Why there can be no disability justice without labour justice

Despite links between the disability and labour movements dating back to the 19th century, longstanding inequalities and a significant wage gap for people with disabilities remain.

This International Workers’ Day, which takes place on Thursday 1 May, is an opportunity to highlight that much more progress needs to be made towards Goal 8 of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals: full and productive employment and decent work for all.

Lessons from history

The world’s oldest surviving organisation of people with disabilities (OPD) is a trade union: The National League of the Blind (NLB) was founded in the UK in 1893 and registered as a trade union six years later. The NLB was explicitly against charity and instead used collective organising to advocate for change. Alongside campaigning for the abolition of charitable aid, the union also called for state-provided assistance as a right and better wages and conditions for blind workers.

In 1920, the NLB organised the Blind March. This historic moment saw 250 activists from across the UK march to London, brandishing banners with slogans such as ‘justice not charity’. This march, along with other strikes and protests organised by the union, successfully pressured the government to pass the groundbreaking Blind Persons Act 1920, which provided state support for blind people for the first time. Today, the union is known as the National League of the Blind and Disabled and is still campaigning and fighting for the rights of workers with disabilities.

Discrimination in the present day

OPD and trade union links continue to this day. In 2023, the Ghana Federation of Disability Organisations (GFD) formally affiliated with the Ghana Trades Union Congress. At its inauguration event, the GFD president said that the Trades Union Congress can help address labour issues for workers with disabilities, who often face discrimination and are denied equal opportunities in employment.

The GFD president is right. Workers with disabilities, especially women, often work in informal and precarious jobs with low wages, poor conditions, few labour or social protections and little trade union representation. A 2024 report from the International Labour Organization revealed a significant disability wage gap, with workers with disabilities earning less than other workers and more likely to be in the informal economy. Some disability theorists and activists go as far as to argue that disability itself is “a socially-created category derived from labour relations” due to the marginalisation of people with disabilities from waged employment.

Margaret, a sorghum farmer in Kenya, found a new career after losing her job in tax collection. Through the Global Labor Program – Inclusive Futures, she received training on modern farming, disability inclusion and labour rights, which helped secure her family’s financial stability.

Margaret told us: “We were taught that women with disabilities have rights. You see, women shouldn’t be oppressed. It doesn’t mean that when you are a woman with a disability, you can’t do anything.”

Hellen, who’s also a sorghum farmer in Kenya, transitioned from a challenging tailoring business to a successful farmer and advocate. After learning agricultural practices and labour rights through the programme, she now champions opportunities for women with disabilities and used her first harvest to build a new home.

“I also learned about labour rights through the trainings. There are a lot of people with disabilities who look down on themselves. For instance, I isolated myself for a long time because I didn’t feel worthy … This was before the training,” Hellen said. “I learned later that I also have the right to earn a living, have food and start a business. That’s when I started to be happy.”

In Uganda, Sightsavers is conducting a research project that examines the policy and legal context for people with disabilities in employment. We have found that, while legal protections against disability discrimination exist, policies are not very coherent, and the agencies responsible for implementation are unclear on their roles. As a result, workers with disabilities are not well protected. We also found that there has never been a case of disability discrimination heard by the Industrial Court or the High Court for employment cases. We are currently researching why workers with disabilities lack access to legal services.

In Nigeria, we are supporting The Albino Foundation Africa to work with the Nigerian Labour Congress on inclusive collective bargaining. Together, a guidance document has been produced on how to include people with disabilities in collective bargaining processes and negotiations. We’re also working with the foundation to build the Nigerian Labour Congress’s disability confidence, providing training and awareness-raising activities on disability rights and the challenges affecting workers with disabilities.

Author

Joe Buckley is Sightsavers’ deputy technical director for economic empowerment.