Time to support disabled workers?

A motion on opposing welfare reforms from TUC disabled workers was moved by Unite delegate Martin Gwyther.????????????????????????????????????

The motion noted the government?s spring statement ?with anger? and the attacks on ?disability benefits (proposed significant welfare changes to Personal Independence Payments (PIP) and Universal Credit (UC))? as it would force disabled workers into unemployment.

It condemned the cuts to PIP and called for the involvement of disabled people in  designing a welfare system that is fit for purpose now and in the future.

The motion called for a raft of measures that opposed cuts to PIP and disability measures.

Unite?s Martin Gwyther, opened his speech by saying, ?This motion is about finally bringing an end to the hostile environment the last government built against disabled people.

?It is time to end the humiliating and dehumanising processes of getting help. It is time to support people into work, not make the lives of disabled people even harder. For years the Tories deliberately confused the purpose of personal independence payments to ramp up its hateful rhetoric.

?The reality is PIP eligibility is based on whether someone?s impairment or health conditions affect their day-to-day life. We have been left with a system where people are made to feel guilty or undeserving of desperately needed support.

Three million people receive PIP ? a 3 per cent increase on last year, he reported.

Martin continued, ?That?s three million people who have had to endure what one claimant described as ?psychological warfare?. Another spoke of ?weeping at the outcome” due to the “sheer relief” of getting through the process. Other claimants report feeling ?tricked? into phone assessments, where the assessor was trying to ?disprove? their difficulties.

?Our motion calls on the government to prove it is on the side of disabled workers,? he explained.

?We are calling for a new, fairer and caring system. This must include replacing tick box assessments with proper discussions with medical professionals; giving real support for people whose impairments and difficulties are not always visible; ending privatisation ? there can be no place for profiteering in our welfare system.?

Martin urged delegates to support the motion.

By Amanda Campbell

Photo by Mark Thomas