A trade union is a group of employees who join together to maintain and improve their conditions of employment.

The typical activities of trade unions include providing assistance and services to their members, collectively bargaining for better pay and conditions for all workers, working to improve the quality of public services, political campaigning and industrial action.

The Disability Union represents Disabled People and its purpose is to secure stronger disability rights, give us better access to public services and fight for our full inclusion in society. Any Disabled Person can join and we will support you in all your struggles as a Disabled Person. Whether it’s at work, with the government, your local authorities, a shop or something else entirely, we will be there to help you fight for your rights as a disabled person. We highly encourage our employed members to join a trade union in conjunction with their Disability Union membership as we currently do not have protection under employment law, meaning we cannot do the things offered by a trade union e.g. represent employees in work meetings.

Disabled People are marginalised because, despite the fact we make up 24% of the population, we are spread out all over the place, often disadvantaged and have no collective way to get our views heard. That is until now. The Disability Union provides that collective voice for Disabled People. It allows us to fight to get a seat at the table in all decision made about us so that there is nothing about us without us.

Yes, and we do our best to keep our memberships as affordable as possible. The Disability Union has to be independent so we are funded almost entirely by our members and only take funding for the set up of specific projects, or to help us expand quickly.

As we expand, we will save money for a hardship fund that will eventually enable us to help all those who cannot afford a membership. For now, we do our best with what we have and will not leave you stranded.

No, we are not a charity. Our legal status is a Community Interest Company (CIC) Limited by guarantee. That means that all the money that goes into The Disability Union is spent on the organisation itself. We legally cannot take profits.

Activism is the act of campaigning for political or social change. The Disability Union exists for a political purpose to improve disability rights and make sure there is nothing about us without us. We consider everything we do from campaigning to helping individual members, to engaging with businesses and government to be a form of activism.

As Disabled People, we have an awful lot in common. With many shared struggles and life experiences, it is only by supporting each other that we can make things better. Solidarity means having and showing an awareness of our common interests, goals, conditions and needs. The Disability Union considers one of its main objectives to be the building of solidarity between Disabled People.

We can help you in two ways; firstly, we can address your immediate needs by helping you get access to the services you are entitled to, fight discrimination and build a better life for yourself. Secondly, through our campaigning and political activity, we can increase your rights and fight for a more inclusive society.

By simply joining The Disability Union, you are helping the fight for equality and justice, while allowing us to support you and other Disabled People in their immediate needs. Very soon, we will be setting up local groups in your community and will be looking for volunteers to help us do this. If you would like to volunteer, please reach out to us at support@disabilityunion.co.uk and we’ll add you to the waiting list.

Yes. We cover the whole of the UK.