSON SHALL ENTER OR LEAVE THE FLOOR OF CONFERENCE. Procedure for a formal count shall be as follows. The voting delegate of each Branch shall be required to clearly indicate using their voting card for or against, on the question requiring the decision. c A motion will be deemed carried if it obtains a simple majority of the votes cast. 5. PROCEDURE FOR EMERGENCY MOTIONS a Emergency motions may only be submitted for inclusion in the Agenda if they refer to a matter which because of the circumstances giving rise to them could not possibly have been submitted by the published closing date for motions. Such emergency motions will only be accepted by the SOC if they constitute a significant and important matter, which requires a decision by Conference. b c d Emergency motions must reach the Standing Orders Committee at CWU Headquarters by midnight on Thursday 6 th October conferences@cwu.org Delegates will be advised by the SOC whether or not the emergency motion has been accepted for inclusion to the Agenda prior to the commencement of Conference. Any emergency motion submitted after the above date must be notified to the Standing Orders Committee as soon as possible. Delegates will be advised by the SOC whether or not the emergency motion has been accepted for inclusion to the agenda as a matter of urgency. A decision taken by Conference shall not be open to the emergency procedure at the same Conference. 6. APPEALS/REFERENCE BACK PROCEDURE a Written notice of appeals/intention to move reference back against decisions of the Standing Orders Committee as published in the Agenda regarding:- (i) Motions not admitted to the agenda (ii) inclusion/exclusion of motions in a composite (iii) the priority/placement given to a motion (iv) timetable/programme of business (v) the Standing Orders for Conference (vi) the consequential rulings on motions must reach the Standing Orders Committee at CWU Headquarters by [6]

8 midnight on Thursday 6 th October 2016 to conferences@cwu.org Such written notice must advise of the intention to appeal/move reference back to alter the published agenda with details and reasons for doing so. After consideration of appeals/reference backs by the SOC, Branches, Advisory Committees, and Regional Committees (if appropriate) wishing to continue their appeal/reference back must seek to do so by addressing Conference at the commencement of conference. b c d Challenges to other SOC decisions as printed or announced in supplementary SOC reports must be made at the time the supplementary report is moved. All appeals/reference backs will be deemed carried if they have the support of a simple majority of Conference. The Advisory Committees will also be required to follow these procedures. 7. SUSPENSION OF STANDING ORDERS a Motions to suspend Standing Orders shall only be allowed to deal with business or circumstances that could not have been foreseen when the Timetable/Programme of Business was adopted. b The Chairperson may accept a motion for the suspension of Standing Orders provided no motion is on the floor being debated. Any such motion must state the Standing Order/Orders involved and also state the nature and urgency of the business as to why the suspension is required. The Chairperson shall immediately refer such a motion to the Standing Orders Committee who shall express their view before the vote is taken. A motion for the suspension of Standing Orders will be carried if supported by a simple majority of the Conference. 8. BALLOTS a There will be a ballot to select two motions this Conference will forward for submission to the 2017 General Conference, and one motion to each of the Postal Group and Telecoms Industry Conferences The ballot paper for General Conference selection will be printed on the reverse of the hand voting card. Branches will be given an additional ballot paper(s) to allow them to vote under the appropriate constituency within their branch to select the motion to go forward to each of the Postal Group and Telecoms Industry Conferences. Motions in Section I of the agenda that are carried are eligible for the ballot to Postal Group and Telecoms Industry Conference. Motions in Section II which are carried are eligible for the ballot for General Conference. The ballot will take place at the end of Section 2 motions. The ballot box will be open subject to the timetable of Conference. The SOC shall be responsible for counting the ballot and advising the Chairperson of the result, which will be announced prior to the close of Conference. In the event of a tie, the SOC will administer an exhaustive ballot. [7]

9 b Should there be a request at General Conference or Industrial Conferences to remit a motion in name of The Disabled Workers Conference the mover of the motion at General Conference or Industrial Conferences will be deemed to have the authority to agree to the remittance on behalf The Disabled Workers Conference, subject to the agreement of the relevant Conference. 9. PROHIBITIONS The use of mobile telephones are prohibited anywhere within the confines of the Conference Hall. No documents, posters or banners shall be circulated, distributed or displayed within the Conference Hall without the permission of the Standing Orders Committee. [8]

