The Learning Rep - Spring 07

the

learningrep Âť Spring 07

Murder, she writes Crime novelist Val McDermid knocks ’em dead every time www.unionlearn.org.uk

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Telling it like it is We had another important opportunity to present the union case for learning recently when the powerful parliamentary select committee on education and skills began its new inquiry into post-16 skills training in the UK. The members of this influential cross-party collection of MPs are interested in where we go next after the Leitch report, the importance of Level 2 qualifications, and what a demandled system would really look like.

With the very able support of Hayley Pickles and Ken Aitchison, ULRs from USDAW and Prospect, I spent a very useful hour with the committee a few weeks ago to argue for the need for collective bargaining on training and paid time off for learning, among other things.

We’ll keep you posted about developments in future issues of The Learning Rep. The day after my appearance in the corridors of power, I was on the platform at Derby railway station, as part of the three regional launches of the latest round of Quick Reads which we organised on World Book Day, covered in detail on pages 4 and 5 of this issue. I was really glad to do my bit for this major publishing success story, which is helping more and more people discover the potential of reading. And I got to meet the creator of Adrian Mole, as well!

There’s even more material than usual in this bumper issue of the magazine, including some vital research into how learning really does pay dividends at shipbuilders VT in Portsmouth on pages 18 to 20. I’m sure you’ll find lots to keep you going until our next issue in the summer.

Liz Smith Director, unionlearn

The Learning Rep, spring 07 Editor: Mike Power mpower@tuc.org.uk Writers: Astrid Stubbs, Martin Moriarty Design: Redhouse Lane Communications Print: Ancient House Printing Group Distribution: Cavalier mailing Cover photo: Val McDermid – Mimsy Moller.

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Contents: 3 7 8 12 14 16 18 20 23 28 30 34 35 36

News Organising Be a star ULR Adult Learners’ Week A sporting challenge Money matters Val McDermid reveals why she loves learning VT invest in learning Regional round-up Brendan Barber interview No restrictions on learning – not even bars Jay knows Giveaways Contacts

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News «

Hurdler hands award to Walker Strictly Come Dancing star and champion hurdler Colin Jackson presented a National Training Award to GMB project co-ordinator Steve Walker at a glittering ceremony in London’s Royal Lancaster Hotel.

The award, run by UK Skills and sponsored by the DfES, LSC and City & Guilds, was to celebrate the union’s success in providing learning opportunities to over 1,500 workers in Norfolk and Suffolk.

The project has reached over 25 local employers including Norfolk County Services and Remploy as well as household names such as Anglian Windows, Asda and Jeyes.

“We have supported

thousands of adult learners across our region even though stepping back into learning can be a scary and frightening experience, especially for those that have bad school memories,” says Thetfordbased Steve.

“The partnership with Anglian Windows in Norwich is a great example of the effectiveness of this model, with over 100 people coming forward so far, most of whom have achieved fantastic qualifications to Level 2.”

Courses on offer through the GMB have included everything from literacy, numeracy and computing to football coaching, DIY and reflexology.

Don’t get lost in space RaW (Reading and Writing), the BBC’s biggest-ever literacy campaign, is offering a fantastic free activity book full of ideas to help parents get more out of sharing stories with their children.

Max and Lara’s Amazing Travelling Space Circus follows the exciting adventures of two children who discover a circus on its way through the galaxy.

The book also includes lots of ideas to help parents talk about the story with their children and a range of activities they can try together, like word puzzles, rhyming games and story-writing.

Adult learners can call 0800 0150 950 to get their free copy.

To find out more about BBC RaW or to sign up as a Trade Union RaW centre, visit bbc.co.uk/raw/campaign, email raw@bbc.co.uk or call 020 8752 6777 to speak to the campaign team. Once signed up you’ll receive the free RaW e-newsletter and be able to order and download free RaW resources.

Steve Walker (left) picks up his award from Colin Jackson

Polish migrants spread the word The Canary Wharf/Lewisham College/UCATT learning centre has teamed up with Homeless Link to train Polish migrants to work as building industry ULRs to help combat exploitation on construction sites.

Homeless Link identified a dozen potential ULRs to attend the standard five-day ULR course, explaining how it would help them and their colleagues stand up for their rights and improve their pay and conditions.

Three of the 12 participants are now going on to use their newlyacquired skills to help UCATT on London building sites where there are large numbers of workers from Eastern Europe.

UCATT is looking at taking on the trio as learning project workers who could visit sites with regional organisers to promote English language courses and health and safety awareness sessions linked to taking the CSCS health and safety test.

Its time to get organised Organise! Learning in every workplace, the new CD-ROM from unionlearn with TUC Education, brings together a wide range of information and resources for activists and tutors to help strengthen the link between learning and organising.

The CD-ROM includes a range of learning and organising tools and the tutor pack which accompanies it is designed to

meet the needs of activists, organisers and tutors, working with a range of different priorities and across all industrial sectors.

The tutor pack provides practical tools to help engage learners, case studies that demonstrate best practice and top tips and checklists to help users follow step-by-step approaches.

To obtain your copy, please contact Anna Burton at unionlearn.

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» news » World Book Day

What is World Book Day? a range Unionlearn supported te of initiatives to promo Day on reading on World Book ing lud inc 1 March this year, and rby De l, oo events in Liverp the h nc lau lp Dorset to he books eight new Quick Reads for 2007.

Now marked in over 100 be, countries across the glo on lly ua us World Book Day is 23 April.

It’s held a few weeks earlier in this country to e so ensure it falls in term-tim that schools can take the books opportunity to promote . ren and reading to child

Ricky’s Mersey mission Quick Reads author Ricky Tomlinson joined TUC Deputy General Secretary Frances O’Grady on a ferry across the Mersey to celebrate the way union learning can change people’s lives on World Book Day in March.

Merseytravel Chief Executive Neil Scales and unionlearn Regional Manager Dave Eva joined them onboard to underline how successful partnerships between unions and employers are changing the learning profile of the north-west.

“I’m delighted that Ricky, one of Liverpool's best loved sons, is backing the TUC and unionlearn to help transform people’s lives through learning,” Frances said.

Brandishing a copy of Reading My Arse!, his own contribution to the latest batch of Quick Read titles, Ricky himself agreed.

