“Proposals to undermine payments and limit access to benefits… are arbitrary and callous and will inevitably push already poor households further into destitution”
Today, General Secretaries of trade unions in the Trade Union Coordinating Group – a group consisting of the BFAWU, Equity, FBU, NAPO, NUJ, NEU, PCS, POA, RMT, UCU and URTU – have written to the Government to raise their profound concerns over the £5bn welfare cuts targeted at disabled people. Below, we reproduce their letter in full.
Dear PM/Chancellor/Secretary of State,
As leaders of 11 national trade unions collectively representing over 1 million workers across the UK, we are profoundly concerned by the proposals outlined in the “Pathways to Work” Green Paper.
Our organisations exist to represent the interests of working people, but to pit this against the livelihoods of sick and disabled people unable to work is morally reprehensible. Don’t working people have family members or neighbours who are disabled or too sick to work? Might they not experience a change in circumstance in the future whereby they would need, through no fault of their own, to rely on the limited social security offered by the Personal Independence Payment?
Nobody disputes that that there are people who – were the genuine support and assistance they required to be provided – would seek to return to the workplace. But this requires investment not austerity cuts. It requires additional funds for counselling and mental health services, for adaptions to working environments, and for new assistance technologies. It also requires a flexible approach to remote working and flexibility in working hours.
Proposals to undermine payments and limit access to benefits – reclassifying people as able to work to meet Treasury-driven objectives – are arbitrary and callous and will inevitably push already poor households further into destitution. This approach is totally antithetical to the values of the labour movement, and will rightly face enormous opposition from disabled peoples’ organisations, charities, faith organisations and everyone concerned with living in a fairer society.
We call on you to think again, to withdraw these measures, and to appeal to Treasury colleagues to introduce greater flexibility into the fiscal rules in order to enable the investment necessary to provide genuine support to those unable to work, and to bring down the numbers of people unable to work in the longer term.
We would be happy to meet with Government ministers regarding these concerns and look forward to receiving your reply.
Kind regards
Paul Flemming (Equity)
Sarah Woolley (BFAWU)
Steve Wright (FBU)
Daniel Kebede (NEU)
Laura Davidson (NUJ)
Fran Heathcote (PCS)
Steve Gillan (POA)
Eddie Dempsey (RMT)
Dr Jo Grady (UCU)
Bob Monks (URTU)
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