MU member Brian Aylward spoke to the MU’s motion at the TUC’s Disabled Workers’ Conference in Bournemouth.
MU members are calling on Conference to make the performing arts more inclusive, both on and off stage, and to encourage other trade unions to follow suit by supporting the Let Me ON Stage campaign led by Drake Music Scotland.
The motion passed unanimously with support from trade unions including Equity, which seconded the motion, the NEU, NUJ, UCU and Unite.
Disabled Workers’ Conference sees members from across the trade union movement come together to direct TUC policy, decide what the TUC’s Disabled Workers’ Committee will do for the next year, and send one motion directly to the main TUC Conference in September.
Addressing Conference, Shadow Minister for Disabled People Marsha De Cordova MP discussed government cuts and Conservative failures to live up to promises of support.
"The Conservative government pledged to halve the disability employment gap, but they are systematically failing disabled people on social security and employment," she said.
Cordova also discussed representation, telling Conference, "Transformative change is desperately needed. For too long the tabloid press have demonised the disabled."
Full text of the MU's Motion to TUC Disabled Workers' Conference
Conference notes that disabled musicians often face challenges when wanting to perform on stage.
Conference believes that one of the main reasons for this is that most venues do not have sufficient accessibility for disabled musicians to be able to perform even when legislation is there to provide access for audiences.
Drake Scotland, a charity supporting disabled musicians, is campaigning for this to change with their campaign “LetMeONStage” which highlights the multiple barriers preventing people with disabilities from actively participating in the arts.
Conference calls on the TUC to help support this campaign making the performing arts more inclusive both on and off stage and to encourage other unions to follow and support it.
Get involved
The Musicians’ Union has an Equalities Committee and participates in TUC conferences through the year. Find out more and get involved.
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