“Reading is a free gift for everybody, it broadens the mind even more than

travel, and I promise it will make you a more complete, more confident, more satisfied and better-informed person.”

Merseytravel, which operates the Mersey Ferries, has profited from a famously successful learning partnership with the GMB, RMT, TGWU and Unison.

“Merseytravel has benefited hugely from union-led learning and we are working closely with the unions to give our staff the best possible learning opportunities,” commented Neil Scales.

Fancy a Rick read?

Reading My Arse! Searching for the Rock Island Line: compelling account of how the lyrics of a song lead a Beatles-era Scouse musician through a series of life-changing experiences.

Minette catches the bus Top crime writer Minette Walters (in hat left) climbed aboard the Wilts and Dorset Bus Company learning bus while it was parked at Dorchester fire station and gave fellow passengers/learners a taster of her Quick Reads title, Chickenfeed, on World Book Day. She was joined by unionlearn Regional Manager Helen Cole, Amicus Skills for Life Advocate Steve Atwill, Bill Hendy of the Fire Brigades

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Union and Wilts and Dorset Bus Company Chief Executive Alex Carter at the event raising the profile of union learning in the south-west.

“As a reader, I love to escape into somebody else’s world and as a writer, I love to create that other world for my readers,” she explained.

“Reading expands our imaginations and gives us the confidence to explore new ideas,

World Book Day « news «

Sue goes on the rails Best-selling author Sue Townsend, creator of Leicester’s most famous fictional hero Adrian Mole, visited the Rail Union Learning Centre in nearby Derby on World Book Day to meet learners and learning reps from the Aslef, RMT and TSSA unions.

She was welcomed by Midland Mainline human resources Director Phil Mason, unionlearn Director Liz Smith, and Mary Alys, unionlearn Regional Manager.

“When I left school at 15, I never dreamt that I would become an author, when I was going from one unskilled job to another,” Sue revealed.

“One of the greatest joys I get from writing is knowing that readers are inspired, enjoy the book, or just have a good laugh.”

Many of the learners who regularly use the centre at Derby station were presented with awards to mark their Skils for Life qualifications at the event, and rail union learning rep Chris Nutty became a Skills for Life Advocate in recognition of his consistently hard work on behalf of union learners.

“Unionlearn, together with unions and rail union learning reps are also spreading the message that learning changes lives in workplaces throughout the Midlands,” commented

Eight more Quick Reads Another eight Quick Reads were published on World Book Day, all retailing at the bargain price of £1.99.

Allen Carr: Burning Ambition Terrance Dicks: Made of Steel Adèle Geras: Lily A Ghost Story Kerry Katona: Survive theWorst and Aim for the Best

unionlearn director Liz Smith.

“Reading is an inspiration and an education, which no one should miss out on, and Quick Reads has opened up a whole new world to people who wouldn’t normally think of picking up a book.”

Maureen Lee: A Dream Come True John Simpson: Twenty Tales From the Warzone

Top three Townsends

Ricky Tomlinson: Reading My Arse!

The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged Thirteen and Three Quarters: classic account of a tortured suburban teenager growing up under Thatcherism.

The Queen and I: brilliant depiction of what might happen if a republican government dispatched the Royal Family to live on a Midlands council estate.

Adrian Mole and the Weapons of Mass Destruction: now a middle-aged parent, Adrian learns some painful political lessons in the New Labour era.

The Sun: Book of Short Stories You could be relaxing on a beach in Barbados with any or all of the latest batch of Quick Reads if you win the competition which you can enter on the website or using the form in the back of selected Quick Reads titles.

Visit: www.quickreads.co.uk

Did you know?

Minette mini-guide and no one should miss out on that.”

Helen Cole said that reading was an essential skill that unlocked knowledge and boosted selfconfidence.

“The Wilts and Dorset Bus Company learning bus is a great example of what union-led learning can achieve in partnership with a good employer and the FBU area also blazing a trail in the world of union learning.”

Chickenfeed: gripping Quick Reads account of a true-life romance between an office girl and a farm boy in 1920s Sussex that ends in both their deaths.

The Tinder Box: the one woman standing by an Irish labourer accused of a double murder is forced to question her loyalty in this short, sharp, shocking novella.

The Scold’s Bridle: nothing predictable about this English village murder mystery when the victim is discovered with a medieval muzzle over her head (adapted for telly by the BBC with Miranda Richardson and Sian Philips).

World Book Day grew out of the tradition of lovers exchanging books to mark St George’s Day in Catalonia, in the south-west of Spain. .

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» news

Barnet UNISON celebrates big IDeA workforce skills development.”

Since the union signed a learning agreement with the authority in 2005, over 150 council staff have participated in the Return2Learn pilot programme, and 130 new members have joined UNISON specifically because of the learning opportunities on offer.

“It’s wonderful to watch staff grow in confidence as a result of this opportunity,” says UNISON lifelong learning co-ordinator Carmen Bruno.

“Many participants are really apprehensive when they arrive because they are dreading that it will be like school, where many people felt they had failed but by the end of the course they are asking when they can do another one!”

Return2Learn was formally launched across the whole authority at an open day in February when Chief Executive Leo Boland also received the national Get On (GO) Local Government award for successfully embedding Skills for Life among the council workforce.

Barnet Goes for it: p30

John Burgess picks up the ULR award from IDeA’s Michelle Johnson

Photo by Carol Lewis

UNISON’s Barnet branch have won the coveted Union Learning Rep of the Year award from the Improvement and Development Agency (IDeA) – a prize sponsored by unionlearn.

The judges made the award to the whole team rather than an individual because they were so impressed with the branch’s outstanding teamwork and achievements.

“The branch and the ULR team are really pleased to be selected for this award, which recognises the work and commitment shown by our ULRs,” says branch secretary John Burgess.

“Many Barnet employees have said to us that they would not have signed on for our Return 2 Learn courses if it were not for our ULRs, which speaks volumes for the significant role that UNISON plays in

Reaching out in Norfolk Trade unionists, migrant workers and voluntary sector campaigners got together in Great Yarmouth recently at a Know Your Rights day run by the Norwich City College trade union studies centre.

The well-attended event was organised as part of a unionlearn pilot project exploring innovative ways of reaching out to union members and potential members.

The East Anglian town was chosen in consultation with local unions because of its significant numbers of migrant workers and the day was so successful that preparations are already underway for a follow-up in Norwich in the near future.

