Received from: GMB
Merged into composite 06
Congress believes that the coronavirus outbreak has exposed fundamental inequalities and institutional discrimination in the UK’s economy and society.
Congress condemns the unequal treatment that has left:
i. BME workers at much higher risk: Black men face a mortality risk from coronavirus that is 3.3 times higher than that of white men, and Black women facing a risk of death that is 2.4 times higher than that of white women
ii. sharp gender disparities: 75 per cent of workers in occupations most exposed to coronavirus are women
iii. disabled people at twice the risk of death compared to people who are not disabled
iv. mortality rates in the most deprived areas that were more than double those in the least deprived areas
v. older workers and other at-risk groups not receiving the protection and support they need
vi. younger workers bearing the worst economic burden from job losses and hours reductions.
Congress calls on the TUC to:
a. support calls for a public inquiry into deaths in minority communities
b. research and develop a campaign for policies to protect and compensate the groups most affected by coronavirus
c. campaign for the UK government to enact the public sector duty on socio-economic inequalities contained in Part 1 of the Equality Act
d. support mandatory individual risk assessments for workers in at-risk groups
e. recognise that hundreds of workers have died due to institutional discrimination
f. campaign for an end to discriminatory labour market policies, including age-based redundancy payments.
GMB