British trade union wants equality for Paralympics

This video is called Paralympics London 2012.

From daily The Morning Star in Britain:

Give Paralympians same treatment, urges CWU

Sunday 12 August 2012

Postal union CWU urged Royal Mail yesterday to celebrate the success of the Paralympic champions in the same way as Olympic gold medal winners.

The call follows revelations that Royal Mail will not produce next-day stamps for gold medal-winning Paralympic athletes.

CWU deputy leader Dave Ward said Royal Mail’s stamps and overnight gold post boxes had “caught the imagination of the public.

“We believe that the same treatment should be given to our Paralympic athletes.”

Mr Ward acknowledged there were some “logistical problems” with the expected volume of gold medals at the Paralympics

a volume which probably will not that much bigger than at the Olympics

but stressed that, “in the spirit of the Olympics,” Royal Mail should find a way to celebrate the achievements of Paralympic athletes in the same way as able-bodied Olympians.

Jenn Ettinger, Free Press: “For the first time ever, every single Olympic event is streaming live on the Web, and many events are available online on demand. But there’s a catch: To watch online, you must be a cable or satellite subscriber”: here.

London 2012: let the Paralympics preparations begin: here.

Olympics blade runner Pistorius changes our view of humanity: here.

11 thoughts on “British trade union wants equality for Paralympics”

I’ve just posted a link to this, on a disability community that I run on LiveJournal. http://friendly-crips.livejournal.com/118717.html

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petrel41 on August 12, 2012 at 8:20 pm said:

Thank you so much!

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- argylesock on August 13, 2012 at 9:11 am said:
  
  You’re welcome. The whole treatment of the Paralympics seems quite wrong to me. Disabled athletes are called superheroes and put under pressure to provide inspiration, more so I think than other athletes are. Even the title ‘Paralympics’ sounds vaguely insulting, as though people like me are a little bit of extra tacked onto what the real people are doing. We didn’t even get clear trailers about when we’d be able to watch the Paralympics until after the ‘main’ Olumpics were nearly over.
  
  It’s certainly a step in the right direction. But I hope there’ll be improvement. Living in Yorkshire, I’m proud to hear journalists and others crowing about how well our Yorkshire athletes have performed in the Olympics. Now I hope to hear similar tales about the disabled athletes from this part of the country. And from anywhere else too!
  
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  - petrel41 on August 13, 2012 at 9:19 am said:
    
    I think the name was first Stoke Mandeville Games, then Olympic Games for the Disabled. But the International Olympic Committee wanted to protect its “brand”, and the name changed to Paralympics. This is not in the Wikipedia article:
    
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paralympic_Games
    
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    - argylesock on August 13, 2012 at 10:53 am said:
      
      Thanks!
      
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