STUC Disabled Workers’ Conference 2022: Usdaw calls for an end to the impact of austerity and raises issues around flexible working

Paddy Lillis – Usdaw General Secretary says: “Without disabled workers, key industries like retail and food manufacturing would be unable to function. Millions of key workers are disabled workers, who continued to go out to work throughout the pandemic. Despite Government and employer rhetoric about valuing key workers, many disabled workers feel unheard and undervalued.

“Positive worker-centred flexible working can be a reasonable adjustment for disabled workers, if it removes a barrier they face to doing their job.  However, one-sided employer driven flexibility has a detrimental impact on the physical and mental wellbeing of disabled workers.  Lack of control over working hours, low and fluctuating pay, short notice changes to hours and low hours contracts make it difficult, sometimes impossible, for disabled workers to manage their wellbeing and work life balance.

“So we continue to challenge casualised, one-sided forms of flexibility that only work for the employer; while raising awareness of the discriminatory impact one-sided flexibility has on disabled workers, ensuring the voice of disabled workers is heard when campaigning around flexible working. We are also campaigning for the right to a contract that reflects an individual’s usual worked hours.”

Paddy Lillis continued: “Disabled people should not pay the price for years of austerity. We reject any suggestion that this is an inevitable response to crises and assert that poverty is a political decision. The disability pay gap in Scotland is estimated at over 12%. As well as being paid less, disabled people face additional costs that are least 10% higher than the UK average. After excluding disability related benefits from household income, almost twice as many households with a disabled person live in relative poverty.

“We welcome the STUC's strong lead in calling for urgent and comprehensive action by Westminster and Holyrood; including improving social security payments, the introduction of a windfall tax on multi-billion pound companies and an Employment Bill that delivers a New Deal for Workers. Usdaw is calling on the Scottish Government to use their devolved powers to improve the value, reach and accessibility of disability benefits and pressure Westminster to do the same.”