TUC Disabled Workers’ Conference 2025

NUJ motions on reasonable adjustments and protecting Access to Work were passed at this year’s TUC Disabled Workers’ Conference.

“Your fight for dignity and respect, for economic justice and for equality is the trade union movement's fight,” Kate Bell, TUC assistant general secretary, told delegates on the first day of conference.  

The NUJ delegation – Natasha Hirst, Ann Galpin, Johny Cassidy, Lynn Degele, and student observer Polly Thomas – joined disabled workers across the UK in voicing unanimous opposition to the government’s planned welfare cuts.  

On the first day of conference Natasha chaired a joint Trade Union Co-ordinating Group (TUCG) and Public Commercial Services Union (PCS) fringe event. The event outlined the devastating impact of the Labour government’s plans to further cut disability and benefits payments after 15 years of austerity under the Conservative and coalition governments. The panel consisted of John McDonnell MP, Andy Mitchell (Unite, Disabled People Against Cuts), and Bev Laidlaw (PCS), and took numerous contributions from the full room of delegates. Panellists called for unions to oppose the cuts and support the actions of grassroots deaf and disabled people’s organisations. 

Later in the day Johny Cassidy moved the NUJ’s motion on disabled workers’ right to reasonable adjustments. Johny offered various examples of non-costly reasonable adjustments - from screen readers, sign language interpreters, and Access to Work grants, to employers simply exercising empathy. “Having a reasonable adjustment in place is what gives us a level playing field,” Johny said. “That is the difference between equality and equity.” Delegates voted overwhelmingly in favour of the motion, which included calls for the TUC to raise awareness of existing reasonable adjustments, and support unions to challenge misinformation about the Access to Work scheme. 

Protecting Access to Work was also the subject of an emergency motion from the NUJ. In May, the Disability News Service reported leaked information of government plans for further cost-cutting that will make it significantly harder to access the scheme, which provides practical, financial, communications, and mental health support. The report also suggested there would be an end to entitlements such as ergonomic chairs and assisted software for reading, writing, and recording.  

Natasha noted that freelances and self-employed workers would be particularly affected by loss of Access to Work grants and Personal Independence Payments (PIPs). PIP is not means-tested and so is essential to offsetting the additional costs that disabled people incur in their daily lives - regardless of whether they are in employment.  

Natasha said: 

“Universal Credit isn’t fit for purpose to top up our income, which can fluctuate wildly from month to month. When you are self-employed you are not entitled to sick pay or holiday pay. You definitely don’t get disability leave. 

Many of us are self-employed because we are forced out of the labour market due to discrimination and lack of access. Our contributions are valuable, in our workplaces, in our communities. But the government doesn’t recognise that.  

Access to Work needs strengthening with more funding, not cuts. As with many other proposals, the government fails to recognise that cutting vital support will force us out of work, will add more pressure to the NHS, to social services, and to already under-resourced third sector organisations that fill the gaps in state support.  

This is a full-on attack on our rights. We must protect access to work. We need to use every argument, every example we have, to leave MPs in no doubt about the harm they will inflict if they support the government proposals. It’s a political choice to attack our rights. We are not their easy target.” 

Throughout the day, delegates pointed out that government proposals do not address the societal barriers that exclude disabled people. Many unions explained, contrary to government rhetoric about ‘getting more people into work’, that their members will be forced out of a job under current proposals. Delegates called for increased solidarity between the trade union movement and deaf and disabled people’s organisations, recognising the need for joint campaigns to force a government U-turn on welfare cuts. 

On the second day of conference, the NUJ delegation seconded a GMB motion on disability pay gap reporting. An NUJ amendment added a call for the TUC to pressure the Office of National Statistics (ONS) to improve data collection on self-employed people. “There is almost nothing in the Employment Rights Bill that addresses the exploitation and inequalities that freelances experience,” said Natasha. 

Johny later spoke in support of a motion by the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (USDAW), which highlighted the potential for unchecked technological advancements to further marginalise disabled workers. After Fiona Branson from the Musicians’ Union drew attention to the copyright breaches involved with generative AI, Johny said: “I love generative AI. I love it for the possibilities that it can bring. I love it for the accessibility that it offers me. But the warnings have to be heeded. We, as disabled people, need to be part of the development of this technology.” Other motion passed during the two days included supporting neurodivergent workers, challenging disability discrimination, and making rail accessible for all.  

Before the close of conference, delegates held a minute’s silence for disabled colleagues who have died in the past year. Speaking on behalf of the TUC Disabled Workers Committee, Ann Galpin expressed solidarity with those killed and disabled in Palestine. Ann said: 

"The Disabled Workers Committee recognise that thousands of Palestinians, mainly women and children, have been killed and many more injured because of Israeli military operations. Public infrastructure including hospitals, and education settings including schools, have been targeted. Almost the entire population of the Gaza Strip has been forcibly displaced. 

Workers including journalists and health workers have been killed while doing their jobs. Aid workers have been targeted and blockaded by Israeli authorities, resulting in thousands of Palestinians facing starvation. We know that the outcome of war and those injured within war will be more disabled people. Disabled people who could go on and live fully fulfilling and wonderful lives, but lives fundamentally altered, lives that now encounter a multitude of barriers.  

We do not want to see war and we do not want to see people disabled because of it. We welcome the UK government's decision to halt trade talks with the Israeli government, which the TUC has long called for. But we need our government to go further.”

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