In a keynote speech, local

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MEP Richard Howitt emphasised how important migrant workers are to the British economy and praised trade unions for promoting a tolerant society giving everyone the opportunity both to support their families and reach their full potential.

“Everyone involved hopes that

this will become a regular annual event, promoting the good work of the trade unions and enabling us to communicate to a wider audience our message of tolerance, understanding and continued lifelong learning,” says trade union studies centre tutor Mark Hughes.

organising « update «

Educate and organise!

Two recent reports outline the importance of developing the link between learning and organising

By Anna Burton Learning can help unions recruit and retain members, but it won’t pay real dividends unless it’s fully integrated into union structures, according to a report commissioned by unionlearn with the Working Lives Research Institute.

More and more unions are making practical links between the learning and organising agendas, according to the research, but many learning officers are worried that their area of work is still not fully integrated into union structures.

“I don’t think that there has been a full understanding of what the learning agenda offers in terms of building workplace organisation,” one union learning officer told the researchers.

“Learning needs to come in from the cold … it’s not as peripheral as it once was but until the decisionmakers and the opinion-formers accept it as

a core issue we won’t get the benefits that learning could bring.”

The creation of learning organiser posts at regional and national level suggests unions are moving towards a formal and strategic recognition of the links between learning and organising.

And in terms of lay structures, almost all unions aim to fully integrate ULRs into local branch and workplace structures.

Only a minority of unions currently incorporate recruitment into ULR training, and many learning officers believe activists and full-time officers could be offered much more training on the learning agenda.

The report reveals that while union learning officers are convinced that learning has a positive impact on workplace recruitment, organising officers want more evidence of its impact.

Learning officers interviewed for the report paid tribute to unionlearn for promoting the links between learning and organising by: » providing evidence of the benefits of learning for unions » encouraging unions to take ownership of the learning agenda » promoting the integration of learning as core trade union business.

The report was based on interviews with organisers and officers from a sample of 15 unions from all sections of the economy, and across the public and private sectors.

For more information on learning and organising initiatives within unionlearn, or for copies of both reports, please email: aburton@tuc.org.uk. The reports are also available on the unionlearn website.

On the road to renewal Union-led learning is having an increasingly positive effect on union organisation, according to research for the TUC’s learning and skills unit by the Scottish Centre For Employment Research.

The research was based on learning success stories run by Amicus, UNISON and USDAW in the finance, health and food processing sectors respectively.

The key lesson from the report is that trade unions are enhanced by learning, not lessened by it, and the case studies indicate that union-led workplace learning can offer renewal to trade unions.

“Learning is our biggest recruitment tool now, and I think it’s given the union more profile,” one USDAW interviewee told the researchers.

The report finds that attitudes to unions are positively changed and recruitment enhanced when they offer learning to existing and potential members.

It argues that learning can greatly improve union activism, even revive moribund branches, by providing a “roles escalator” which encourages members who become ULRs to move on to other union positions.

The findings suggest that the argument that union-led workplace learning marginalises trade unions by promoting employability is too simplistic.

There’s also strong evidence that learning can contribute to improved industrial relations in the workplace.

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» Feature » ULRs

Be a

star – be a ULR

ULRs are the new heroes and heroines of the movement, taking learning to every corner of their unions. Over the following four pages we celebrate the range of ULRs and the fantastic work they do

Ikea staff assemble learning package When it comes to lifelong learning, staff at the Ikea store in Bristol are being encouraged to DIY with the help of in-store USDAW ULR Charlton Charles.

The Bristol superstore is the first Ikea store in the UK to sign up to USDAW’s Lifelong Learning scheme, which has already seen more than 20,000 members graduate from a wide range of vocational courses.

And ULR Charlton Charles was rightly proud to join fellow members for a celebration when they graduated from the in-store lifelong learning scheme, jointly sponsored

by Britain’s biggest retail union and

Charlton Charles, third from left, with colleagues

School dinner lady Marcia Williamson is probably the only ULR with a song written in her honour.

Marcia is school meals convenor and ULR with Birmingham local government.

She progressed from doing a Return2Learn course with UNISON to training as a ULR. Since then she has become a steward and as schools convenor now represents the entire school meals section in Birmingham City Council.

Birmingham UNISON branch

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Photo: Chris Taylor

Sing a song of Marcia

the home furnishing giant.

“My colleagues have done brilliantly passing a national qualification and I believe this scheme will help unleash the massive potential of the workforce in our store,” Charlton says.

“Many of the people here left school at 16 and haven’t stepped back into a classroom since then so we want to make learning fun and also develop self-confidence. We’ve had a very positive response so far and all the evidence shows that an educated workforce has higher levels of motivation and absenteeism decreases.”

Marcia’s Song My homeland I left long ago.cam education officer and West Midlands e here hoping/Now I’ve got job in scho ol folk singer Donald McCombie wrote meals/My way of coping the song about Marcia to perform Chorus at a UNISON learning conference.

Well I quickly joined the union “It has to be heard to be /And they showed me the way/I got back appreciated!” says Donald, who into learning/Now loo k at me today has offered to come and perform I raised my child at other learning events. ren some years pa st/And now it’s Marcia says:“I want to inspire time for me/Return2Lea other women and ethnic minority rn it came my way/Education groups to participate and have a sets you free say at work and in the union.

Now I’m an orga niser/For UNIS Undertaking the role of the ULR ON I fight/For a faire r life for ever has been a real catalyst for yone/You know we have a right changes for both me and the And so I have members I represent.” a message/For union members now/L earning gives yo u power/Let me show you how

ULRs « Feature « Get yourself a sixpack of your own Unionlearn has produced a new series of publicity materials for ULRs and workplace learning centres.

» Skills for Life six-pack You can order six new SfL publications for ULRs – a general guide for ULRs, and ones on reading and writing, numeracy, ESOL, dyslexia, and speaking and listening.

» Skills for Life posters

Seen to be believed Visibility in the workplace is at the heart of disability issues for ULR Anna Risveglia.

And Anna, pictured centre, who works as a staff receptionist at a Tesco branch in Hackney, knows what she is talking about.

As a wheelchair user, she has experienced discrimination because of her impairment on many levels – from not being able to get her wheelchair into places to being refused job promotion.

