I have been a trade union rep for almost a decade and am now the policy officer for disability equality at the TUC. I have also had reasonable adjustments myself. Disability History Month (#UKDHM) is…Read more…
Awareness is all
Unite member Paddy Cunningham, a transport worker, suffered from depression which adversely affected his job. He believes awareness of mental health conditions is the most crucial first step in…Read more…
Bedroom tax win
The Supreme Court has delivered a blow to Tory welfare policy by ruling that two families were discriminated against by the government’s hated “bedroom tax”. The ruling, in favour of a spina…Read more…
‘Delusional or dishonest’
The UN has slammed the government on it’s cuts to welfare and care for people with disabilities. Unite national officer Harish Patel responds. “For the last six years they [people with…Read more…
‘National shame’
A damning United Nations inquiry has concluded that vicious Tory cuts to welfare and social care for disabled people in Britain amount to “systematic violations” of their rights. The UN said…Read more…
Unite Executive Council Elections
The union is gearing up for elections to its Executive Council (EC), which is effectively the ruling body of the union between policy and rules conferences.
The Unite web site has a page about the forthcoming elections. This includes a helpful new boo…Read more…
Southern Rail – it’s about time you listened to your passengers
Meet Chris Hogg, a 36 year old lyricist from Sutton in Surrey. Every week Chris travels by Southern Rail, taking the train from Sutton to Ashtead to attend his music class. Chris is a wheel chair…Read more…
Left all alone
More than two thirds of English councils have cut vital care packages for disabled people since the government scrapped the Independent Living Fund (ILF) in favour of paying local authorities…Read more…
My life in austerity Britain
Speaking from her own personal experience disability rights activist and actor Liz Carr (pictured left) told Sunday’s (September 25) Real Britain fringe about what it’s real like to have disabilities…Read more…
Forced to retire early
Nearly half a million people in the UK are forced to retire before the state pension age because of illness or disability, a new TUC report has found, which accounts for on average one in eight…Read more…
Are students with SEND being let down? Our members say they are
ATL recently responded to the Labour Party’s review of SEND provision in England, as part of our work on Conference resolution 43, Are SEND Students Being Let Down? We surveyed ATL members to…Read more…
Devastating impact
A campaign to stop lethal cuts to the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has been launched by Unite and the Public and Commercial Services union (PCS). Last autumn the Tories…Read more…
‘We allow the world to carry on’
As part of Carers Week, UNITElive is publishing a series of stories featuring Unite members who care for their relatives or work in the care sector. It would be wrong to say that Unite member…Read more…
Layer upon layer
As part of Carers Week, UNITElive is publishing a series of stories featuring Unite members who care for their relatives or work in the care sector. Today UNITElive speaks to Unite national…Read more…
Taxi!
In Nottingham, as with many cities and towns throughout the UK, Hackney cab taxis are a vital part of the community’s transport system. They quickly get passengers from point A to point B, and most…Read more…
Worrying increase in sanctions against the sick and disabled
Today’s figures revealed that sanctions against Employment and Support (ESA) claimants increased in December to 1,708. This was up by 451 on the previous month. ESA is the out-of-work benefit for people whose illness, health condition or disability makes it difficult or impossible to work. To…Read more…
Let’s give disabled young people the chance they deserve
#STUC16 Disabled young people are massively under-represented in apprenticeships and Congress delegates backed a wide-ranging campaign to address the difficulties they face, to support their educational attainment and to make sure more can access apprenticeships.
Supporting the motion UNISON’s Morag Houston told delegates that times are hard for all our young people – but they are doubly hardRead more…
Defending what millions have died for
Receiving letters in the post can elicit a range of emotions – frustration at another overdue bill, delight that an old friend is getting married. But for Sharon, a simple letter precipitated…Read more…
‘Light it up blue’
Big-hearted Unite members working for Rolls Royce in Derby have forked out £2,000 to light up their plant in blue to raise aware of autism which affects 700,000 people in the UK. Global icons…Read more…
UNITE constitutional timetable 2016
Each year there is a schedule of meetings, intended to ensure key meetings don’t clash with each other. For 2016 the schedule is as follows:
Regional Industrial Sector Committees; Area Activists Committees; Regional Equalities & Regional Labour Pa…Read more…