10 TIMETABLE AND PROGRAMME OF BUSINESS Registration Chairperson s Opening Remarks Linda Roy, Equality Officer Dave Ward, CWU General Secretary s Address Kate Hudson, Regional Secretary s Welcome Standing Orders Committee Report and Adoption of Standing Orders Section I Motions Section II Motions Guest Speaker, Charlie Balch Lunch Guest Speakers, Paul Maloney and Steve Reid Section II Motions 4-14 continued followed by ballot Lee Barron, Dying at Work Presentation Trish Lavelle, Mentoring Presentation Summation by Chairperson Conference closes DELEGATES ARE REMINDED THAT THE BALLOT BOX WILL BE LOCATED ON THE SOC TABLE. [9]

11 Report to the Disability Conference DISABILITY ADVISORY COMMITTEE 1.1. At the time of preparing this report the Disability Advisory Committee (DAC) consisted of the following committee members: Mark Bastiani, Jill Coulson, Jackie Gaward, Des Gibbons, Richard Hirtsch, Tony Pedel, Linda Roy (National Equality Officer), Tony Sneddon (Chair), Ian Ward (NEC), Jonathan Bellshaw (Vice-Chair), Elspeth Bettany, Natalie Fleming, Peter Sharrocks, Jacqui Stewart, Jeffrey Till, Chic McGlynn (NEC), Fevzi Hussain (Co-ordinator) I would like to express my sincere thanks to the following individuals who have served tirelessly on the DAC for a number of years and have now gone on to greener pastures. i. Ted Stead ii. Brian Booth iii. Gary Jacobs iv. Jason Reynolds v. Kate Stewart vi. Dave Robertson (Officer) 1.3. New Rule (6.11.7) The CWU Rule Book updated in May 2016 makes it clear that the Vice Chair is entitled to attend the National Executive Council (NEC) in an ex-officio capacity in the absence of the Chair. New Rule reads: The four Equal Opportunities Advisory Committees shall elect a Chair and Vice Chair from amongst their lay members. The Chair or Vice- Chairs shall be entitled to attend the NEC in an ex-officio capacity Interaction with Industrial Committees Royal Mail Diversity Group (RMG): Members of the DAC attend the RMG Diversity meetings and give reports at Advisory Committee meetings Joint Advisory Committee Meetings: New Rule (8.11.9) As a result of the carriage of Rule all Advisory Committee members come together once a year in a joint committee meeting to engage as one group on the Equality agenda. The Joint meeting acts as a vehicle for the Advisory Committees to push the Equality agenda forward. New Rule reads: In addition to the meeting in Rule , there will be an annual joint meeting of the Equal Opportunities Advisory Committees. [10]

12 For ease of reference Rule reads: The four Equal Opportunity Advisory Committees shall each meet a minimum of three times a year General Secretary s Interaction with the DAC Over the past year, Dave Ward, the General Secretary has interacted with the DAC on moving the Disability agenda Election of the Mayor of London The CWU and members of the DAC gave their full support to Sadiq Khan in the 2016 London Mayoral election. Congratulations to Sadiq on being elected to the post of Mayor of London Rallies and Marches Members of the Disability Advisory Committee have engaged in rallies and marches throughout the country since our last conference Move from Weekend to Weekday Conference 2016 The CWU 2016 Disability Workers Conference is being held midweek. This was so successful last year, that going forward, it was agreed all Equality Conferences shall be moving to a weekday event. 2. PROPORTIONALITY The Equality Department was instrumental in setting up the Proportionality Forum earlier this year. The event was led by the Advisory Committees who all gave presentations on their work and ongoing priorities Mentoring The Union has now trained a number of mentors and mentees and this offers an excellent opportunity for Disabled Members Disability Champions Most branches have a Disability Champion. Should you wish to become one, there are Disability Champion courses provided by the CWU and TUC. 3. CWU DISABILITY WORKERS CONFERENCE 2015 The 2015 Disability Workers Conference was held on Thursday 19 th November 2015 at the Grand Central Hotel in Glasgow. 124 delegates, represented by 72 branches were in attendance this year. Motions 1, 2 and 7 were chosen to be heard at the relevant Industrial and General Conferences. [11]