Now she is determined to ensure that does not happen to fellow workers – able-bodied and disabled – and one of the means of doing so is through lifelong learning, she says.

“I can’t seem to get enough of learning and I think it’s a good idea for everyone to have the opportunity to learn and progress,”she says.

While her disability is visible,

Anna says that for many colleagues there are hidden impairments that hold them back from job and personal progression.

“Disability is a wide issue but for instance there are people who have learning difficulties or dyslexia who wouldn’t consider themselves for progression at work.

“And it’s not just important for progressing but in terms of just being able to read health and safety notices,” says Anna.

By becoming a visible ULR in her workplace Anna says she is hoping to “bring people forward and give them the confidence to want to learn.

“I want to keep on learning and encourage other people to learn. I like my brain to be stimulated and I want other people to feel that same buzz,” she adds.

Decorate your learning centre, workplace or college with new A2 size (594mm x 420mm) landscape posters in seven languages. The posters promoting the SfL message are in three designs in English, and one of each in Polish, Urdu, Punjabi, Hindi, Bengali, and Gujerati. The posters have a space for local ULR contact details to be added.

» Three new leaflets to win learners These come in different formats. The first is a scratch card with six basic maths questions and the answers revealed by scratching the card. The second is a quiz with a prize on a five-question flyer for ULRs to distribute to potential learners. It invites colleagues to check their answers on the unionlearn website, where they can claim a reward and sign up for email alerts. The third is a ULR information Z card. This handy, small 18-section fold out Z-card urges work colleagues to take up the skills offers from ULRs. It also has space for a ULR name, phone number and email address for easy reference.

See page 35 for details on where to order the new materials.

Time to learn The Employment Act 2002 gives statutory recognition to ULRs and rights to time off. The key features of the law are: » reasonable paid time off for: – analysing members’ learning or training needs – providing members with information and advice about learning or training matters – arranging

learning or training for members – promoting the value of learning or training to members – consulting the employer about carrying out these activities – preparing for carrying out any of the above activities – undergoing training relevant to their functions as a learning rep

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the learning rep needs to be sufficiently trained to carry out their duties either at the time the employer is given notice of the appointment or in normal situations within six months employees have the right to unpaid time off to consult their learning rep.

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» Feature » ULRs Tipped for success Christine Weir always knew her union was there to support her in winning better wages and fighting for equality.

Christine has worked for Filtrona, which makes cigarette filter tips at its factory in Jarrow in the North East, for 29 years and been a member of the GMB for most of them.

But she had no idea of the union’s commitment to lifelong learning until she answered an advert for the post of administrator in the union’s onsite learning centre. “I always thought that the union was there if you needed it and that was it,” she says.

Like many ULRs Christine is among the growing band of women activists who were not involved in unions until they encountered the lifelong learning agenda and found a whole new world opening for them.

The number’s up!

There are now more than 15,000 trained union learning reps in the six unionlearn regions of the South East, Midlands, South West, Northern, Yorkshire and the Humber, and North West.

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“I got so involved that talking about job satisfaction is such an understatement,” says Christine.

“I see people coming through who left school without qualifications and when they receive a certificate for a course they have done and they are in tears of joy I end up in tears too.”

Christine is now full time ULR coordinator at the centre and says the role is perfectly suited to her. “I always had a passion for learning,” she says. “And I have worked among people so I know what it is like for them when they consider going back to education. I have faced many of the barriers to learning that they face. And that’s why I enjoy my job so much because I know that if I can do it anyone can.”

Christine is proud of all the people she helps on their learning journey but has particular fondness for one woman who needed ‘loads

of persuasion’ to have a go at computer learning. “She’s in her 50s and when she started she had lots of problems – she couldn’t remember how to turn the computer on and off – now she has completed that course, a CLAIT course and her literacy and numeracy Level 2 – and this is someone who left school with nothing. She makes me cry it’s so fantastic.”

Barnet GO-es for it Barnet UNISON and Barnet Council have been celebrating a National GO Award with a Skills for Life open day.

“Although awards can be seen as tick box awards with little or no impact on staff in this case I would have to disagree. The impact on learners’ lives at work and at home has truly been life changing,” says branch secretary John Burgess.

Since the branch signed a learning agreement in October 2005, lifelong learning has been at the heart of its activities.

Within four weeks of the signing, the branch provided an IT suite for staff to start its Return2Learn courses.

From January to July 2006 it ran 10 courses for almost 150 staff. For some it was the first time a union had really spent any time with them. In January the programme of courses started again with four new ones now running.

“Usually when an organisation signs up for GO Award, they have six months to develop an action plan. In Barnet we signed up and achieved the GO Award all on the same day!” explains John.

“Often union work is adversarial but this work has been totally the opposite. I feel that it is the most rewarding work I have been involved with in almost 25 years of working with unions.”

ULRs « Feature « Be a ULR

Learning lifeline ULR Stewart Campbell believes learning has done nothing short of saving his life.

Just a few years ago Stewart faced a bleak future. Following a spell in the army, he found it difficult to adjust to civilian life.

His marriage disintegrated and then he faced the devastation of a long illness, finally losing his home because he could not afford to pay his rent.

What finally changed for Stewart was being given a book on the plight of the Palestinian people, he says, which led him to wanting to become politically involved in their cause.

Within a short space of time he was a regular correspondent with his local MP and says: “I became positive in my ability to progress. I applied to the Open University – all I wanted to do was learn and absorb everything.”

By 2005 he was ready to start employment again and after eight

years without a job started work in the Wincanton/Argos distribution centre in Corby.

In less than a year Stewart had completed a clutch of union courses and was elected TGWU shop steward, trade union safety rep and ULR. His workplace has just opened its own learning centre (see regional pages) thanks to Stewart’s involvement.

Stewart’s story has been put forward for the Voices on the Page national writing event for adults in Skills for Life being run by the National Research and Development Centre for Adult Literacy and Numeracy. Track his progress at www.nrdc.org.uk.

He says: “Education does work! It inspired me to overcome an illness that was leading me to self destruction and I owe my life to it. I am living proof that learning does make a difference.”

Star keeps shining Nikki Simpson hasn’t stood still since winning the TUC’s ULR of the Year award last year – she’s now engaged in the modest business of helping colleagues reach for the stars!

