Recommissioning
the equality agenda.
From PARLIAMENTARY BRIEF July 1st, 1999
The issue of Equality has always been central to the communal, political
difficulties in Northern Ireland - a fact that has recently been recognised
in the Belfast Agreement and in the legislation which has flowed from it.
The need to tackle the problems caused by discrimination on grounds of religion
and politics -in effect of communal background - has led to the enactment
of what has been described as the most radical equality legislation in Western
Europe.
Far-Reaching Changes. In addition to a new, far-reaching statutory obligation
on the public sector, the Equality agenda is now set to be strengthened
by the creation of a new Equality Commission which unites the roles of the
Equal Opportunities Commission for Northern Ireland, the Commission for
Racial Equality for Northern Ireland and the Northern Ireland Disability
Council, with that of the Fair Employment Commission Making Change Work.
These new measures serve to point up the importance to Northern Ireland's
future of getting the equality issue right. The operation of fair employment
law and the work of the Fair Employment Agency and Commission over the past
23 years have given the lie to the theory that prejudice, and the discrimination
that arises from it, cannot be effectively countered by legal means and
public policy.
The main objectives of fair employment legislation during that time have
been to create a society which, in terms of employment, is fair to people
of all communities - to both Catholics and Protestants - and to rectify
past problems of inequality.
Working towards those objectives has involved the Commission in the pursuit
of two aims - to achieve better representation in the workforce for the
Catholic community, and to eliminate segregation in employment, as it affected
both communities. Progress made in the fair employment field can be looked
at in the light of these aims, and indicates that positive advances have
been made.
Significant Improvement. The statistics gathered annually in the Commission's
Annual Monitoring Reports show that Catholic participation in the workforce
has risen to 39.1%, significantly closer to the proportion of Catholics
available for work (estimated at 42%) than at the commencement of monitoring
in 1991 when it was 34.9%. This is estimated to represent a substantial
increase in the number of Catholics employed in the workforce since the
commencement of fair employment legislation in 1976.
The Annual Monitoring Reports also show that there has been a reduction
in the degree of segregation in the workplace. Companies with an under-
representation of either Catholics or Protestants have both shown improvement.
This is more marked in the case of companies with an under-representation
of Catholics, but there is significant improvement in both categories.
Partnership For Change. In addition to advising and, in some cases, assisting
complainants contemplating legal proceedings, the Commission has worked
extensively with employers, assisting them in establishing equal opportunities
policies, in some cases reaching agreements on affirmative action measures,
and supplying advice and training free of charge.
In the most recent twelve month period these amounted to 569 sessions attended
by some 8,000 participants. In addition to work with individual employers
and trades unions the Commission has well-established links with representative
organisations such as the Northern Ireland Committee of the Irish Congress
of Trade Unions, the Confederation of British Industry, the Northern Ireland
Chamber of Commerce, and the Federation of Small Businesses.
This work has had a significant impact upon practices in Northern Ireland
industry over the past two decades, in terms of recruitment and selection
procedures, and in regard to policies countering sectarian harassment in
the workplace. The Commission has attached particular importance to working
closely with small businesses, through the operation of our Small Business
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