Tag: Frances O’Grady

Below is the text of the speech made by Frances O’Grady to the 2014 Unionlearn conference.

Thanks Juliette [Alexander] and to everyone for coming.

Welcome to the 2014 unionlearn conference.

As ever, a great opportunity for us:

To celebrate our magnificent achievements in the field of learning and skills

To hear inspirational stories from ordinary workers we have supported

And to reflect on what the future holds for us.

I want to begin by saying thank you.

Thank you to all of our partners for the great support you give us. Thank you to our learning reps for your outstanding work. And thank you to the staff at unionlearn for doing such a great job.

I know the past few months have been incredibly tough. The government’s decision to slash our budget by almost a fifth has had a big impact. I’d be lying if I claimed otherwise.

But it’s thanks to your professionalism and commitment that we’ve still been able to support learners so effectively. This year, there have been 34 successful bids for new workplace projects. Each different. But each making a difference. And that’s what our work is all about.

Touching lives.

Changing lives.

Transforming lives.

A few months ago I travelled up to Stoke to meet workers in the ceramics industry. It’s a city that has borne the brunt of industrial change. Unemployment is higher than average and pay rates are low. But there I saw for myself how our work on learning is giving people hope.

People like David Barker. After leaving school he had a number of short-term jobs. He spent time on the dole. But at the age of 21, things changed for the better. With the support of his union Unity, he became an apprentice at Wedgwood.

A great scheme with employer and union working closely together. And, in the three years since, David has never looked back. He’s now got a highly-skilled job at the company’s visitor centre. And is looking forward to a bright future.

And just a couple of weeks ago I visited the BMW mini plant at Cowley. Thanks to a strong, well-organised site, the company has made a huge investment to secure the future of both Oxford and Swindon.

But the investment isn’t just in new kit and technology. Unite the union have ensured it’s in people too, including a top class apprenticeship programme that is helping young men and young women become the skilled workforce of the future. What’s more those apprentices are all union members.

This is the difference that only union learning can make.

Because we know that the best way to empower individual workers is through collective action. As the old trade union adage goes, together we are stronger.

And if anybody ever doubts that, I say let’s set the record straight. Tell them about the 220,000 workers we helped last year. Tell them about the men and women able to read to their kids for the first time, or speak a foreign language for the first time, or go to university for the first time.

Conference; trades unionism transforms lives.

Our work on learning is our movement at its best.

Positive, progressive, popular.

Focused firmly on the future.

Making our economy stronger and more productive.

Our society fairer and more mobile.

Our country brighter and more hopeful.

But for all the progress we have made, we still have a mountain to climb. In the autumn, the OECD laid bare the scale of the skills challenge facing Britain, how far we have slipped behind our competitors. In a damning report, the international organisation pointed to the huge training divide in our workplaces.

It underlined big skills gaps among young people, older workers and the disadvantaged. Revealed major weaknesses around intermediate and technical skills. And showed how inequality and poor skills are fundamentally and inextricably linked.

As trades unionists, we know we won’t address the former unless we crack the latter. In the long run, democratising education is the only sustainable way to make Britain more equal. Making learning for life, for all, a reality.

And self-evidently, what happens at work will be crucial. Now there are lots of good employers who make a real effort to train all their staff. ut it’s a sad fact that far too many organisations still neglect their responsibilities.

We know that nearly half the UK workforce do not receive training at work.

A national scandal.

And it’s those whose skills needs are most acute – migrant workers; people on zero hours contracts; agency staff – who are losing out the most.

It’s the same old story. The lion’s share of development opportunities going to the privileged few, the privately-educated elite who control so much of our national life. And working-class people all too often passed by. Simply left alone to learn to labour.

Righting this wrong – getting the pendulum swinging the other way – is why everything we do around the learning and skills agenda is so massively important.

And I’m proud that there is so much great work going on as I speak. To mention just a few examples:

We’re working with the National Numeracy charity, employers and education providers to boost numeracy skills.

We’re doing pioneering work to help workers in mid-career, with our joint project with NIACE attracting double the expected take-up.

