Marxist. Trade Unionist. Socialist-feminist. Author. Poet. Speaker. Tutor. RMT ex-Exec. Workers' Liberty. Autie. Bi. PUFC fan.
Disabled people campaigning for rights - for access, benefits, services and equality; against discrimination, cuts, prejudice and pity!
Click these links for posts specifically on:
There is an excellent article in November 2022's Labour Research - 'Neurodiversity: a core bargaining issue'. I'm pleased to say that I am extensively quoted!
If you would like to read the full text, ask your trade union if it has an account which you can use to log in to the LRD website.
These are the opening speeches from this event, held on Zoom on Tuesday 22 March 2022.
Sarah Woolley (General Secretary, Bakers’, Food and Allied Workers’ Union): Welcome to the joint RMT and Free Our Unions TUC Disabled Workers’ Conference fringe meeting.
TUC Disabled Workers’ Committee strongly opposes the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill.
The Bill includes new duties which oblige public services to share service users’ information with the police, which is an unacceptable shift away from a public health approach to an authoritarian approach, which will erode trust between public services and disabled people.
The TUC's Disabled Members' Committee has made this statement: Accessible public transport is essential for disabled people to participate in society on an equal and independent basis. To be genuinely accessible, public transport must be adequately staffed by workers with decent standards of training, pay, conditions and security of employment.
Janine's opening remarks at the TUC Disabled Workers' Conference panel discussion on Accessibility As Standard Not 'As Required': building accessible workplaces for all, on Monday 21 March 2022.
Which is better?
A. A wheelchair user arrives at their new workplace, enters it and starts work.
Fringe meeting on anti-union laws at TUC Disabled Workers' Conference (which is held online) hosted by RMT and Free Our Unions
Chair: Sarah Woolley, General Secretary, Bakers' Union
Speakers:
Janine Booth, Secretary, RMT Disabled Members' Advisory Committee
John McDonnell MP
- report by Janine Booth, RMT nominee on the Committee
Flexible working and reasonable adjustments
The TUC has been advocating what it calls ‘flexible working as a reasonable adjustment’ for disabled workers. What it means by this is the right of disabled workers to work from home or another location, with hours that suit our access needs.
An assessment of trade unions as drivers of positive change for autistic people at work, written as an assignment for Postgraduate Certificate in Autism and Asperger Syndrome
[Note: this is not advocating a union for autistic workers, but assessing the potential of existing unions!]
This was the first full meeting of the committee elected in March. It elected Dave Allan as chair (a formality as he is the disabled workers’ representative on the TUC General Council); and Annie Galpin as co-chair.
Implementing Disabled Workers’ Conference decisions
Janine will speak as part of a panel on Realising Disability Equality, specifically about links to the Labour Party and to DPOs (Disabled People’s Organisations) such as DPAC (Disabled People Against the Cuts), Inclusion London and ROFA (Reclaiming our Futures Alliance).