Irish Congress of Trade Unions response to Improving the job
prospects and working careers of people with disabilities in
Northern Ireland.
1. About Congress
The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) is the trade union federation and
largest civil society organisation on the island of Ireland representing and
campaigning on behalf of some 832,000 working people. There are currently
55 unions affiliated to Congress, north and south of the border.
In Northern Ireland, there are 39 trade unions and Councils of Trade Unions
affiliated representing over 230,000 workers. Through Congress, workers play
an important role in the economic and social life of our community.
Congress strives to achieve economic development, social cohesion and justice
by upholding the values of solidarity, fairness and equality.
Congress also constructs and advocates for a platform of policies capable of
delivering our vision of a just society.
2. Introduction
In considering a response, ICTU has consulted with the NIC ICTU Disability
Committee which is made up of representatives from affiliated unions and has
the aim of promoting decent work for people with disabilities and advocating
for a fair society for all citizens.
The NIC ICTU Disability committee welcomes the opportunity to respond to
this draft strategy and commends the Minister, his Department and the
Officials who put in considerable work to develop this draft. We would like to
note that the restructuring of the Government Departments has the potential
to reduce this level of commitment to the implementation of the strategy. The
retention and location of the Disability Employment Service is of crucial
importance to the success of this strategy.
ICTU works with a range of Disabled People’s Organisations and expects that
they will be closely commenting on many aspects of this draft strategy. We are
pleased to endorse many of the recommendations made by Disability Action in
their response to the consultation and will highlight particular points at the
end of this submission.
1
Irish Congress of Trade Unions response to Improving the job
prospects and working careers of people with disabilities in
Northern Ireland.
3. As the representative body for trade unions throughout Northern Ireland,
ICTU welcomed the opportunity to join the strategic working group which
advised the Department on this draft strategy. In general, we endorse the five
broad themes laid out in the consultation document and we welcomed the
collaborative approach from the Department in relation to the development of
the draft document.
However we are disappointed that the role of trade unions in developing and
implementing an employment strategy for people with disabilities is barely
mentioned in the document.
For example, in theme 3, working with employers, we consider that trade
unions should play a significant role in ensuring that disabled people have
equal access to the workplace.
One of the proposals that will introduce something new – ‘establish a network
of high profile disability advocates’ is of particular relevance.
Over the last number of years, ICTU has led on a number of initiatives which
have made a real difference to the lives of disabled people. Chief among these
has been the Disability Champions project.
Through the Disability Champions project, ICTU has trained trade union
members and representatives, many of whom are disabled, to become
advocates for disability in the workplace. Disability Champions have a positive
role in the workplace supporting colleagues and members on issues such as
reasonable adjustment. Disability Champions also work closely with employers
to develop and promote a positive working environment for all employees,
including people with disabilities.
After their initial training, Disability Champions are supported by their unions
and also by ongoing training which is delivered by organisations such as the
Equality Commission.
ICTU would strongly suggest that there is a positive role that Disability
Champions can play in the development and success of this strategy,
particularly in relation to theme three.
2
Irish Congress of Trade Unions response to Improving the job
prospects and working careers of people with disabilities in
Northern Ireland.
We note that the Department has liaised with DWP in relation to their
Disability Confident Campaign in GB which includes establishing a network of
disability advocates. The Department is aware that, as outlined above,
establishing a network of Disability Champions is something that the trade
union movement has been engaged with over the last ten or so years. We
would therefore recommend that the Department liaise with ICTU in relation
to the Disability Champion project and consider how this valuable network of
people can be best utilised and supported in relation to this strategy.
We would further recommend that trade unions, along with organisations
from the disability sector, are consulted in relation to the development of a
best practice recruitment support model. We would recommend that any
such best practice model contain information on the rights of all employees
to join a union and is also compliant with all of the relevant employment and
equality legislation. In this regard, we believe that it would be useful to
consult the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland.
We agree that it would be useful for employers, and others, to be able to
access information and support from the Department.
We would recommend that this is done on a joined up basis and includes
other Departmental initiatives such as apprenticeships and career, advice
and guidance.
We agree that the Department should prioritise strategic partnership and
engagement. However we are again disappointed that there is no mention of
trade unions in relation to this.
The draft document states that the membership of the Disability Stakeholder
Forum should consist of senior officials, senior management from the disability
sector as well as representatives from other departments together with
employer representation, a disability champion and a disabled person. Given
the valuable role which the representative from ICTU played in the strategic
advisory group, we are surprised not to see trade unions included.
3
Irish Congress of Trade Unions response to Improving the job
prospects and working careers of people with disabilities in
Northern Ireland.
We would recommend that trade unions are included as a strategic partner
in the Disability Stakeholder Forum.
4. International Human Rights Framework
All strategies produced by the NI Executive must be compliant with
international human rights obligations.
The disability employment strategy must be contextualized within
International Human Rights Law. The strategy should therefore address,
through it’s actions, the obligations issuing from, inter alia, the United Nations
Convention of the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), the United Nations Convention
on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), the UN Convention on the
Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the International
Covenant on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights (ICSECR).
Recommendation:
The strategy is underpinned by the obligations on the NI Executive arising
from human rights law.
5. Research and Development
We are pleased to see that research and development has been prioritised.
We agree that independent research should be commissioned and that this
should be done in close partnership with disabled people and the organisations
which represent them.
We would recommend that the strategy includes detail of how it will be
monitored and evaluated. This should include clear targets against each of
the actions and the collection of baseline information against which the
targets can be monitored. This should be done in a timely fashion to allow
the Department and key stakeholders to evaluate whether the strategy is
succeeding.
4
Irish Congress of Trade Unions response to Improving the job
prospects and working careers of people with disabilities in
Northern Ireland.
Other points:
1. We welcome the supported employment approach to securing and
maintaining employment and welcome the adoption of this model;
2. We are concerned that changes to the welfare and social security system
will impact disproportionately on disabled people and their families. The
strategy must ensure that the work opportunities available for disabled
people have the flexibilities built into them that allow people to work
without it affecting their benefit – for example the 16 hour rule. We
agree with Disability Action in relation to offering Workable NI below 16
hours and note that the model of best practice in relation to Supported
Employment suggests that there should not be a minimum number of
stipulated houses.
3. We have argued elsewhere that there should be a joined up approach in
relation to other strategies and we agree with Disability Action in
relation to their recommendation that frontline staff such as
employment and careers advisers should be trained in the particular
needs of disabled people.
4. We agree that setting targets are an important way of measuring the
success of the strategy. However, we agree with Disability Action in
relation to the concern they raise that setting targets has the potential
to drive services towards recruiting people who can quickly and easily
progress to employment.
5. The consultation document contains no proposed actions relating to self
-employment and this could usefully be addressed in the
implementation plan.
6. We agree that the strategy should address the limited opportunities
available for disabled people to progress throughout their careers. We
believe that Disability Champions, as outlined earlier in the response,
could play a useful role in this regard. We also believe that this issue
cannot be considered without considering issues such as reasonable
adjustment. Many of the issues which give rise to claims under the DDA
could have been resolved if the employer had considered reasonable
adjustments. Therefore we recommend that the ‘one stop shop’ offered
5
Irish Congress of Trade Unions response to Improving the job
prospects and working careers of people with disabilities in
Northern Ireland.
for employers should also provide signposting to the training already
offered by the Equality Commission NI.
7. We agree that the strategy must prioritise engagement with employers.
We agree with Disability Action’s comments in regards to this and
consider that one large engagement event may not be as effective as a
number of smaller and more localised events.
6