And we’re making further improvements to trade union education, already recognised as among the best in the world.

TUC Ed is of course a critical part of the unionlearn offer. Last year, we trained 43,000 reps in the classroom and online. With a further 5,000 learning through e-Notes, our web-based service.

Trade union education is education with a purpose and we’re making a big impact in workplaces right across the country.

Let’s be clear: union learning reps are vital. But the success of union learning also depends on having well trained convenors, shop stewards, workplace reps and branch activists too.

Today we are launching a new study – “Still Making a Difference” – which underlines the continuing importance of our work. Copies are available here in the hall and online.

And I want to thank the 2,000-plus reps – including many learning reps – who took the time to give us detailed feedback for the report.

Conference, it doesn’t matter whether it’s Trade Union Education or union learning, we need to set our sights high.

And as the election approaches, I see three areas where can really shape the policy debate.

The first is young people. With youth unemployment still a terrible blight in our communities and nearly a million under-25s out of work, this is a huge challenge for all of us.

And whether it’s facilitating work placements or improving the new traineeships schemes, trade unions are helping our young people gain a foothold in the world of work. Giving lie to the myth that we’re only here to look after people already in a job.

The second area where we can lead from the front is apprenticeships. I’m proud that we’ve led the argument about the quality of schemes, really shaping the political consensus. In place of six-month long sham apprenticeships, we’ve shown that Britain needs proper schemes with good off-the-job training and decent terms and conditions.

And trade unions are in a unique position to make sure that happens. Last year, almost 6,000 apprenticeships were supported by ULF projects – a big increase on the previous figure. From the NHS to McVities, from the Fire & Rescue Service to Heathrow Airport, from Network Rail to Wolverhampton City Council, we’re working with employers in every sector of the economy.

Raising standards.

Raising expectations.

Raising quality.

And we should all be incredibly proud of that work.

Conference, the third area where we can shape the debate is intermediate and higher skills. It would be a big mistake to assume our work on learning was targeted only at lower-skilled workers.

We’re putting a lot of work into continuous professional development, helping workers with intermediate and higher skills move on to the next level. And we’re also addressing Britain’s chronic shortfall of technical skills – especially in science, engineering and technology.

Through our “Technician Pathways” project, we’re promoting the professional standing of technicians. Not just recognising the huge contribution they make to our economic life, but extending career development opportunities to this crucial group of workers.

Conference: tackling youth unemployment; making apprenticeships better; improving our technical and higher skills. These are the some of the huge challenges facing Britain today.

And our movement is showing that we’re a big part of the answer. Ultimately our work on learning and skills is about winning a better deal for working people.

The theme of our conference this year is “Britain needs a pay rise”. But in the long run, we’re not going to get a pay rise without a productivity rise. And we’re not going to get a productivity rise without a skills rise.

That’s why what we do matters so much.

Learning reps, course tutors, project workers, education providers, support staff – together we are helping to deliver the learning revolution Britain needs.

Giving all working people – regardless of class, gender, race, age, ability or background – the chance to fulfil their true potential at work and in life.

A genuinely noble cause.

So my message to you today is simple:

Keep up the good work.

Keep innovating.

And keep changing lives.

Below is the text of the speech made by Frances O’Grady against blacklisting on 20th November 2013.

Brothers and sisters,

I am proud to bring greetings and solidarity from the TUC.

Proud to be part of this historic Day of Action.

And proud to demand justice for thousands of blacklisted workers.

Today we are joining together to speak with one voice.

And from Westminster to Cardiff to Edinburgh ­we are speaking up for the thousands of ordinary men and women whose lives have been devastated by this disgusting practice.

Denied the fundamental human right to work, to provide for their families, to enjoy any kind of standard of living.

Let’s be clear.

Penalising workers for their union activities or raising health and safety concerns has no place in any democratic or civilised society.

We need action to stamp out the scourge of blacklisting – and we need it now.

Brothers and sisters, this terrible practice has disfigured too many of our workplaces.

