Disability Champions@CongressAs our project moves to the wider trade union audience it was no surprise that it attracted attention at the recent TUC Congress in Brighton. Disability Champions was mentioned a number of times in the General Council report in both the equalities and education sections. It was nice to see delegates from Unison endorsing our work speaking to the report paragraphs in the main conference hall.Disability Champions were also a key feature at a fringe meeting organised by the National Autistic Society and the RNID. The fringe, entitled "Extending the DDA: what will it mean for disabled employees?" was chaired by Janet Seymour Kirk. The first speaker was Amicus Deputy General Secretary Lucy Kelly. Lucy gave an overview of the project from its conception highlighting some of our many key milestones and achievements. Giving some examples of real achievements she told the meeting "A hundred Champions isn't the end; we need thousands; we need tens of thousands". The next speaker was Ford Flanagan, an HRM Manager at Scottish Gas. Ford related the story of a worker with Asperger Syndrome who had joined his team initially on a work placement but has now been taken into fulltime employment. He talked about the problems that were faced and the solutions that enabled him to play a full and active role in his team. Finally Steve Winyard of the RNIB spoke about the DDA. He said that the changes coming in from October would have very little impact especially as it is so difficult to prove that discrimination on the grounds of disability is the deciding factor, particularly when people are unsuccessful in job applications. He spoke about Access to Work funding and how many employers had never even heard of it. This is yet another area where Disability Champions and our training course can help to resolve a major concern. Following the speakers Dave Parr joined the top table for a question and answer session. This was a lively and productive discussion with questions coming from a number of unions and organisations. Overall a good week in Brighton for Disability Champions; highlighted as best practice in the General Council report, endorsed by other trade unions and lots more contacts made. Extracts from the report:-As the European Year of Disabled People reached its end early in 2004, one of the most successful projects to have been supported during the year was found to have been the Disability Champions at Work initiative launched by Amicus. The project involved identifying and training workplace representatives to deal effectively with workplace issues and also provides a strong practical mechanism for encouraging better employment opportunities, and better progression within employment, for disabled people. The project has continued and has expanded considerably and the TUC has been pleased to accept an invitation to join the steering group.General Council Report Paragraph 3-10, page 34. An innovative, EU supported partnership between Amicus, TUC Education and East Riding College, 'Disability Champions at Work', is training reps and safety reps to enable them to improve services to members through providing support in discipline and grievance matters related to disability issues and to audit their workplace, setting an agenda for continuous improvement. The considerable success of this project in meeting its training target of 50 disability champions almost a year ahead of schedule inspired TUC Education's theme for 2003-4. All students on TUC courses received a short activity and resource pack on raising awareness of the trade union role in supporting disabled people at work as part of the contribution to the European Year for Disabled People. TUC Education produced a manual for rolling the 'Disability Champions' course out across the UK and a linked tutor training programme has been developed. General Council Report Paragraph 8-4, page 115. |