By Ben Kerrigan-
The Labour Party staff unite is demanding a programme of compulsory diversity for all members of labour party staff in response to allegations of racism against prominent black Mps.
Unite is composed of a political structure of Regional Labour Party Liaison Committees and a National Labour Party Liaison Committee to implement the political policies of the union and to drive activity in the regions. These committees are elected by members at regional political conferences every three years. The group said Labour “must address the alleged treatment of Diane Abbott by Labour Party staff during the 2017 General Election”.
They added: “As the first Black woman elected to parliament Diane has spent her life having to fight those who belittle and undermine her because of her gender and her race. Material included in this memo shows that Labour Party staffers chose to be a part of that problem.”
The group said Labour “must address the alleged treatment of Diane Abbott by Labour Party staff during the 2017 General Election”. The letter said we condemn in the strongest possible terms, the use of pejorative language to talk about our black Mps in the leaked report.It states that the Labour party Unite branch is committed to changing the working environment that led to this report and its contents, adding:
”we are demanding that a compulsory diversity and bias for all members of Labour Party staff is implemented at its earliest opportunity”. The branch stands with you against all discrimination, bias, and attack, It states that the recently leaked report, the work of the Labour party’s governance and legal unit in relation to anti Semitism has highlighted damning examples of casual work place racism at the most senior levels of our party.
The branch was to write a letter of solidarity to Diane Abbott, Dawn Butler and Clive Lewis.
Diane Abbott: Victim Of Racism In Labour Party Image: news.sky.com
However, a review of D&I practices published by the CIPD in 2019 called into question the impact of diversity training in fostering inclusive workplaces. The Diversity management that works review concluded that while diversity training did increase awareness of issues such as unconscious bias, evidence of attitude and behavioural change among staff as a result of the training was less conclusive.
“Unconscious bias has become a much more popular topic over recent years, but it doesn’t necessarily follow that you can reduce bias and prejudice by explaining the psychology of it [to people]. In some cases, it can unleash it,” said Gifford.
“If some people come away from unconscious bias training with a message that ‘it’s all unconscious, so it’s not really my fault and everyone’s got unconscious bias’, then that can increase bias.”
Gifford added: “We need to look for ways that seem more promising in terms of making training effective,” recommending an approach to training that focused on ‘perspective taking’, rather than biases.
“There seems to be better evidence of impact when it comes to getting people to think about the disadvantages and the discrimination that different groups face, and really getting them to reflect on the experiences of other people and listening to stories,” he said.
A member of the Union who did not want to be named told The Eye Of Media.Com that the party is determined to root out all racist elements and become a a party of the people.
”The segregation and racism in the party has been atrocious, it has held the Labour party down. Jeremy Corbyn should have had a great chance of success, but all the allegations of anti-semitism and racism was exploited by the mainstream media and used to push a false and unfair narrative that cost us the election. The wolves in the Labour party must be identified and rooted out, and the party needs a stronger and more united front to succeed”.