Equal Opportunities Independent Review

Section 2

INSTITUTIONAL DISCRIMINATION AND APPROACHES TO EQUALITY AND DIVERSITY

This section deals very briefly with an introduction to some of the issues that provide the background to this review. It also highlights some of the initiatives that the CWU has taken to date on equality issues.

Institutional Discrimination

One of the factors behind the CWU conducting this review was the publication of the Lawrence Report and the identification of the concept of institutional discrimination. Institutional discrimination in the report is described as:

"the collective failure of an organisation to provide appropriate and professional service to people because of their colour; culture or ethnic origin. It can be seen or detected in processes, attitudes and behaviour which amount to discrimination through unwitting prejudice, ignorance, thoughtlessness and racist stereotyping which disadvantages minority ethnic people."

While the report was concerned with the Metropolitan Police, a fundamental point that emerged from the report was that without action being taken, such discrimination was likely to occur in all organisations. The point was also made in the report, that while overt or "direct" discrimination was often obvious, and usually seen by people as morally and socially unacceptable, discrimination in a more subtle and less obvious form could be just as damaging.

As the Lawrence report emphasises, institutional discrimination, which is concerned with how an organisation operates as a whole, often reflects a failure of Leadership to give this issue the attention and priority that it deserves. The concept of institutional discrimination is also as relevant to other equality areas such as gender and sexual orientation.

The importance of the Lawrence Report is that it has alerted the country to what can happen when discrimination is allowed to continue unchecked and unnoticed.

Approaches to Equality Issues and Diversity

In the light of the Lawrence Report, many organisations are now reviewing themselves and finding themselves wanting.

Part of the process has also included the recognition that the concern is not just with race equality, although there may be an early emphasis on this area, but also with other equality areas such as Gay and Lesbian issues as well. In part this reflects what is seen as a failure of many of the initiatives taken in the past on equality.

There is a growing consensus that the types of issues that need to be addressed include:

• The failure of organisations to address equality at all, or where they have done, to address the issue effectively.
• The failure to mainstream equality issues. Too often they are seen as an add on or separate to the main business of an organisation.
• A failure to define and develop how good intentions are delivered in practice and to produce schedules and systems of measuring achievement.
• The concept of equality has not been 'sold' to staff and often inadequately communicated with mixed messages being given out, that are often confusing.

Apart from the moral, social and legislative reasons for having effective approaches on equality there are also other arguments:-

• The diversity approach takes the premise that all people and all individuals are valued for what they are. The task of an organisation is to develop these individuals to their full potential.
• The important point of having fair policies on equality and diversity is that it is also good for organisations in terms of staff.
• An organisation that is seen to be fair and equal is seen to have a strong reputation.

The above points provide a framework as a background to the review of the CWU. Overall the report will show many positive aspects of the unions approach to equality, but it will also reveal substantial shortfalls where action is required to improve the situation. It is emphasised that a similar picture will emerge in most organisations to various degrees in respect of "negative" or "positive" results on successful approaches to equality. The CWU is no different to many other organisations in this respect. The next step is to gauge how it implements and delivers any changes that are now required.

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