On Wednesday, 17 June 2009, the fourth Joint Conference of Workshop Councils and the Social Democrats (SPD) in the German Bundestag will take place. Workshop councils represent the interests of disabled employees within workshops. They concentrate on workshop matters and contribute to the process of making decisions. SPD supports this special role of Workshop Councils by organizing the conference. Main goal of the conference is the exchange of information and opinions not only between politicians and workshops, but also between about 150 workshop councillors throughout the country.

According to SPD, this joint conference is one of the biggest meetings between politicians and persons with disabilities in Germany. SPD wishes to further develop the excellent cooperation with Workshop Councils, based on the principle “nothing about us without us”.

The UN-Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities demands that everyone, including persons with disabilities, should be able to exercise their labour and trade union rights. According to article 27, persons with disabilities have the right of participation to an open labour market. The consequences of this valid topical treaty for Germany will be pointed out and discussed at the conference.