RMT holds first disabled members conference

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Published in Solidarity 435, 12 April 2017 On 28 March, transport union RMT held its first ever Disabled Members’ Conference. Rank-and-file activists had called for the establishment of this conference for several years, but repeatedly met with rejection by the … Read more

Union blog: Fighting for neurodiversity equality at work

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Published on the PCS blog on 10 April 2017: For autism awareness month, trainer and campaigner Janine Booth blogs about the neurodiversity in the workplace course she is running for PCS. Last week, the first regional PCS neurodiversity in the workplace course … Read more

Marxism and Autism

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Published in Solidairty 434, 29 March 2017:   Can Marxism can help us to understand autistic experience in modern capitalism? How might Marxism inform our struggles for equality and liberation? There are different approaches to understanding autism. Perhaps the dominant … Read more

Report: RMT Disabled Members’ Conference

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Yesterday saw RMT’s first ever Disabled Members’ Conference, held in London. Although quite small (9 delegates, plus union officials), the important thing was that it took place at all, especially as rank-and-file members had pushed for its creation against the … Read more

Equality for autistic and neuro-divergent people!

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By Joe Booth and Janine Booth, published in Solidarity 426, 11 January 2017 Socialist activists are drafting a manifesto for the Labour Party of radical policies to advance equality for autistic and other neurodivergent people (those with an atypical “brain-wiring”, usually … Read more

Marxism and Autism discussion notes, 11 June 2016

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Janine read through the notes from the previous meeting, and reported on the process to draw up a Labour Party autism/neurodiversity manifesto. Discussion followed, and included: Capitalism and autism – capitalism makes problems and pressures for us – capitalism is … Read more

For a world where diversity is normal

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Published in Solidarity 409, 15 June 2016 Val Graham reviews Autism Equality in the Workplace by Janine Booth. Janine Booth, poet and author of Autism Equality in the Workplace, is both a worker and trade union activist. A member of … Read more

Disabled Workers’ Action

Report from the 2013 TUC Disabled Workers’ Conference, published in Solidarity 287, 29 May 2013 This year’s TUC Disabled Workers’ Conference roundly condemned government attacks on disability rights, and pledged action against cuts in jobs and benefits. Meeting in London … Read more

What is Autism?

From the TUC handbook, Autism in the Workplace Neurological diversity Autism is an example of neurological diversity, or neurodiversity. Humanity is a neurologically diverse species – people have different neurological make-up, different ‘brain wiring’. A population – whether that is a workforce, … Read more

An Autism Glossary

From the TUC handbook, ‘Autism in the workplace’. Asperger syndrome  An autism spectrum condition that affects the way a person communicates and relates to others. People with Asperger syndrome usually have fewer problems with language than those with other forms of autism, and … Read more