13 3.1. Motions not sent to CWU General Conference and CWU Industrial Conferences These form part of the work for the Advisory Committee in the forthcoming year. 4. GUEST SPEAKERS Ian Tasker, Assistant Secretary, Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) and Eunig Scandrett, Scottish Friends of Bophal addressed the conference as guest speakers. 5. PRIORITIES 6.1 Working parties were set up to work on the following motions: E2 This motion was referred to the General Secretary s office with a view to a letter being sent to the GEO and to the Minister responsible for equality, highlighting sentiments expressed in the motion. The CWU also raised this issue at the 2016 TUC Disability Conference and our motion was chosen to go to the main TUC conference which was held in Brighton. A similarly worded motion has also been put forward to go to the STUC Disability Conference in November A working party was set up; they have been liaising with Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC). A meeting was held with the CWU communications department with a view to a campaign focusing on coverage of the issue around disabled people dying after being declared fit for work. To achieve this, the working party have met with Head of Communications, Chris Webb to discuss the communication strategy to raise awareness on the subject. The communications department have assisted in putting information on the CWU website for DPAC s campaign which was over a period of a month. Posters, flyers and articles are to be produced for The Word magazine. A protest was organised outside the Department of Working Pensions headquarters. We will continue to re-double our efforts to work and support disability rights, and Non-Government Organisations (NGO s) such as DPAC. 7 A working party shall be formed to produce an NEC document highlighting a proposed strategy to deal with the issue of facility time for equality reps. Letters have been sent to industrial officers on this issue. 9 The DAC is to work with the NEC with the view to liaising with the Labour Party and the TUC to see how a co-ordinated campaign can be organised TUC DISABILTY WORKERS CONFERENCE The TUC Disability Workers Conference took place on the 19 th and 20 th May Tony Sneddon currently sits on the TUC Disability Workers Committee and was re-elected onto the TUC Disability Committee for another year. The CWU DAC delegates who attended were: [12]

14 i. Jonathan Bellshaw ii. Pauline Granstan iii. Linda Roy iv. Peter Sharrocks v. Tony Sneddon The CWU submitted the following motion to the 2016 TUC Disability Workers Conference. The motion was placed as Motion No. 6 on the 2016 TUC Disability Workers Conference Agenda. The motion reads: "Workplace Capability Assessments and links to Suicide Conference notes the Guardian report on 16th November 2015 that Workplace Capability Assessments (WCAs) have been linked to 590 suicides and 725,000 prescriptions of anti-depressants in the last three years. Conference also notes that a senior coroner in North London, Mary Hassell, linked the suicide of Michael O'Sullivan in 2013 directly to a WCA, after he was declared fit for work. Conference believes that enough is enough and that the time has come for action before more lives are lost. The DWP and Government have been brought into disrepute and must be held to account. Conference agrees with organisations such as DPAC (Disabled People Against the Cuts) and MIND that the WCA must be scrapped in its current format and replaced by a fair and humane process. Conference therefore instructs the incoming Disability Committee to campaign for reform using all means at its disposal. The above CWU motion was chosen by the TUC Disability Conference to go to the TUC Congress 7. ANNUAL CONFERENCE 2016 EQUALITY DAY The theme of Equality Day 2016 was Equality Matters. All Advisory Committee members were involved, all conference delegates had an opportunity to wear a t-shirt and get involved in the activities which took place on the day. 8. DIF The DIF is no longer produced in the format it used to be. A new magazine called The Word brings together all previous sections of the four advisory magazines under one umbrella. So while there is no longer a dedicated DIF, a section dedicated to Disability continues in The Word. [13]

15 The new format - The Word - has proved extremely popular as all members of the CWU are given the opportunity to read articles written by the four advisory strands e.g. Women Advisory Committee members, Disability Advisory Committee members, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Committee members and the Disability Advisory Committee members in one dedicated magazine. 9. YOUR VIEWS We are always looking forward to the view of our members, so please let us have your ideas on how we can move the CWU forward in a positive way. ALLOCATION OF DAC MEMBERS TO THE REGION The allocation was as shown below: Scotland Northern Ireland NW NE Midlands London Eastern South East SW Wales Tony Sneddon Natalie Fleming Jill Coulson and Jacqui Stewart Tony Pedel and Peter Sharrocks Des Gibbons Jeff Till Jeff Till Mark Bastiani Jonathan Bellshaw Jackie Gatward [14]

