Good news

Just on the subject of unions - I was in the union at a previous job which was permanent until austerity cuts and mismanagement closed my service. That was a public sector job. All the jobs I've worked since have been on temporary contracts, also in the public sector. My job is always at risk although my service is understaffed.

The union rep at my previous job did a good job of supporting all the staff in our service and making sure some of us at least got job placements in the new service as they claimed it was a merger, not a shut down, so didn't require full consultation. The flipside of this is that when I was studying and working as a GTA, the unions were not only not helpful but actively hostile. There were several unpleasant events that happened then which made me glad not to be involved in the union.

I think maybe disabled folk need better information generally about their specific union before deciding to join. Some unions are great, some are not. Some branches of the same union are great in one place and not the other. The two examples I listed above were technically the same union, but vastly different actions.

On the mental health amendments and changing the criteria, this was probably around 2016 or 2017? I remember that my PIP claim got bogged down in this, because although I was autistic and not claiming for mental health, they tried to write my case off entirely as anxiety and thus refusable. The law changed in between that and my tribunal, which probably helped my case. It changed due to a legal challenge.

I do think legal challenges are a big part of keeping us safe, I also worry about some politicians (not current govt thankfully) wanting rid of the Convention on Human Rights as it is literally the thing keeping us safe right now.