Equal Opportunities Independent Review

Section 1

INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND

Introduction

In March 2000 the Communication Workers' Union ("CWU") commissioned an independent review of the union in relation to equal opportunity. This followed earlier discussion within the union and specific resolutions passed on racial equality and the Lawrence Report; and also homophobia in the light of the London bombings. The union as an employer was included as part of the study as it was considered that the union should be seen to practice what it preached, and also as part of its aim to be a model organisation to others on equal opportunities.

A branch survey was also included as part of the study and the results of this were added to the report a few days before conference. However, despite this being the interim report, it does contain all the material relating to the CWU and its members, along with descriptions, analysis and recommendations for future action.

Background

Stephen Lawrence Report and Homophobia

The CWU commissioned the review of equality following an eventful and notorious year. 1999 was the year of the publication of the Stephen Lawrence Report which followed the horrific murder of Stephen Lawrence in South London some years before. 1999 was also the year of the bombings in South and Central London, the first being aimed at black and ethnic minority people in Brixton, and the second at gay and lesbian people in Soho.

This was also a time when significant changes were being made to equality legislation which will have a significant impact on employers and trade unions. Recent months have also been a time of massive media coverage on equality issues.

The CWU: Review and Methodology

The Review was set up in the light of delegate motions to review the union's activities on race equality and Gay and Lesbian issues. The terms of reference were:

"the project will assess and review all aspects of the Communication Workers' Unions' systems policies and procedures in relation to staff and membership in respect of race equality and also and gay lesbian issues. The aim is to ensure that all systems and procedures are fair, relevant, and up to date, and in respect of race they fully reflect the contents and recommendations of the Lawrence Report and any recommendations from the TUC task force. The review will include discussion and consultation with a full range staff officials and members from throughout the unions. The provisional results of the review will be presented at Conference in June for discussion and debate".

DLA Consulting were commissioned to undertake the review and Colin Hann and Elaine Bowes were the staff who carried out the review (see Appendix for further details).

The review included two areas, the CWU as an employer and the CWU as a trade union. Given the size, role and scope of the organisation, the latter area constituted a major part of the work, although significant time was spent on assessing the CWU as an employer as well. In both studies, however a common approach was taken and the study effectively included two component parts:

The first: included a review of policies and procedures and constituted an analysis of the "formal" systems of the union.

The second: this was an important aspect of the study and was concerned with what can be called a "culture assessment", that is gathering perspectives and opinions. All staff and members were also invited to contribute individually with any particular perspectives or problems they may have, and some individuals took advantage of this offer. Hence the review included:

• an overall high level postal survey of branches.
• an analysis of policies, procedures and systems.
• interviews with a range of individual staff and members at all evels in the union.
• meetings with the Ethnic Minority Advisory Committee and the Lesbian and Gay Advisory Committee.
• attendance at a course held at Elstead and other discussions with those responsible for Training in the union.
• a meeting with union representatives and also staff at union headquarters.
• meetings with officers, members and activists in Glasgow, Leeds, Manchester, Birmingham, Belfast, Bristol and London.

The latter meetings were not as well attended as they might have been in some areas, with many Branches not being represented.

All the meetings were conducted in a constructive, open and very positive atmosphere, especially given the sometimes controversial and even difficult nature of the subjects being addressed. Many individuals were very honest with what they had to say and many showed considerable courage in talking personally both about themselves and their views.

All the information gathered from these various sources now forms the basis of this report.