And it continues to do so.

Not just in the construction industry, where we know 40 firms have blacklisted workers.

But also in rail engineering, in entertainment and in offshore oil and gas, where the letters NRB – not required back – still send a shiver down the spine.

And there’s a real risk this Tory-led government could make matters worse.

Because provisions in their rotten Lobbying Bill to make union membership lists open to scrutiny amount to little more than a Blacklisters’ Charter.

Instead of giving the green light to unscrupulous employers, we need to show them the red card.

Now is the time for them to own up, clean up and above all pay up.

It’s a disgrace that none of the companies involved have faced any criminal sanctions.

It’s an abomination that many continue to use blacklists.

And it’s an outrage that not a single penny has been paid to the victims.

So what can we do to put right these fundamental wrongs?

Well, here’s a few suggestions from me.

One: let’s have a full public inquiry into the scandal along the lines of the Leveson Inquiry into press behaviour.

If celebrities and politicians have the right to find out the truth, then so too do ordinary working-class men and women.

Two: let’s have legislation to stop blacklisting, with full legal protection for workers and proper penalties for employers found guilty of the practice.

Three: let’s blacklist the blacklisters, encouraging organisations to follow the brilliant example of those 30 councils and public bodies who are preventing contracts being awarded to firms who blacklist workers.

In plain English, it’s time to beat the bastards at their own game.

And fourth: let’s ensure the voice of blacklisted workers is heard loud and clear in the corridors of power.

I’m delighted to be speaking alongside Chuka, and I look forward to a future Labour government eradicating the blacklist once and for all.

But I’m humbled to share this platform with workers who have lived with the consequences for years.

And I want to finish by saying this to them.

The TUC will keep fighting for justice.

We stand with you in solidarity.

We will work with you in the weeks and months ahead.

And will not rest until this battle is won.

Thanks for listening.

Below is the text of the speech made by Frances O’Grady on 9th September 2013.

President, Congress.

Frances O’Grady, TUC, giving my first speech as General Secretary. And after seeing that film, ever more determined that our movement should help build a stronger, fairer Britain.

We are now just 18 months away from a General Election. And the choice that the British people make could shape the kind of country we live in for generations.

If we’ve learned anything since the financial crash, then it’s this: politics is too important to be left to the politicians.

People don’t need us to tell them how tough life is for them. They want to hear the alternative. They want hope. And they want action.

It was five years ago this month, Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy in New York, citing debt of over 600 billion dollars. A price tag on obscene greed and monumental stupidity that sent shock waves around the world.

But the roots of the crash go deeper still – more than three decades to the election of Margaret Thatcher’s government. When the Right set out to break the post-war consensus.

Once, it seemed everyone agreed that the State should provide decent public services and social security as a human shield against boom-bust capitalism. Everyone saw the value of a mixed economy that put the brakes on private monopolies and guaranteed a public realm.

But no longer. What followed became the articles of a new economic faith. A fire-sale of public assets. Deregulation of the City. Weaker worker rights.

And trade unions, once respected across the political spectrum for our role in fighting fascism and as a pillar of any free and democratic society, now treated with disdain.

The values of a mythical middle England came to dominate, stretching the United Kingdom to breaking point.

The City and the new kids on the block – private equity, hedge funds and share traders – increasingly called the shots. And they unleashed an escalation of greed and inequality that ultimately led to the financial crash. Creating a new Anglo-American model that was a kind of capitalism on crack cocaine.

A legacy we’re living with today.

But it hasn’t always been like this. Whatever happened to the Conservative Party that, over 100 years ago, backed Winston Churchill’s proposal for tripartite wages councils, so that every worker would be guaranteed a living wage? Whatever happened to the Conservative Party of John Major who at least felt obliged to promise voters a ‘Classless Society’?

And whatever happened to the Conservative Party of Theresa May who once warned against becoming the Nasty Party. But who, just this summer, sent government funded vans onto the streets of multiracial London brandishing a slogan last used by the National Front?

