Working Lives Research Institute
WLRI has succeeded in gaining funding through the Acas Research Partnership programme to investigate the experiences of trade union Equality Reps in addressing discrimination in the workplace on multiple grounds. The research will be carried out by WLRI researchers Tessa Wright and Sian Moore, together with Hazel Conley from Queen Mary, University of London. The researchers will co-operate with a related Acas project on employee experience of multiple discrimination to be run by Maria Hudson at the Policy Studies Institute.
The project will provide insights into the complexities of dealing with discrimination on more than one ground through an examination of the experiences of trade union Equality Reps (ERs) in two public services unions UNISON and PCS. As reps with a remit to address equality in its broadest form, ERs are well placed to deal with members’ individual and collective experiences of discrimination on multiple grounds. The research will draw on contacts established during evaluations of UNISON and PCS ER projects previously undertaken by WLRI.
The research will provide practical examples to illuminate the relatively new concept of multiple discrimination at the level of the workplace, as well as information on Equality Reps’ understandings of the concept. This will shed light on how far legal redress for discrimination on this basis is valid and workable in the light of potential law on dual discrimination. At the end of the project, a workshop will be held with Acas to present the findings.