A wide selection of Equality Factsheets can be found at the National CWU Website - HERE

CWU Women’s Conference, Saturday 26th November 2011, Leeds

This year the Women’s South West Regional Committee submitted a motion calling to ensure Royal Mail and BT are taking their responsibilities providing toilet facilities for outdoor staff seriously. We heard about stories including how a post-woman who had had to cut off her delivery to return to the delivery office to use the toilet facilities because she had no other option was threatened with wilful delay under the conduct code. We also heard that one postman had been sacked because he was convicted for indecent exposure when he was forced to avail himself of a bush while on delivery. There are agreements in place to ensure staff have access to facilities, but some bully-boy managers still think getting a delivery out is more important than the basic human needs of their staff. The motion was passed unanimously.

Other motions included fighting the Con-Dem cuts which disproportionally affect women (cutbacks in maternity pay, parental leave and state benefits as well as women being more likely to suffer pay cuts and redundancies than men) and a motion calling to strengthen the flexible working agreement so parents are not disadvantaged because of it, and allow them to return to their previous contract when they no-longer need the flexible working contract.

In all 19 motions were carried. 

CWU Black Workers Conference Birmingham, Saturday 29th October 2011

Guest speaker Roger McKenzie, assistant general secretary for Unison spoke to conference about the importance of organising and standing up for ourselves and fighting the Con-Dem cuts. He said we run the risk of being the first generation to leave things worse for the next generation. 

Chuka Ummuna, shadow business secretary and Labour MP for Streatham also addressed conference. He spoke of the need for positive black role models and how we need to encourage black and ethnic minority (BEM) people to come  forward in business and in politics. 

Conference debated many important issues including the number of suspicious deaths in police custody, institutional discrimination in organisations including trade unions, the fight against the English Defence League (EDL), and how the Con-Dem cuts could disproportionally affect BEM people.

Conference also noted how in his speech in February, David Cameron said multiculturalism had failed. It was pointed out that multiculturalism cannot either fail or succeed - it is just a statement of fact. Britain is multicultural, has been for a very long time and will continue to be so! 

Delegates spent their lunch break supporting the anti-EDL “Love the Difference” demo in Birmingham city centre where people of all faiths joined together to demonstrate their rejection of the racist hate-filled views of the EDL and to embrace tolerance and respect.

Katy Hartland, Equality Officer

CWU Disability Conference, Birmingham Saturday 15th October 2011

This year’s Disability Equality Conference was held at the CWU Midland Regional headquarters.

There was one motion on the agenda from the South West, submitted by the South West No. 7 Branch. It called for the CWU, specifically the Disability Advisory Committee (DAC) via the Equal Opportunities Department to liaise with the Postal Department to investigate Atos and the service they are providing via Royal Mail Group with a view to improving the service our members receive. Conference was heavily critical of Atos and also of Royal Mail Group manager’s ignorance of disability issues. There were many horror stories from members about the insensitive way in which they had been treated by Atos and their managers, and how Atos had been advising Royal Mail of members supposed fitness for work which was contrary to medical advice the member received from their own doctor.

Another recurrent issue debated at the Conference was the harm the Con-Dem cuts were causing our disabled members such as the closure of care homes and reduction of essential services provided to the elderly, adults with special needs and disabled people. 30% of disabled people live below the poverty line and under the coalition government’s economy drive, disabled people are set to lose at least £140 per month through direct cuts to disability benefits alone. They will also be declaring over a million sick and disabled people fit to work to force them off incapacity benefits while at the same time slashing access to work funding which helps employers with the cost of making any reasonable adjustment that would help that person perform their job. Conference called for the CWU to do everything possible to support disabled groups in their campaigns against these cuts.

There was also a motion regarding the “Hidden in Plain Sight” report from the Equality and Human Rights Commission on the issue of attacks against people with physical and mental disabilities. Evidence from the inquiry shows that hundreds of thousands of disabled people regularly experience harassment or abuse, but that public authorities are not tackling it effectively. The guest speaker at the Conference, Stephen Brookes, a disability and equality consultant, founded the National Disability Hate Crime Network. He pointed out that there was no such thing as a disability hate crime in law; it would be regarded as an ‘aggravated case’. The Crown Prosecution Service and the Association of Chief Police Officers definition of a disability hate crime is “…any criminal offence which is perceived by the victim or any other persons to be motivated by hostility or prejudice based on a person’s disability, or perceived disability”. Mr Brookes also said we should not view disabled people as vulnerable per se; everyone can be vulnerable in certain situations. To refer to disabled people as vulnerable is to degrade them, and make other people see them as victims which in turn make them more likely to be singled out for abuse. Conference called for the CWU to wholeheartedly campaign alongside the Equality and human Rights Commission to ensure any recommendations from the inquiry are taken up across the board.

Katy Hartland, Equality Officer.