CWU DISABILITY AND SPECIAL NEEDS CONFERENCE REPORT

Delegates at last month's (OCTOBER) CWU Disability and Special Needs
Conference held in Dundee spoke passionately on wide-ranging issues,
from changes to the Equality Bill, to diabetes, and even assisted
suicide. Organisers said it was their most successful equality
conference to date, and pressing issues debated will now be raised at
next year's main CWU conference.

Ted Stead, of the Disability and Special Needs Advisory Committee, urged
the union to launch a campaign to prepare itself for the impending
changes to the Equality Bill that will bring nine pieces of
discrimination legislation under the one umbrella of the Single Equality
Bill.

He said: "At the moment, there can be only one discrimination claim
raised at a time, but the new legislation will mean a black woman, for
example, could launch a combined race and sex discrimination claim, or
an elderly disabled worker could launch a race and a disabled case. We
need to make all of our reps aware of the changes and ensure they are
well-prepared in anticipation of this legislation expected to be
introduced next year."

The motion was unanimously passed and delegates voted for it to be
raised at the main union conference next year.

The other motion supported sufficiently for it to be put forward at the
main union conference, was another proposition by Ted Stead, in his
capacity as branch secretary for the Oldham and Rochdale Amal. He garnered
support for the DSNAC to produce a "disability leave policy" to protect
disabled members from falling foul of various sickness absence policies
that various employers utilise.

But the most hotly debated motion, was one put forward by Gary Clark of
Scotland No. 2 branch on assisted suicide. He argued that the union
should lobby for euthanasia to be made legal and available on the NHS,
adding: "This is about freedom of choice. People should be allowed to
die with dignity." But he faced opposition from Lynne Hart who said that
her Thames Valley branch has conducted a survey of all of its 2,000
members, which concluded the matter would be better dealt with at a
national level. The motion was not carried.

Jeff Till of Central London branch gained support for a move to get more
Human Resources managers trained on "all aspects" of the DDA, while
Lynne Hart successfully called for hearing tests to be made available
for employees actively working with headphones on a daily basis.

Earlier, Tony Sneddon, chair of DSNAC, welcomed the delegates to Dundee,
City of Discovery. While he said that much progress has been made for
disabled workers' rights, he warned: "The fight for true equality is not
over."

Linda Roy, national equalities officer, echoed those views. She said:
"In the majority of complaints to our equality department - almost 15 years
after the DDA - is that management is either ill-briefed, ignorant, or
deliberately ignoring their legal responsibilities." Therefore, she said
that her primary aim is in providing employees with information on the
DDA, including fact sheets, guides, e-bulletins, and toolkits.

President of the STUC, Martin Keenan, told delegates: "As we strive to
move out of recession, equality matters even more."

Perhaps the most emotive talk was delivered by Robin Hood - the Scottish
director for DEBRA - the national charity working on behalf of people
with the horrific genetic skin blistering condition Epidermolysis
Bullosa (EB).

He spoke about his brave daughter's fight with the debilitating
condition, which results in skin and internal linings to blister, bleed
and peel off at the slightest touch. Mr Hood has devoted his life to
raising money for research into the condition, and despite his daughter
dying last year aged just 19, he has vowed to continue the fight for a
cure.

So many subjects were covered at this conference ranging from the Equlaity Bill to Diabetes this is just a sample of the issues debated.

The amount of delegates attending this conference was 82