16 ATTENDANCE MATRIX DAC ATTENDANCE RECORD Name Feb 16 June 16 Sept 16 Linda Roy Fevzi Hussein? Chic McGlynn NEC *** *** Elspeth Bettany * Tony Sneddon (Chair) * Richard Hirtsch Jacqui Stewart *** Jonathan Bellshaw (Vice * Chair) Natalie Fleming Jackie Gatward X Des Gibbons Ian Ward NEC * Jeffrey Till * Jill Coulson *** Mark Bastiani Peter Sharrocks Tony Pedel Present Newly Appointed * Annual Leave ** Domestic *** OUB **** Sick Leave X Apologies Resigned [15]

17 SECTION I INDUSTRIAL ISSUES 1 Conference calls upon the DAC to liaise with the T&FSE to raise the issue of adopting a disability related sick leave policy with BT and report back to all branches by the end of DEC 2017 Greater London Combined 2 Conference notes that the joint Royal Mail/CWU Time To Talk/Time To Change Day was not correctly implemented by Royal Mail Unit Managers, and the terms of Motion 37 (General Conference 2015) were not met due to the incorrect implementation of this campaign in the majority of work units within RMG. Conference also acknowledges that future CWU Mental Health Awareness campaigns should : not only be promoted only by H&S dept, but also the Equality and Industrial strands of the union. be given a greater time scale from LTB to the start of the campaign, so the relevant CWU Reps can make suitable arrangements within their branch area for the distribution of campaign material. Only three days were given on this occasion for a campaign which effected every RM Unit. have closer monitoring of Royal Mail Unit Managers to confirm that agreed procedures are being carried out on future joint RM/CWU Mental Health Campaigns. This should involve Branch Officers reporting back to CWU HQ. educate and raise awareness to all CWU Unit Reps on the importance of Mental Health Campaigns, and the need to support and promote them within all CWU represented workplaces. Therefore the DAC is instructed to work with the Postal Executive, Equality Department and Health and Safety department to ensure that future mental health campaigns in Royal Mail are run in this way. Plymouth and East Cornwall Amal 3 This Conference is concerned that Royal Mail is failing to follow the Ill Health policy (Managing Employees with long term ill health agreement) and leaving the Business due to ill health agreements, policies and procedures. Royal Mail is using the excuse of mail traffic reduction to fast track individuals through the Ill Health retirement with lump sum process. Royal Mail are ignoring the requirements of the Equality Act 2010 and are failing to apply reasonable adjustments and refusing to accept redeployment transfers. Whilst Branch s do represent the Members on an individual basis there is a need for National intervention. This Conference therefore instructs the Disability Advisory Committee to work with the Postal Executive and the appropriate Officers to put in place a robust monitoring system so that Branch s can report breaches of the National Agreement and the issue can be raised by the PEC and appropriate Officers with Royal Mail to end the abuse of the Nationally agreed procedures and agreements. Harrow and District Amal [16]

18 SECTION II NATIONAL ISSUES 4 COMPOSITE MOTION Conference instructs The DAC to work closely with the NEC to seek the achievement of this strategy & campaign so that disabled can get to work & remain at work. 1. To make all transport accessible for all so that disabled people can use all means of transport easily, furthermore the DAC must work closely with other disabled groups, the TUC, The Labour Party to force the present Government to bring in legislation that all transport must be accessible for all. 2. To campaign for further improvements to the Access to Work so that disabled people are encouraged to remain at work if they so wish, the DAC & NEC to use all avenues at its disposal. This to be achieved by 2019 Cleveland Amal York and District Amal 5 This conference notes that since 2013 when disability benefits changed to the PIP (Personal Independence Payments) over 17,000 disabled people in the UK have lost allowances and access to mobility cars, scooters and electric wheelchairs. Therefore conference instructs the DAC to work with the NEC to pressure this government to review the current points system to ensure that all disabled people who need access to these mobility aids get them reinstated and prevent others from losing theirs in the future. Disability Advisory Committee 6 While Conference condemns the employment practices of US company Walmart, it congratulates Asda in Monks Cross, York, part of its UK company, for introducing Not Every Disability Is Visible toilets in its stores. People with non-visible or hidden disabilities face embarrassing confrontations when using disabled parking spots, disabled toilets and other facilities labelled as Disabled Only. Therefore Conference instructs the Disability Committee to mount a campaign within our workplaces and membership to recognise Non Visible Disabilities, and to raise awareness of the issues people from that community face. Birmingham Black Country and Worcester [17]