Astrology is just one of the subjects Nikki has organised for Amicus members who work at the Royal Bank of Scotland in Southend in 2007.

Japanese, creative writing and digital photography will also be on offer thanks to Nikki’s efforts.

As well as ongoing classes in Spanish and first aid, Nikki also wants 2007 to be the year when she concentrates on helping provide work-focused learning.

It’s why she’s arranged with her local college to offer a new NVQ Level 2 course in customer service.

Nikki has also found herself a popular speaker on the conference circuit since her ULR win – she was due to speak at unionlearn’s conference but was forced to cancel when a bout of laryngitis left her without a voice!

And she is proud of the moment she received her award from Tony Blair during TUC conference last year and says a picture of her and the prime minister now takes pride of place on her dad’s sideboard.

ULRs are elected or appointed according to the rules of their union. Some will already be experienced union reps but unions are keen to encourage members without any previous history of union activity to take up the role and the numbers of ULRs fresh to unions is growing, particularly among women and members of ethnic minority groups.

Unionlearn has developed a comprehensive training and development package for ULRs – for full details visit www.unionlearn.org.uk/ education There are many advantages for employees in having trained and supported ULRs on-site. ULRs gives employees contact with someone who: » they know and who may have helped them in the past » is completely independent, whose advice they can trust » they know will treat everything they say in confidence » can give advice in the familiar surroundings of the workplace » can provide information about learning opportunities inside and outside of the workplace » is properly trained and informed, capable of representing their learning needs and interests with their employer » is trained to work with providers of learning to shape the opportunities to meet the needs of workplace learners » provides reliable information about everyday training matters as well as new and existing learning and skills initiatives.

For more details see the unionlearn website at www.unionlearn.org.uk

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» Feature » ALW

By Martin Moriarty

Seven days to

Adult Learners’ Week at the end of May is a unique opportunity to promote your learning projects. This is your guide to what it’s all about.

shake the world

F

or most union learning reps, the dates of Adult Learners’ Week (ALW) aren’t just jotted down somewhere in the diary – they’re probably already burnt deep into the frontal lobes.

But just in case your administrative skills need a little refresher course, the week-long campaign falls in the last full week of May this year – from Saturday 19 to Friday 25 May. Every year, ALW helps inspire thousands of people to see what learning could do for them, offering them the chance to catch up on skills they’ve missed out on in the past, or develop themselves for the future.

In addition to events on a

shopfloor near you, the annual learning-fest also includes highprofile media campaigns, conferences and parliamentary activity pulled together by NIACE, the adult learning organisation.

Ready for take-off Amicus ULR Paul WestcottBradbury ran a massively successful three-day learning roadshow at Heathrow’s Terminal One during Adult Learners’ Week last year.

“When I heard about ALW through my union, I thought it would be a fantastic opportunity to go out there and promote ourselves because nothing like that had ever been done before,” says Paul.

“The interest was quite incredible – around 400 staff filled in learning surveys over the three days, with computing and languages the most popular subjects and many people saying they’d be willing to learn before or after work.”

Staff were able to find out more information about the wide range of courses available from BA’s own QUEST elearning centres,

Learning can broaden your horizons says Paul Westcott – Bradbury

and pick up information from two local colleges – West Thames in Isleworth and the Berkshire College of Agriculture “We’re getting a constant stream now of people who are interested in learning and want to know what’s out there – it’s really struck a chord with people,” Paul says.

Amicus is currently negotiating a learning agreement with British Airways and exploring the possibility of a local provider delivering courses onsite for staff, as well as planning another event for Adult Learners’ Week this year.

“It’s very satisfying to see people make a change in their lives: someone may feel they’re stuck in a rut and learning can give them such a different outlook on life,” says Paul.

Photo: Simon Clark

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“Adult Learners’ Week is an important means of showcasing the ways in which we can create and maintain a more skilled and knowledgeable workforce,” NIACE says.

“At the same time, it also shows how we can build learning communities in which people can explore shared enthusiasms and work together as active citizens.”

Unions have been in the thick of ALW every year, seizing the chance to spread the word about what’s on offer in the workplaces where they have projects under way.

For instance, during ALW last year, unions organised a wide range of events to interest potential new learners, including: » Skills for Life assessments » learning quizzes and questionnaires » sessions in first aid, yoga, massage and sports » taster courses in holiday French and Spanish, surfing the ’net and digital photography » BookSWAP schemes and book clubs.

ALW « Feature «

Traditionally, unions have often focused on Learning at Work Day, on the Thursday of ALW, when it’s come to awareness-raising events.

Last year, in the southern and eastern region, for example, joint working between unionlearn and regional development agency SEEDA helped 14 unions promote 48 different projects on Learning at Work day.

Between them, the initiatives reached out to 3,500 people, most of whom wouldn’t have been engaged had it not been for the specific activities on the day, according to an independent evaluation.

Unions have also celebrated the achievements of their learners, learning reps and learning projects by nominating them for Adult Learners’ Week Awards (nominations have closed for this year).

Last year’s winners included Amicus member Bob Bridger, the south-west paper mill worker who helped set up a workplace learning centre and inspired dozens of his workmates to go on courses after overcoming his literacy problems.

For more information on how you can support Adult Learners’ Week 2007, please contact NIACE’s Campaigns and Promotions team on 0116 2044 200. Email: alw@alw.org.uk

What is Adult Learners’ Week?

Get yourself organised You can find lots of practical help about organising Adult Learners’ Week events on the ALW website, www.alw.org.uk.

You can promote your ALW event by adding the details to the online calendar. It’s completely free to use, and means that everyone in your local area will be able to find out what you’re doing.

You can download the Adult Learners’ Week 2007 Planning Guide, which contains all you need to know to help you organise a successful event as part of Adult Learners’ Week, including hints and tips on promoting your events, what types of event attract the most interest and how to ensure your are featured in the local media.

You can also find details of local contacts who could help with your event on the website.

Adult Learners’ Week is the annual week-long national campaign to inspire people to pursue adult learning, which this year runs from Saturday 19 to Friday 25 May. It brings together a wide range of private, public and voluntary sector bodies to inspire people to catch up on skills not learnt at school, often by learning at work through projects organised by trade unions.

Many unions chooses to organise events to promote their workplace learning projects on Learning at Work Day, which falls on the Thursday of Adult Learners’ Week.

