{"id":5748,"date":"2015-09-15T16:55:02","date_gmt":"2015-09-15T15:55:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=5748"},"modified":"2015-09-15T16:55:02","modified_gmt":"2015-09-15T15:55:02","slug":"injustice-for-disabled-workers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=5748","title":{"rendered":"Injustice for disabled workers"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Unite delegate Ian Lidbetter today (Tuesday, September 15) addressed TUC on disabled people and our welfare state.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWhen the reality of the general election result gradually sunk in in May, many disabled people dreaded what was coming next,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 said Ian.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe coalition government, and not the Tories alone, have targeted disabled people. Benefits have been remorselessly cut,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he added.
\nIan spoke about the Tories \u00e2\u20ac\u0098fit for work\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 tests and the sanctions that have devastated lives.
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bPeople have been forced to undergo humiliating tests to \u00e2\u20ac\u0098prove\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 how disabled they are,” he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bA mix of sanctions, so-called \u00e2\u20ac\u0098fit for work\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 tests and outright cuts to services has led to disabled people and other benefit claimants dying.”<\/p>\n

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A devastating 90 people a month are dying soon after being found fit for work.<\/p>\n

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A study by Disabled People Against Cuts and the Public Interest Research Unit found that employer attitudes towards disabled workers have deteriorated in the last four years.<\/p>\n

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The growth in precarious work has posed particular problems for disabled workers, Ian highlighted.<\/p>\n

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Unlawful discrimination, including harassment and unlawful dismissal, appears to have been increasing.<\/p>\n

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People reported a decline in organisational support for disabled workers and an increased emphasis on discipline. Disabled people are finding it harder to gain and retain paid work and yet are also facing devastating benefit cuts.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bAt work, many disabled people are fearful of disclosing their disability to their employer, putting their own health and well-being in jeopardy,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 said Ian.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIf they do have an accident it can then mean they are held responsible,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he added.<\/p>\n

 
\nUnite organises disabled workers in the workplace and also organises 10,000 community members \u00e2\u20ac\u201c people who for whatever reason in life are currently not in paid work.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt might be because they have caring responsibilities, they are disabled and unable to work or they may be currently unemployed,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 said Ian.<\/p>\n

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Ian emphasised the importance of Unite\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s growing Community membership.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe are working to ensure solidarity between those in, and those not in paid work,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bBecause it can be any of us, at any time, who are subjected to the sharp experience of this government\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s benefit cuts and hostile \u00e2\u20ac\u0098scrounger\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 language,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he added.<\/p>\n

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He went on to speak about his own personal experience.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bI count myself as being a person who has a good employer,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bI was disabled after a road traffic incident and my employer kept my job open while I recovered and became fit enough to return to work,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Ian added.<\/p>\n

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Later when Ian had to undergo heart surgery, again his employer kept his job open for him until he had recovered enough to return to work.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bI know that many are not as fortunate I was and this government continues to make those that did not cause the economic crisis continue to pay for it,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 said Ian.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bBoth experiences opened my eyes to the injustice of what this government was doing to disabled people and our welfare state. Conference please support this motion,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he added.<\/p>\n

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Unite delegate Ian Lidbetter today (Tuesday, September 15) addressed TUC on disabled people and our welfare state.     \u00e2\u20ac\u015bWhen the reality of the general election result gradually sunk in in May, many disabled people dreaded what was coming next,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 said Ian.     \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe coalition government, and not the Tories alone, have targeted disabled […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5759,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[198,392],"wps_subtitle":"The sanctions that devastate lives","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5748"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5748"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5748\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5760,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5748\/revisions\/5760"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5759"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5748"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5748"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5748"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}