19 7 This Conference welcomes the Equality and Human Rights Commissions call for a new focus on disability rights so that disabled people are no longer treated as second-class citizens. This conference therefore calls on the DAC to mount a campaign in support of the call for this government to implement all the remaining provisions of the Equality Act 2010 to allow disabled people to have better access to transport and housing, and to achieve better representation in politics. Thousands of people with disabilities are still not being treated as equal citizens and rights many of us take for granted such as being able to access transport, housing, restaurants, theatres and sporting events, are still being denied to those with a disability. Implementing the remaining provisions of the Equality Act relating to areas such as transport and reasonable adjustments to common areas of rented houses would help put an end to this discrimination, increasing disabled people s independence and ability to participate in society. Great Western 8 This conference is more than aware of the lack of our members (under 500) who classed themselves as being covered under the Equality Act, DDA in Northern Ireland. This motion hopes to change this by simply changing how we as a Union send out forms we use, membership; training and any other forms. At present we ask: Do you have a disability? This would be replaced with Are you covered under the Equality Act 2010, DDA in Northern Ireland? This motion instructs the Disability Advisory Committee (DAC) working with the National Executive Council (NEC) and the Education department to make these slight adjustments as soon as it is reasonable after this Conference. Disability Advisory Committee 9 This conference instructs the DAC to liaise with the NEC and PFMC to encourage disabled members into becoming Councillors and MPs. Disability Advisory Committee 10 This Conference acknowledges all the good work the Disability Advisory Committee does on behalf of its members. However, conference recognising that there appear to be lack of accountability of the work the committee does in its two years term of office. Conference calls on the Disability Advisory committee and the Equality Department to work with the NEC to give the Chair of the Disability Advisory Committee the right to put a report on the CWU Disability Conference agenda pad alongside the message from the General Secretary and the National Equality Officer. This should be achieved as soon as possible. South East Wales Amal [18]

20 11 That this Conference instructs the Disability Advisory Committee to pursue the following policy: Conference instructs the DAC to work closely with the NEC and the Education Department to develop a one day awareness course on disability for representatives. These courses to be run in the field, so making it accessible for all. Nottingham and District Amal 12 Outdoor workers who suffer from Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) such as Postal workers and BT engineers often have limited access to much needed toilet facilities during their working day. This can cause pain, distress and embarrassment and ultimately lead to unnecessary time off work. Therefore conference instructs the DAC and the NEC to work with and promote IBS charities and to produce posters/factsheets/booklets to be made available to branches and be placed onto the cwu.org website. Midlands Equality Committee 13 This conference notes that whilst there has been much focus on mental health issues within the CWU and major represented employers, there has not been perhaps the same focus on physical disabilities. This conference instructs the Advisory Committee to liase with the Communications Department to ensure that as much as possible of CWU communications are accessible to all members, including the use of subtitling on videos as soon as they are released. This conference believes that the CWU should strive to ensure that it communicates clearly with all members including those with disabilities. This conference proposes that CWU publications such as the Voice are also used to highlight understanding of various disabilities, including promotion of positive stories such as the Paralympics. This could also include highlighting disability weeks such as BSL week and Blind Awareness Week. They could also highlight the existence of disability champions in various branches who can support members with disabilities and highlight their issues to branch committees. The Advisory Committee is instructed accordingly. Bristol and District Amal [19]

21 MOTIONS NOT ADMITTED 14 Outdoor workers who suffer from Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) such as postal workers and telecom engineers often have limited access to much needed toilet facilities during their working day. This can cause pain, distress and embarrassment and ultimately lead to unnecessary time off work. Therefore, conference instructs the DAC and the NEC to lobby the PEC and TFS to produce a can t wait card for members who suffer with IBS and to make adjustments to uniform. Leicestershire 15 Conference recognises the good work that Regional Equality Committees are doing on behalf of our members in their region. With the constant attack on disabled people in the workplace and in wider society there is a real need to support this group of members through the work of the regional equality committee. Conference with this in mind it is time to fund Regional equality committees properly in the same way as the Regional women s and more recently Regional learning committees. At present Regional equality committees are totally dependent on their Regional committee and branches to support them. This support varies greatly across the country, which can make things very difficult for some of the Regional equality committees to operate in an effective manner. Conference instructs the DAC and the Equality department to work with the NEC to bring about a rule change to the rules revision conference 2017 to create a Regional Equality Fund which will operate in the same way as the Regional women s and Regional learning committees are currently. South West Regional Equality Committee [20]

22 NOTES [21]