Many trade unionists and trade union projects have won Adult Learners’ Week Awards during ALW. The awards, which recognise the commitment, interest and passion that adults bring to learning, will be presented this year at the National Awards Ceremony on Monday 21 May in London.

The Week has the backing of the Department for Education and Skills and the European Social Fund and is also supported nationally and locally by a raft of prestigious organisations including the broadcasters BBC, ITV, and Channel 4, businesses such as the Co-op and Royal Mail, and a wide range of individual unions as well as unionlearn at regional and national level.

spring 2007 «

13

» Feature » Sport

Smells like team

spirit

L

earning and education are not something most people associate with sport stars, but that is changing as trade unions tackle the industry’s learning and skills gap – with the determination that made sport stars great.

And they don’t pack a bigger punch than Barry McGuigan, the Clones Cyclone. Barry already has many strings to his bow, as a champion boxer, commentator, and now a unionlearn Skills for Life Advocate.

He received his award along with Gordon Taylor, CEO of the Professional Footballers Association and John Barnwell, CEO of the League Managers Association.

These organisations are working

to offer new opportunities for the tens of thousands of sport professionals whose careers are likely to last just a few years.

For many of these players the cost of devoting themselves to sport has meant their education suffered.

Barry has a fierce commitment to improving the lives of boxers and ex-boxers. He founded the Professional Boxers Association, which, after a merger with the GMB, became the British Boxers Association and sees education as a key part of the way boxers should prepare themselves for life after the ring.

He says: “Boxers have a lot of time when they are not fighting and we want to encourage them to

Unions involved with sport are teaming up to provide members with a sporting chance of finding work once their all too brief careers are over

Education prepares sports people for retirement argues Barry McGuigan

plan and develop other skills so that they have something to go to when they stop making a living from the sport. I feel as people who have been through our sport and really achieved something, it is incumbent upon us to help those coming through.”

Meanwhile the PFA is midway through the first year of a pilot in which former professional footballer Oshor Williams and the union’s ULF project worker and education adviser are encouraging players in clubs throughout the North West to consider their lifelong learning opportunities once their careers are finished.

Boots for brains What happens when you hang up your boots? That’s what PFA Education wants players to consider.

The organisation provides advice and guidance on educational and vocational courses in preparation for a second career for all registered and ex-registered Football League and FA Premier League players and members of the PFA. Grant aid is available for a variety of courses, including: » FA coaching and medical courses » Degree courses in Physiotherapy, Sports Science and Business » Open University undergraduate courses » HGV, PSV Driving Instructor and other driving courses » trade/construction courses

14 » spring 2007

» Higher and Ordinary National Certificates in various subjects

» hospitality and catering » AS/A2 and GCSE courses » leisure management courses, HNC and degree

» teaching qualifications.

Chris Brass, currently with Bury Football Club, is pictured with a new friend made on the BSc in Physiotherapy course he’s just started at the University of Salford, one of the PFA’s supported courses.

Sport « Feature «

Scoring after retirement Player turned PFA education adviser Oshor Williams says his experience of professional football is typical of many players.

“It’s all about hope, ambition – and rejection!” recalls Oshor.

Having left school at 16 with three O Levels, Oshor was apprenticed at Middlesborough but after two years not offered a professional contract – like 50 per cent of youth trainees, he says.

“Unlike other apprenticeships the technical skills learned in football are not explicitly transferable and my education had been derailed by my interest and focus on football,” he says.

Oshor was fortunate to be offered a professional contract at Manchester United and was a member of the Old Trafford reserve team.

“It was a fantastic experience but I wasn’t offered anything further when my contract ended. Outside of top-flight football the average for most professional players is a two-year contract!”

Further periods of work at Gateshead, Southampton, Stockport County and Preston followed. “There is an industry below the Premiership and leading Football League Championship clubs where the prospect of a short career in football sustaining you and your family for the rest of your life is nil,” says Oshor.

Sports arena

Student Matt Baker on Camera Two with one of the course tutors, Mich Pryce, at the launch of the new BA in Sports Journalism at Stafford University. Matt has played for MK Dons and Wrexham. Mitch produced BBC coverage of the World Cup.

Finally a serious knee injury put him out of the game at 29 and with a young family to support Oshor was faced with a career change.

“That was really my first adult experience of the prospect of career change and how frightening that can be. I had the knowledge and capability but had nothing to back it up.

“We are trying to encourage players to take advantage of the learning opportunities available, gain qualifications and set up a learning network that we hope will be selfsupporting with players learning and, in turn, providing guidance to others who wish to learn.”

His new role brings him into touch with more senior players who are in the process of transition. “We want to encourage them to have aims and ambitions and increase awareness of the prospect of building a future which will inevitably be outside football – after all the biggest certainty for any footballer is that one day they will become an ex footballer,” adds Oshor.

The Educational Sports Forum is celebrating its first birthday with an excellent track record.

The forum involves sporting unions – the PFA, as well as professional cricketers, rugby and boxing associations, which meet regularly to discuss how best to address the learning agenda.

The forum offers the opportunity to pool experience and knowledge and a shared view of how best to promote learning and good practice in sport.

Alan Irwin, project manager of the PFA ULF project and secretary of the forum, says it has been extremely busy working with unions on transition to prepare players to leave their respective sports when they retire or are forced to give up through injury.

He says this includes work with Oxford Brookes University on business startup courses for players who choose to set up their own businesses as well as organising IT training for union members.

The forum’s new website is at: www.educationalsports forum.co.uk It provides a comprehensive portal of information with areas designed for individual unions to give players maximum support.

The 2006 intake of PFA students on the BSc in Physiotherapy at the University of Salford.

spring 2007 «

15

» Feature » Personal finance

Money talks Unionlearn is working with the Financial Services Authority (FSA) – the UK’s financial watchdog – on a major initiative to help improve the UK population’s ability to cope with financial matters. oo many workers know too little about their own finances. Employees all over the UK are often unaware about how credit and debt can affect their lives, about the complications of the pension system, mortgages and payslips.

But in a world where we are increasingly expected to take responsibility for our own financial affairs, everyone needs to be able to manage their money well.