This Government seems intent on dividing Britain, Thatcher-style. Between those in work and those out of it. Between the tax top rate payers and everyone else. Between the metropolitan elite, with their country retreats in Chipping Norton, and the so-called desolate North.

Governments may have had no choice about bailing out the banks. But they have got a political choice about what went wrong, and about where we go next.

After all, the rest of continental Europe did not deliberately de-industrialise and make a fetish of financial services in the way that 1980s Britain did.

And today, while workers in many countries have also seen their living standards fall, they have not taken the same hit we have, and trade unionism is not vilified in the same way.

Even from the European engine room of austerity, the German Chancellor still defends co-determination. And her finance minister has called on business to meet union wage demands as a way to boost consumer demand.

Here in the UK, more thoughtful Conservatives are nervous that this war on working people will lose votes. They admit that the Conservatives are seen as the party of the privileged.

They worry that attacks on the unions of ordinary decent working men and women look high handed, cold-hearted and out of touch. To paraphrase Rex Harrison in My Fair Lady, why can’t David Cameron be more like Angela Merkel?

But instead of listening to his moderates, and perhaps against his own better judgement, the Prime Minister is in hock to those who demand an ever more uncompromising stance. ‘Plenty of ugly talk about a crackdown on migrants. But no crackdown on those bosses who use cheap labour to cut costs.

Tough on welfare fraud for sure. But no sympathy for those unlucky enough to fall on hard times or lose their job.

Freedom to raise prices for big business. But no pay rise for ordinary working families.

Decent families up and down the land; facing worries that the Eton educated elite, with their serial holidays, hired help and inherited millions, simply haven’t got a clue about.

And beyond the rhetoric, what has this government actually done to recover and rebalance Britain’s economy?

Invest for the future in greening Britain’s infrastructure? No. Leave the banks alone and slash state capital investment by £22bn.

Back Britain’s advanced manufacturing base? No. Hand out government contracts to the cheapest bidder regardless of the cost to local business and jobs.

Build affordable housing? No. Launch a lending scheme that risks the very same perfect storm that got us into the mess in the first place. And then slap on a cruel bedroom tax.

The government is rehearsing the same old arguments, repeating the same old mistakes, rehashing the same old bust model of an economy built on sand.

I know Conservatives are fond of referring to PR man Lynton Crosby as their very own Wizard of Oz. But what does that make Cameron, Osborne and Clegg? When it comes to any vision for a new economy, they are the Scarecrow, the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion: No brain, no heart and no courage.

In many ways it is a testimony to the enduring strength our trade union values of care, compassion and fairness that the Right has chosen to put us in the firing line.

It explains why this week they are debating a Lobbying Bill that, far from dealing with the real dirt in politics, is designed to deny us a political voice.

Now, debating the internal arrangements of the Labour Party and the role of its affiliated unions is not the business of Westminster, nor, indeed, of this Congress. And in the hall today we also have unions who are just as proud of their party political independence.

But one thing is for sure. We are united in defending the basic democratic principle that ordinary people have the right to a political voice. That union money – the few pence freely given every week, by nurses, shop workers and truck drivers – is the cleanest cash in politics today. And that whether unions set up a political fund is a matter for members, not ministers.

Because for too long, politics has been controlled by those who already have far too much money and far too much power.

Half of the Conservative Party’s funding comes from the City. One third of their new intake of MPs are drawn from the banking industry alone. And we know what happens when the super-rich get to run the tax system.

In contrast, unions are Britain’s biggest democratic membership movement of ordinary people. We are already required by law to report our membership records every year.

We have more than ten times the membership of all of Britain’s political parties put together. It may even be more. The truth is, we simply don’t know. Because political parties don’t have to account for their members, in the way that we have to account for ours. In fact, the Conservative Party refuses point blank to say how many members it has.

But, I’m pretty sure that David Cameron has fewer members than our very own Sally Hunt or Mike Clancy. And maybe even Bob Crow. So before he starts lecturing unions about transparency, the Prime Minister should take a long hard look in the mirror. We already publish our numbers. I challenge David Cameron to publish his.

