This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
Listen
STUC and race equality
19/09/2003
A Scottish Trades Union Congress
project that will promote race equality and equal
opportunities in the workplace has received a grant of
£109,350 from the Executive.
The STUC will use the funding over two
years to employ two new workers who will use seminars,
printed materials, a telephone advice line, a new website,
research and training opportunities to promote racial
equality and equal opportunities to thousands of workplaces
across Scotland.
Margaret Curran, Minister for
Communities said:
"We are determined to tackle racism
across Scotland and through our One Scotland, Many Cultures
campaign we have highlighted the unacceptability of racist
attitudes and behaviour.
Recent feedback on our campaign has called
for more to be done in the workplace to tackle racist
attitudes which, if left unchallenged, can lead to
discrimination and harassment.
"The STUC represents around 630,000
working people and their families throughout Scotland and
is committed to ensuring that non-unionised workers as well
as union members have access to the support associated with
this project.
"This provides a further opportunity
to reinforce our messages that there is no place for racism
in Scotland and I am delighted that the Executive is
funding up to 60 per cent of the project's costs."
The project workers will have a number
of targets to meet over two years.
These will include disseminating materials
to promote race equality to over 5,000 workplaces in
Scotland, establish and run a telephone advice line and
online advice service and deliver up to four seminars for
employers to promote best practice in the workplace.
The private, public and voluntary
sectors are amongst the employee groups to be targeted.
The One Scotland, Many Cultures
campaign was launched last year.
It is an ongoing campaign to raise awareness
of racist attitudes and discrimination.
In March, the UK Minister for Social
Exclusion and Equality, Barbara Roche launched a report by
the Cebinet Office Strategy Unit, entitled 'Ethnic
Minorities and the Labour Market'.
The report sets out a strategy, backed
up by practical measures, to help remove barriers to
success in the workplace, while also addressing issues of
social exclusion and poverty that can also hold back ethnic
minority communities.
The report can be downloaded from
http://www.pm.gov.uk/output/page3967.asp.