That’s why unionlearn has linked up with the FSA to promote its new campaign entitled Make the most of your money. It’s a long-term plan and is aiming to reach some four million employees by the end of March 2011. So we need to encourage more employers to take advantage of this opportunity to help their workers to reduce their stress levels over their money toubles.

T

The workplace project Unionlearn is actively supporting the FSAs Workplace project. This project delivers free financial education to employees in the form of an hour- long seminar in the workplace, delivered by a specially trained presenter. All participants receive a substantial

16 » spring 07

financial information pack building on the seminar content – soon a disk-based version of the material will be available.

The participants’ pack contains a booklet that goes further into the seminar content. It covers » where all the money goes » income and budgeting » debt » organising day-to-day money » preparing for tomorrow » mortgages » pensions.

It also provides a money “jargon buster” to help people through the money word maze.

Some 60 major employers are already taking part in this programme, and a further 150 are in conversation with the FSA to get involved. The employers who have taken part so far realise that helping their employees to understand their personal finances better can reduce the distraction of financial worries. But at the same time, this investment in their people also benefits the business and the employer’s Corporate Social Responsibility rating. A successful Make the Most of Your Money seminar was delivered at TUC Congress House in January. The feedback from this event was overwhelmingly positive.

And this FSA campaign is not just confined to the workplace as other groups are also being targeted. This

means that ULRs and union reps in a range of sectors, industries and organisations can take part. The campaign has seven projects targeting groups, such as school children, students and employees.

It’s a serious problem The extent of people’s lack of financial preparation was revealed in an extensive survey which was conducted last year. The survey

Eight out of 10 people awaiting retirement think that a state pension will not provide the standard of living they hope for when they retire produced some telling results about current levels of financial capability. » More than eight out of 10 (81 per cent) of people awaiting retirement think that a state pension will not provide the standard of living they hope for when they retire. But nearly four out of 10 (37 per cent) of these have made no additional pension provision. » There are 1.5 million who say they are falling behind with bills or credit

Personal finance « Feature «

»

commitments, one third have real financial problems.

Some 40 per cent of people who own equity ISA are not aware that its value can fluctuate with the stock market.

Campaign progress so far By mid-February 2007 the FSA had provided its educational material to some 170,000 employees at 99 different employers. Over 5,000 employees had attended a seminar, and independent evaluation shows that 82 per cent of those attending planned to take some action – usually to review their finances – as a result. Three months after attending a seminar, 60 per cent had already turned intention into action. These figures speak for themselves – a real need is being fulfilled.

The project covers the whole of the UK, and the team has local representatives in Scotland, Northern Ireland, the North West, the North East, and the Midlands.

The Workplace team is working with a wide range of employers, including colleges, health authorities, manufacturers, local and central government, FTSE 100 firms and small charities, as well as financial services firms.

How to get involved Would your employer take advantage of this free educational initiative for the workforce?

How about organising a seminar on Learning at Work Day (24 May) during Adult Learners’ Week (19 – 25 May)?

For more info about the Workplace Project, and getting involved email alex.lindsay@fsa.gov.uk or ring Alex Lindsay on 020 7066 3394.

For info on making the most of your money go to FSA website: www.moneymadeclear.fsa.gov.uk/ No selling, no jargon, just the facts.

spring 07 «

17

» Interview » Val McDermid

Writing in

blood

By Astrid Stubbs

C

Hard to be a rock star when you need your reading glasses! Val (right) with Canadian author Giles Blunt

rime and learning might not seem to go together but in the hands of Quick Read novelist Val McDermid the two are inextricably linked.

Trade unions and the new learning agenda offer people the power of education while the underlying themes of Val’s 20plus books are power and powerlessness, she says.

“I’ve always been a novelist with a social conscience and I’m generally trying to express instances where people are not treated fairly and responsibly,” she says.

A former journalist, Val was a long term member of the NUJ, involved at branch,

Writers for a writer Val enjoys crime novels where landscape features as a backdrop, including Sara Paretsksy, whose detective VI Warshawski works in Chicago, and Raymond Chandler, whose books are based in LA. She’s also a keen poetry lover, citing WB Yeats, TS Eliot, Jackie Kay, Jacob Polley, Carol Ann Duffy and Linda France.

And on her desert island, Val says she would take Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson as the perfect combination of development of both character and plot. regional and national level.

One of her books, Union Jack, even features murder at a union conference, based, light-heartedly, she says, on her union experiences.

Val has also drawn on her experience of writing as a tabloid journalist with its insistence on an accessible, approachable style for her addition to the Quick Reads stable.

Her book, a reissue from last year’s Quick Reads, is Cleanskin, about the death of a career criminal.

People now have opportunities and the prospect of change and, through learning, unions can re-educate them to help them to change their lives in the way they want.

18 »

spring 2007

When she’s not committing violent crimes in her books, novelist Val McDermid is an active campaigner for learning with a passion for social justice “It’s very appealing to me to extend people’s experience of reading,” says Val. “We gain a lot of our experience of the world from reading, whether it’s a novel or biography or whatever.”

Quick Reads gives people a second chance whatever their reasons for missing out on reading at an earlier age, says Val. Like many others she was struck by the dearth of material available for adult readers. “Pretty much the only material is children’s books and adults don’t want to make that jump into the dark of reading to be humiliated sitting on a bus or tube reading a children’s book.”

Val says she found the QR form a challenge to write because it was important to be clear but not patronising.

And the multi-award winning novelist laughs that the experience has given her pause for thought in her writing. “I now think about whether my language is too poncey or showing off!” she remarks.

Val says it is impossible to tell where the ideas for her books will come from – the latest is inspired by a poster found by a friend in a deserted villa while on holiday in Italy and ties in with the 1984 miners’ strike.

“Crime fiction allows me to

Val McDermid « Interview «

Photo: John Chapman

make social comment,” she says.

“I am a political animal and issues inevitably arise in my work but I don’t always know what they will be.”

As a Scot living in England, a lesbian and a writer, Val says she has always felt like an outsider looking in. It was the same when she went to study English at Oxford University.

“I always wanted more and my feelings about Oxford were that these people had the keys to the kingdom and I wasn’t going away until they handed them to me!”

Unions have the capacity to offer those same keys to their members, says Val. “There need to be unions to balance the power of those who employ people and who can potentially exploit them,” she says.