But more than all this. And here is the democratic bottom line.

If unions were denied a political voice: We wouldn’t have had the 1944 Education Act; we wouldn’t have the NHS; we wouldn’t have equal pay for women; we wouldn’t have a minimum wage. And remember who first exposed the scandal of tax avoidance?

Who first raised the alarm about falling living standards? And who first blew the whistle on zero-hours? You can see why some people want to shut us up.

That is why we must now stand up for our rights. Not just union rights. Civil rights. People’s rights.

‘The government has attacked the union link to Labour. A link that, of course, will evolve and change over time. But their real aim is to discredit all unions.

And the reason is clear: we stand for popular policies to shift wealth and power from the few to the many.

So if they can’t win the policy argument, then attack them as ‘trade union demands’. If they don’t like what we say, call us ‘union paymasters’. And if all else fails, then try the old trick of smears.

The government may be preparing for a humiliating climb down on some of the worst parts of the lobbying bill. But don’t be fooled into thinking the battle for civil liberties has been won. Unions still will be hit by cuts in funding limits. Many charities could still find themselves clobbered. And, shockingly, one thing is sure, this Bill will virtually close down Hope not Hate and Unite Against Fascism in what amounts to a free gift to the BNP. This government should be ashamed of themselves.

Congress, this is an anti-democratic, dangerous bill, and it must be defeated.

But delegates I also need to issue a challenge to the cynics within our own ranks too. We’ve all heard those who tell us that the next election does not matter. You don’t have to go far to hear people say there’s no difference between the parties, it doesn’t matter who wins, they’re all in it for themselves.

I respect their right to an opinion but I must tell you they are wrong. The result of the next election does matter. It matters a lot. To the unemployed teenager, desperate for a decent job. To the young family, hoping for a decent home. And to the elderly, the disabled and their carers, who know there must be a better way.

For trade unionists to argue that voting is a waste of time is a dangerous game that plays into the hands of our opponents.

Because ever since the Chartists first lifted their banners, the democratic voice of the people has always been our best weapon against rule by the markets, the rich and the powerful. To deny that would be a betrayal of the millions of our members whose jobs, living standards and pay depends on it.

I am not arguing that we should button up and keep quiet in the run up to the election. Nor that we should be put up with a vanilla version of austerity. On the contrary.

But it does mean that we have to roll up our sleeves and help shape the choices on offer. We need to win public opinion to our policies. And we need to prove that they are election winners.

Remember when we first campaigned for a minimum wage?

The business lobby said it would wreck the economy and politicians trembled. Now it’s as much part of the mainstream British culture as curry and chips.

It’s time for us to push the same kind of ambitious policies – to transform our economy, improve working lives and change the country for the better. A popular programme that can inspire voter confidence. A test of both values and valour.

I’m going to tell you what should go on a pledge card. And, today, I challenge politicians from all parties to say where they stand on it.

First, decent jobs.

It’s time to restore that goal of full employment, and give a cast iron jobs guarantee for the young. Full employment is the best way to boost the economy, drive up living standards and generate the tax that we need to pay down the deficit.

And let’s be clear, the reason why low-paid jobs are growing is because people have no choice but to take them. That is wrong. Employers should compete for staff. Not the other way around.

Now, George Osborne will say – but how are you going to pay for it? Well, of course the best way to pay for it is by getting economic growth. That’s why we need to invest in an intelligent industrial strategy for the future. But if the Chancellor wants to talk numbers here’s a big one. According to the Rich List, since the crash, the 1,000 richest people in Britain increased their wealth by no less than £190bn. That’s nearly double the entire budget for the NHS.

So when they ask how we’ll pay for it, let’s tell them. Fair taxes – that’s how.

One of the best ways to create jobs and apprenticeships would be to build new houses. And that’s pledge number two. One million new council and affordable homes. Our country has a desperate shortage of housing. That means landlords rake it in and the housing benefit bill rockets. It drives up the cost of a buying a home, and puts people in more debt.

