Devolution and disabled workers: the experiences of union equality representatives in Wales

Date01 March 2015
Published date01 March 2015
DOIhttp://doi.org/10.1111/irj.12096
AuthorDeborah Foster
Devolution and disabled workers: the
experiences of union equality
representatives in Wales
Deborah Foster
ABSTRACT
In contrast to the Coalition Government, the Welsh Assembly embraced the original
objectives of the Public Sector Equality Duty and provided financial support to
develop a network of union equality representatives (ERs). With reference to ER
support for disabled workers, this article examines the role of devolution in equalities
bargaining.
1 INTRODUCTION
The important potential role that trade union representatives can play in advancing
equality and diversity in the workplace was acknowledged by the UK Labour admin-
istration of 2005–10. Labour’s Union Modernisation Fund (UMF) provided 1.5
million pounds of financial support for union-led training and recruitment projects to
develop workplace union equality representative (ER) roles (Trades Union Congress,
2009a: 12). The introduction of a new Equality Act (EqA) in 2010 that harmonised
national law and extended the scope of anti-discrimination legislation was also over-
seen by Labour. However, while acknowledging ‘the pioneering work of trade union
equality representatives’ (Discrimination Law Review, 2007: 11), Labour failed to
provide them with statutory rights to time off to perform their role. The subsequent
election of a Coalition of Conservatives and Liberal Democrats, hostile to union
facility time and many of the more progressive and proactive provisions of the EqA,
has since made this aspiration even less realisable (Fredman, 2011; Hepple, 2011).
This article examines the experiences of trade union ERs in the devolved Welsh
territories. Since its inception in 1988, the Welsh Assembly Government (WAG) has
been proactive in promoting equalities (Chaney, 2009; Chaney and Fevre, 2002;
Davies, 2003). Indeed, The Government of Wales Act contained an explicit commit-
ment to have due regard to promote equality of opportunity for all people in Wales.
More recently, the devolution of responsibilities for equality policies to regional
governments and the regional arms of the Equality and Human Rights Commission
(EHRC) under the provisions of the EqA (2010) further facilitated opportunities
for localised initiatives (Foster with Williams, 2011; Chaney, 2009; Squires, 2008).
Deborah Foster is a Senior Lecturer in Employment Relations, Cardiff Business School. Correspond-
ence should be addressed to Deborah Foster, Cardiff Business School (CARBS), Cardiff University,
Aberconway Building, Colum Drive, Cardiff CF10 3EU; email: FosterD1@cardiff.ac.uk
Industrial Relations Journal 46:2, 153–168
ISSN 0019-8692
© 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd
Specific Welsh Duties, described as ‘significantly more prescriptive than the English
Regulations’ (Pyper, 2014) and which form part of the Public Sector Equality Duty
(PSED), illustrate this. Duties in Wales were formulated following what the WAG
termed a ‘listening exercise’ in 2009. They were then formally drafted by the WAG in
July 2010 and were subject to a consultation process between September and Decem-
ber 2010. Implemented in full in 2011, these more robust Duties, among other things,
maintain the importance of Equality Impact Assessments (EIAs) and demand that
public authorities in consultation with relevant groups publish agreed Strategic
Equality Plans to include timeframes for meeting objectives. The industrial relations
(IR) environment in Wales, shaped as it is by a historic commitment to social part-
nership and public services, is also important in differentiating it from England
(Foster and Scott, 2007; Bond and Hollywood, 2010; Davies, 2003). In 2013, Welsh
Labour also realised a manifesto promise that committed the WAG to funding an ER
network officer based at Wales TUC (WTUC), illustrating its commitment to devel-
oping workplace equalities.
Work performed by ERs in Wales in the much under-researched area of workplace
disability representation forms the main focus of debate. Since the passage of the UK
Disability Discrimination Act in 1995, unions have become increasingly involved in
workplace disability issues, though as the quotations below demonstrate, it is gener-
ally accepted that this is an area where they need to do more work:
There appears to be less understanding of disability issues, in particular issues around mental health and
other ‘invisible’ disabilities among employers, union reps. and union officers compared to areas such as
gender and race (Bond and Hollywood, 2010: 7).
Lack of understanding of the principles of disability discrimination law remains a serious problem with
numerous employers, managers and union representatives and training in (as a minimum) what the
EqA requires is vital if genuine progress is to be made (TUC, 2013: 4).
Representing disabled employees can present unions with specific challenges. Dif-
ferent impairments can have a differential impact on employees and their job roles,
with the consequence that union case work can be highly individualised, complex and
time-consuming, particularly when negotiating appropriate adjustments (Foster and
Fosh, 2010). The requirement to make workplace adjustments has been interpreted by
some (Tambourides, 2011) as reflecting a social model of disability, because the law
asks employers to address the barriers experienced by people with impairments.
However, as Foster (2011) and Morris (2011) argue, in practice, the legal requirement
that a person passes an impairment eligibility test (Goss et al., 2000) is based on an
individual medical model of disability and the concept of ‘reasonableness’ in law
allows employers to refuse adjustments on a case by case basis. As a consequence,
employers often conceptualise individual employees and their impairments as ‘the
problem’, rather than the social organisation of work. In 2003, the TUC began to
train specialist ‘disability champions’ to try to address the specific interests of disabled
employees at workplace level (TUC, 2013). An analysis of their role by Bacon and
Hoque (2014) found that while disability champions had had a positive impact on the
willingness of employers to conduct disability audits and review equal opportunities
policies, their influence in the critical area of employer willingness to make individual
reasonable adjustments was more limited.
The aims of the article are threefold. The first is to examine the role and context in
which devolved government enforces UK equalities legislation and the influence of
regional political, policy, statutory and IR variables. The second aim is to explore
through a survey carried out in cooperation with WTUC whether this regional
154 Deborah Foster
© 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd

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