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Disability and Special Needs
Conference 2009
The CWU
Disabilities and Special Needs
Conference is where CWU members
decide what issues the CWU
Disabilities and Special Needs
Advisory Committee (DSNAC) will
focus their work on over the coming
year.
Over
the previous year the DSNAC had been
working on several projects
including providing an on-line
‘tool-kit’ to help Equality Officers
in their role and also running
several campaigns such as raising
awareness on autism, dyslexia and I.B.S. (Irritable Bowl Syndrome) and
the effect these issues have on
members in the work-place and how we
can assist them.
Motions
this year were wide ranging, from
raising awareness on diabetes to
what position will the Union be
taking in the assisted suicide
debate to circulating relevant
information from the forthcoming
Equality Bill to reps.
Gloucestershire Amal put forward a
motion - proposed by Katy Hartland,
Branch Equality Officer - on
providing information and
representation for ill-health
retired members on the benefits
system which was an issue raised by
a retired member. Unfortunately it
was not carried.
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Katy Hartland addresses
the conference |
The
DSNAC opposed the motion on the
grounds that the benefits system is
too complicated and it would be too
much work for reps to take on. They
also said that reps maybe liable to
being sued if they gave the wrong
advice.
We hope
to be able to re-word this motion
slightly to address the issues
raised by the DSNAC and submit it to
General Conference in June later
this year as I believe the Union
should be taking an active role in
protecting the rights of our retired
members.
Although
the DSNAC will take on board all of
the Motions that are carried, there
is a vote for two motions to go
forward to General Conference to be
debated and hopefully become CWU
policy.
The two
Motions voted for this year were (1)
for the CWU to provide information
on the new Equality Bill for reps so
they are up to date with relevant
legislation, specifically the
‘double discrimination’ clause where
someone can argue they have been
discriminated on two different
grounds (e.g. sexual orientation and
age) and (2) for the CWU to produce
a disability leave policy so people
with disabilities don’t get
fast-tracked on attendance
procedures and sacked. |