So cut the waiting lists, stop another bubble and let’s build the homes young families need.

Pledge number three: fair pay – and new wages councils to back it up. Of course the national minimum wage should go up and we need tough enforcement. But take one look at company profits and you’ll see that there are plenty of industries that could, and should, pay more.

That’s why we need new wages councils, so unions and employers get around the table and negotiate.

That’s the way to guarantee not just a minimum wage, not just a living wage but a fair wage, and fair shares of the wealth workers help create.

And pledge number four could be the most popular one of all. Let’s pledge that the NHS will once again be a public service run for people and not for profit.

Let’s make adult social care a community responsibility by bringing it together with the NHS. That would save money because good social care helps elderly people stay at home when they want to be, instead of in hospital when they don’t. And while we’re about it, let’s have a proper system of care for our children too.

So instead of shrinking the welfare state, let’s strengthen it. That’s the way to build a stronger economy too.

And five – fair rights at work. No more union busting. No more blacklisting. And no more zero hours.

Instead we need decent employment rights; strong unions with the freedom to organise, and a bit more economic democracy. We already work with the best employers, keeping workers healthy and safe, giving them the chance to learn new skills, guaranteeing fair pay and fair treatment.

Through the worst of the recession, we made thousands of agreements to save jobs and keep plants open.

And let me say this, I believe there isn’t a boardroom in Britain that wouldn’t benefit from giving ordinary workers a voice.

Of course these aren’t the only issues on which we campaign. We oppose the creeping privatisation of our education system. We want our railways returned to public ownership. And let’s send a strong message from this Congress – we will fight this latest senseless, sell-off of the family silver – hands off our Royal Mail.

We’ve got sensible policies. Good policies. Popular policies. And their importance is that, together, they make a promise of a better future. They cut through the pessimism, and give people confidence.

So I want to end not just by asking Congress to back the General Council statement that I move today.

But more importantly: To unite. To organise. And to campaign.

As the late, great poet Seamus Heaney, wrote: ‘Move lips, move minds and let new meanings flare’.

For the people we saw on that film. For a new economy that puts the interests of working people at its heart. For our values of equality, solidarity and democracy.

So that, together, we build a Britain of which we can be proud.

Below is the text of the speech made by Frances O’Grady to the TUC Conference in Brighton on 11th September 2012.

Well Brothers. You’ve been thinking about this for 144 years. Now….I don’t want to rush you but… Are you really sure?

And, sisters, will you join me in giving notice to anyone who still thinks that women are the weaker sex – you better think again.

I want to thank you and your unions for nominating me to become General Secretary of the TUC. There is no greater honour.

And I also want to give my personal thanks to Brendan. Brendan has always shown me respect. He has always consulted me and encouraged me. And, when times were tough, he has always backed me.

He has taught me that we work best when we work as a team. And for that I also want to thank our TUC staff, whose talent and commitment is second to none. Brendan – I couldn’t have wished for a better boss or a better friend. Thank you.

Delegates, we are the voice of millions of working people, men and women, black and white, migrant worker or British-born, including many who are not yet our members. Millions of ordinary families who are under unprecedented pressure but who want hope for the future.

I will make sure that our voice is heard day in day out. That our concerns can’t be ignored, dismissed or marginalised. I will not let any government, or any party, take us for granted.

Of course our movement must be open to change. And change we will in the months and years ahead.

Not just talking to ourselves, about ourselves. But reaching out more. Campaigning more. And, if needs be, fighting back more.

I will put the TUC, Congress House and our regions at the heart of the values, hopes and campaigns that you – our affiliated unions – all share.

Change must mean a banking system that serves the real economy, not just itself. Change must mean a green industrial strategy that puts Britain back to work. Change must mean public services, publicly owned – not just our precious NHS but child care, elder care. And our railways too. And change must mean not just a minimum wage, not just a living wage, but a fair wage for the people of this country.

That means finding new ways to rebuild the scope and coverage of collective bargaining, our bread and butter work. New ways to humanise work, recognising we all have a right to family life. And it means new ways to win more democracy for ordinary people at work.

