Disabled members

The TUC Disability Conference will be held from the 30th to 31st of May 2012.

You can read some of the things RMT and it's disabled members have been doing here.

Read the TUC on 'Disability Issues' here.

RMT Council of Executives decision:

That we note the meeting took place and realise that we need to build interest to ensure more delegates. We instruct the General Secretary to organise a further meeting in May 2012 following an article in RMT News advertising the event.

Report to RMT's Council of Executives of RMT's initial Disabled Members' Conference: A Conference took place on 8th November in accordance with your instruction. Whilst the number of delegates attending was far from high, a very positive discussion on the way forward took place. There was agreement that disabled members needed a voice in the Union and that a Rule change should be brought forward.

RMT has revealed a shocking instruction from London Underground management - that visually-impaired passengers should not travel to Victoria station during the evening peak. The BBC has covered this story here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-15303638

The union said last year that savage cuts to station staffing would leave disabled people without the help they need in getting around the Tube system. This appalling report shows that we were right. London Underground should reverse the job cuts!

The following resolution submitted by TFL No1 Branch was carried unanimously at the October 27th meeting of the Regional Council.

No to hate crime campaign 17-24-30.org are a non-profit making organisation that have been running vigils in Trafalgar square in October for the last two years. They are currently going through the process to achieve charitable trust status.

This region notes the importance of a collective stand against all forms of hate crime and the hard work done by 17-24-30.org to date.

This region resolves publicise the 17-24-30.org and the affiliation form.

RMT General Grades Committee decision:

We note the report on the equality strand of the review of London Underground’s OSP (job cuts). We endorse the detailed critique of the job cuts’ impact on equalities, which can be found on file. This critique highlights that London Underground:

• calculates station staffing levels without considering the needs of equality groups
• uses methods for collecting information, categorising passenger journeys and assessing data which are deeply flawed and fail to account for equality issues
  

Report to RMT stations representatives from Janine Booth

Summary:

• London Underground does not consider the needs of equalities groups when calculating its station staffing levels.
• LU's methods for collecting information, categorising passenger journeys and assessing data are deeply flawed and fail to account for equality issues.
• LU did not carry out an adequate Equality Impact Assessment before going ahead with the OSP, despite being obliged by law to do so. The revisions it has made to the EqIA since then are minor and wholly inadequate.
  

As a public body, London Underground has to carry out an assessment of the impact of any new policy on various equality issues. The attached file is LU's Equality Impact Assessment (EQIA) for its current OSP (policy of cutting 800 mainly-stations jobs). Below is the response to this document that I have written on behalf of RMT. You will see from this that LU's EQIA falls woefully short, and ignores key equality issues.

Transport for All, a disability and elderly persons charity has wriiten a letter to the Evening Standard detailing their concerns about front line job losses at London Underground. Lianna Etkind, Campaign and Outreach Co-ordinator of the charity writes "We are extremely concerned about the effect of these cuts on elderly and disabled Londoners.'

In April, RMT's London Transport Regional Council wrote to disabled people's organisations as part of our 'SOS: Staff Our Stations' campaign, alerting them to London Underground's planned job cuts and the difficulties that these will cause to disabled passengers. You can read our letter here. Several organisations representing disabled people have now sent the following letter to Mayor Boris Johnson, opposing the job cuts.

Dear Mr Johnson,

I have written to over 50 disabled people's organisations in and around London about London Underground's proposed job cuts. Read the letter below ...

I am writing on behalf of the RMT trade union to alert you to London Underground’s plan to cut 800 station staff posts and to severely reduce its ticket office opening hours. I believe that this move will seriously reduce the service that London Underground offers its passengers, and will have a particularly adverse effect on disabled passengers.

Introduction

1 This is the second in a series of five brief guides to discrimination in employment. They are intended as introductory handouts for trade union representatives and people in the workplace. Their aim is to set out the main provisions which protect and enhance the equal treatment of men and women at work. Since discrimination law has become increasingly complex, the particular circumstances of a case may have a significant impact on the prospects of success and these Guides are not a substitute for legal advice except in the clearest of cases.

Like most reps and activists in the union I have not had to deal with the Disability and Discrimination Act (DDA) in any great detail. I am aware of the headline issues: the DDA exists; it is a bad thing if an employer discriminates against someone who is disabled; and an employer must carry out a thing called "reasonable adjustments" for existing staff and potential recruits. But that was the extent of my knowledge.

One of RMT's equality reps emailed me a few questions for a course he is doing. I thought it might be worth sharing the questions and my replies with website readers.

1. What do you think are the key equality issues in the workplace?