Equalities

- 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!]

Published in Solidarity 610, 20 October 2021.

The Night Tube in London will resume on two lines from 27 November, in a move promoted as ensuring safety for women. However, the reality is more complex, and women’s safety requires increased Night Tube staffing.

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

The Labour Party's 2021 National Policy Forum report contained no mention of neurodiversity, despite a detailed and popular submission from Neurodivergent Labour to the Forum. So Janine proposed to Conference that it 'refer back' that section of the report so that the NPF would have to consider including this policy. This is what happened at Conference on Monday 27 September ...

Be streetwise, girls, be streetwise
and you won't get false-arrested
Look out for cuffs and meat knives
Be streetwise, girls, be streetwise
and memorise our treatise
on what to do when pestered
Be streetwise, girls, be streetwise
and you won't be false-arrested

At 2021 Labour Party conference, I moved a 'reference back' of the National Policy Forum report, due to its failure to include any policy on neurodiversity, despite a detailed submission being made to the policy forum process. This is what I said in the one minute allocated. Delegates passed the reference back.

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Janine Booth, Lewes CLP and Chair of Neurodivergent Labour.

Published in Women's Fightback 26, Autumn/Winter 2021