Because no one has a greater interest in the future success of the workplace than those whose livelihoods depend on it.

That collective strength has never been more needed in Britain today. It is our only protection against greed, injustice and the abuse of power.

There are many ways to tackle the obscenity of inequality. But there is none more effective than strong trade unions.

Weak unions mean wider inequality. Strong unions are the surest measure of a fairer society.

On October 20th I will be proud to stand at the head of what must be a truly mass demonstration – the TUC giving expression to the fears and hopes of the British people in a way that no other organisation, no other movement could do.

We are still the biggest organisation in civil society, our tens of thousands of elected representatives – people like you – are the Big Society.

Our values represent everything that is best in our society. Decency. Democracy. Fairness. These are my values – our values, trade union values. Together we can win, we will build for a future that works.

Below is the text of a speech made by Frances O’Grady at the TUC Disability Conference which was held in Blackpool on Tuesday 9th December 2003.

The TUC is delighted once again that the minister for disabled people has joined us for our conference. I know that you have always demonstrated a strong commitment to the same causes that the TUC supports, and that the work you have been doing to advance the rights of disabled people has been very important – even if we may sometimes have disagreements over some aspects. I am very pleased that you have been so interested in hearing our views, and that you recognise that the TUC is a strong and principled voice for equality, and that the people we represent have experiences that are really important, and have opinions based on real life that certainly help us at the TUC to arrive at our conclusions. We are very pleased as well that you have always agreed to stay to take questions from our delegates, because that way you get, directly, a flavour of what these experiences are, and what our members’ views are.

I know that the whole conference will be looking forward to hearing from you this afternoon, and I imagine that you will be telling us a little bit about the new disability bill that you announced just last week. At this conference last year, delegates were keen to discuss what changes need to be made to existing disability law, and no less keen that, as soon as possible, the Government should deliver on its undertaking to reform the DDA. At the previous year’s conference, so strongly did the conference feel about this, that it voted to select, from all the motions agreed at the conference, a motion calling for a strong new disability bill to submit to the TUC Congress – where as you may know, it was debated and carried unanimously. Last year, we were very disappointed that up to that time, no progress had been secured in this vital question.

Now, since this has been the European Year of Disabled People, it has been especially appropriate that we will now have a draft bill to consider. We know, of course, that the prejudice and discrimination faced by our disabled citizens cannot be removed just by having good legal rights – although having good legal rights would be a step forward indeed! That is why we will listen very closely to what you have to say about the scope of the new bill, and why I can promise conference that the TUC will consult closely with the unions as we go into the New Year to prepare a submission to help make the bill as strong as possible.

Conference will know too that as part of the TUC’s commitment to achieving equality for disabled people, we have been campaigning on several fronts during the last year. We have organised training for thousands of workplace representatives to deal with the connection between disability rights and health and safety issues in the workplace. We have continued to advance the arguments for improvements to the benefits system, as part of our approach of making it more possible for those disabled people who are out of work, but who want to work and who can work, to move into work.

But the biggest public thing we have been doing this year has been our petition, and on behalf of the TUC I want to thank every union here that helped us in this campaign for their contribution. Through promoting this petition, we have taken the message to thousands of trade union members, disabled but also non-disabled, that the TUC wants the law changed, that we want it changed as soon as possible, and that we want it changed significantly, so that some of the most serious problems with the DDA are got rid of. And our members have responded powerfully, and we have the petition here with us, and Maria [Eagle MP], in a few moments, it will be my privilege and honour to present it to you on behalf of the British trade union movement.

But as I have already said, however good we manage to make the law, the challenge we all face is much deeper. We know that at a time when employment rates in Britain are as good as they have ever been, the proportion of disabled people of working age who want to work but are out of work has moved up, but only by a small percentage. We are worried that for every step of progress made in climbing this mountain, where employers come to understand the value and the need to recruit disabled workers, at the other end of the scale other disabled workers are being forced out, made redundant, given early ill health or disability retirement. Many of those who do find work are to be found in low paid and insecure jobs, in so many cases unable to afford to contribute to pension funds. So the cycle of poverty continues into retirement even when people do find employment. There are many other issues, too, that relate to this crucial challenge, and it was a motion on this topic that the conference selected last year to send to the 2003 TUC Congress.

