This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
Listen
Ending ‘ethnic penalty’ at work
08/12/2003
Scotland's public bodies have taken significant steps
over the last year in tackling racism, but this is only a
start and good intentions are no substitute for practical
action.
This was the message delivered by Margaret Curran, the
Communities Minister, at a major conference on promoting
race equality.
Focussing on racism in the workplace, the Minister told
the audience that organisations had a duty to remove the
'ethnic penalty' that still exists for many minority ethnic
workers.
She said that underachievement and disadvantage was
likely to be an unacceptable reality for thousands of
minority ethnic people and that public bodies such as
national and local government, the police and the health
service had a duty to put this right.
Margaret Curran said: "I strongly suspect that the
'ethnic penalty' is a reality for thousands of minority
ethnic workers in Scotland, through no fault of their own.
Public bodies must therefore ensure that practical measures
are being taken to remove this 'penalty' if they are to
fulfil their commitment to promoting race equality.
"I am under no illusion that the elimination of racism
will happen overnight. But public bodies do need a vision
of where they want to be in ten years time and have a
pretty good idea of how they intend to get there. This will
create conditions for real, positive change for all
Scotland's communities and ensure that we secure race
equality and build mutual respect."
The conference 'Promoting Race Equality in Scotland' was
jointly sponsored by the Scottish Executive and the
Commission for Race Equality (CRE) in Scotland. Its aim
is: to take stock of achievements since the publication of
Race Equality Schemes by Scotland's public bodies in
November 2002; to consider the implications of a review of
these schemes undertaken by the CRE; and to highlight and
explore the practical challenges for promoting race
equality and eliminating racism in the future.
Over 300 delegates attended the conference drawn from
public bodies (including local authorities, police forces,
health boards, colleges and universities), as well as
non-government organisations and voluntary organisations
from across Scotland.
Other speakers included Kay Hampton, Commissioner for
Scotland and Deputy Chair of the CRE, John Elvidge,
Permanent Secretary of the Scottish Executive, and Monica
Sharma of Govanhill Housing Association.