What are the answers? Well, if ever there was a need for a joined-up approach, this is it. We need at least to promote the benefits of employing more disabled people at the same time as improving legal protection against discrimination on grounds of disability. Easily stated, of course, but as both we and the Government have seen, quite hard to achieve. Because as well as changing the law, we know it requires a big change of attitude. There isn’t a magic wand to wave that will overcome so much commonplace ignorance and prejudice in a flash. So we welcome most sincerely the promise in the new bill to introduce a public duty to promote disability equality. This could be a critical step in helping change attitudes, too.

But what about private employers? It may be getting a bit tedious to have to keep repeating the same old message, but we have argued for a long time that schemes like Access to Work, where they have been used, have been a fantastic success, but not enough people know about it, and despite the very welcome increases in the budget that the Government has organised, year after year, the potential demand is still vastly greater than the supply, yes, but the potential impact on increasing employment rates for disabled people is greater still.

Workstep, too, has witnessed increases in its funding, and this is most welcome. But again, potentially, the number of more severely disabled people who could possibly benefit from such a scheme vastly exceeds the few thousand who do, a number too which has not increased. There are other important issues too about the way Workstep now operates that unions have brought to our attention, issues we have raised with Government. But the key message I want to get across here is that these are measures where the Government, directly, can make an impact, can help to tackle the problems disabled people have in getting properly paid, secure employment. Of course they cost money, but in terms of cost benefit, it is a small price to pay.

We have also made the case that the problem must be tackled from the other side. It isn’t a secret that a lot of disabled people currently on benefit are themselves reluctant to take up work, for the very real fear that if the employment doesn’t work out, they will find themselves facing even greater problems than they faced when on benefit in the first place. The TUC has proposed ways to deal with this, and has welcomed several of the Government’s initiatives to reform the way the benefits system works. Let’s press on with easing the path from unemployment into work with all the powers available to us. But to meet this challenge isn’t cost-free, either, and we need to see significant improvements in the funding for schemes like the New Deal for Disabled People. And while we continue to urge more resources for measures such as these, nor must it be forgotten that there are large numbers of disabled people who have retired, or are very unlikely ever to be able to work, for whom providing the support needed to maintain respect and dignity along with an adequate standard of living are key indicators of a civilised society.

Of course it’s easy to set out the problems, and to make a list of things we believe should be done, not quite so easy to actually do them. So it would be rather one-sided of me if I didn’t at least acknowledge that trade unions too have a way to go before we can claim to be properly accessible, properly representative of our disabled members and potential members. As you know, the TUC carried out an equality audit earlier this year, that was reported to Congress. Our audit found that while some great progress has been made by trade unions over recent years, there was also much still to be done. And in this hall, too, you will know that at least as far as disability is concerned, time to take the next steps towards proper accessibility is strictly limited – next October, in fact, when the new disability regulations come into force that apply to unions both as employers and as trade associations. I am delighted to tell you that the TUC has looked at this, and has drawn up some advice for unions on how to comply with the new regulations, and on how to build on the law as a minimum standard. We will be looking at this at our Executive next week, then circulating it to trade unions. After all, when we talk to Government about what needs to be done for disability equality, we need to be sure that we are doing all we can, too, to be inclusive. I am confident that with all your help, we can and will meet this particular challenge.

So conference, I know you will be discussing a wide range of important questions over the next couple of days, and I can confirm that the TUC will pay full heed to your advice. I will close by wishing you all a very successful and enjoyable conference, and I know you are with me as I take this moment to present to you, Maria, on behalf of the TUC and the trade union movement, this petition with its ten thousand signatures that urge the Government to legislate quickly, but also effectively, to secure another vital step towards equality for disabled people in this country.