“The idea of a job for life that I had when I started work has gone. People now have opportunities and the prospect of change and, through learning, unions can re-educate them to help them to change their lives in the way they want.”

With three phones on her desk,Val never missed a story as a reporter in the 1970s

For more details of Val’s and other Quick Reads log onto www.niace.org.uk/quickreads

Biography Val grew up in Kirkcaldy on the East Coast of Scotland, a small town famous for producing linoleum and for being the birthplace of the economist Adam Smith.

She read English at St Hilda's College, Oxford – at 17, one of the youngest undergraduates, and the first from a Scottish state school.

She spent two years training to be a journalist in Devon, winning a clutch of awards, including Trainee Journalist of the Year, then for 14 years worked on national newspapers in Glasgow and Manchester, ending up as Northern Bureau Chief of a national Sunday tabloid.

She wrote her first attempt at a novel while working in Devon.

“The best thing I can say about it was that I actually finished it,” she says. She went on to turn her hand to writing a crime novel and her first book Report for Murder was published by The Women's Press in 1987.

Val has now written more than 20 novels as well as plays. The first episode of Wire in the Blood Series 4, featuring Robson Green as the psychologist Tony Hill based on Val’s books was watched by six million people when aired on ITV last year.

Val was the Manchester Evening News crime reviewer for four years.

She also writes occasional journalism and broadcasts regularly on BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio Scotland.

Val has a son and three cats and divides her time between south Manchester and Northumberland.

Val and her partner Kelly registered their civil partnership last year. www.valmcdermid.com

spring 2007 «

19

» Feature » Investment

How it all

Too many companies think of training as just another cost, but a recent study of workplace learning at VT Shipbuilding reveals it can generate substantial returns.

adds up for VT

By Martin Moriarty

E

Photo: Paul Carter

veryone involved in workplace learning can tell you about the benefits of promoting literacy, numeracy and computer courses to staff who have often left school with few or no qualifications.

Workforce confidence levels increase,

20 » spring 2007

relationships between shopfloor and management improve and overall economic performance picks up.

But a large proportion of this is a bit too touchy-feely for many managers – the kind of intangible benefit it’s difficult to evaluate and harder still to put a monetary value

on in the company accounts.

Even when productivity is boosted when a workplace learning project gets underway, it’s not always easy to show a direct relationship between the two, especially when other initiatives have often been undertaken around the same time.

Investment « Feature «

Crunching the numbers

But VT Shipbuilding, which employs around 1,000 people building warships and other specialist equipment on Portsmouth Naval Base, has recently completed a groundbreaking evaluation of its lifelong learning programme which amply demonstrates just how far the benefits outweigh the costs.

It all began in 2004, when the company indicated it wanted to introduce the new semi-supervisory position of charge hand at the shipyard as part of a package of new ways of working.

VT was keen on greater flexibility after relocating from its former site in Southampton to a state-of-theart facility in Portsmouth at a cost of £50 million two years earlier.

Leading hands were already taking on a degree of technical office work as part of their job, but the company saw the new charge hands spending even more time looking after hours and budgets.

But before anyone could work effectively in the new role, the Confederation of Shipbuilding Unions argued shopfloor workers would need a core programme of essential skills.

The unions were already promoting essential skills courses after opening a workplace learning centre with financial support from the Union Learning Fund and signing Learning and Adult Training

Agreements with the managing director in 2002.

Management agreed with the new training plan, and backed a joint bid with local provider Eastleigh College to the Trade Union Fund South East (TUFSE) for financial backing for a training programme open to both leading hands and charge hands (see Learn as you weld sidebar on page 20).

Under the initiative, learners

Studies for VT reveal that the financial benefits of training far outweigh the costs

Employers concerned about the cost of courses please note: if you set everything up correctly, you can actually make money out of workplace learning. would work towards the National Tests in Literacy and Numeracy at Levels 1 and 2 as well as an ICT course accredited by the Open College Network.

Sixty leading hands and charge hands from all trade groups were chosen for the initial programme, which included 30 hours essential skills and 30 hours ICT learning one day a week over ten weeks between February and August 2005.

Management and unions were both equally keen on formally evaluating the scheme, using the

The Phillips Return On Investment (ROI) Methodology converts every improvement attributed to a training programme to a monetary value which is then used to calculate the return on investment.

It’s both rigorous and dataintensive: only improvements made within 12 months of the end of the training are normally taken into account; all benefits are examined for other possible influences; and the effects of training are isolated before calculating monetary value.

In the VT case, the major elements of expenditure in the programme were the costs of paid release for learners (just over £49,000), the tutor’s salary (£29,000) and the project management (£12,000).

Including equipment, materials, administration and other costs, the total outlay came to just over £109,000.

Using the data collected on the business impact of the programme, the evaluation revealed an estimated saving of over £262,750, which worked out at just over £153,000 taking into account total expenditure.

That means the return on the investment expressed as a percentage was a little over 140 per cent.

The figures are even more impressive when the TUFSE funding of £30,500 is factored into the calculations.

With costs reduced to £79,000 and return on the investment increased to almost £184,000, the percentage ROI figure becomes almost 233 per cent.

You can find out more information on the Philips ROI Methodology: www.roiinstituteonline.com/ about_ROIMethodology.asp

Continues on p20 »

spring 2007 «

21

» Feature » Investment rigorous Phillips Return in Investment (ROI) Methodology (see Crunching the numbers sidebar on page 19).

On the management side, they hoped evaluation would show the impact of the courses on the business; the unions thought it would both help their own future bids for funding and support the ULR argument for training in industrial sectors way beyond the shipyard.

The results were pretty

spectacular. Satisfaction rates with the courses were impressive enough (86 per cent were happy with the way the learning was organised).

The pass rates were even better: 100 per cent passed the ICT courses, 98 per cent passed both National Tests at Level 1, 95 per cent passed Literacy Level 2 and 86 per cent Numeracy Level 2.

And the final evaluation figures were the icing on the cake. They showed the return on the

investment in the 2005 training was a massive 140 per cent (excluding the TUFSE funding) or a whopping 232 per cent (factoring in the TUFSE money).

You can’t really argue with figures like that. Employers concerned about the cost of courses please note: if you set up everything correctly, you can actually make money out of workplace learning.

So the real question is not can you afford it, but can you afford not to?

Learn as you weld The CSEU union learning programme at VT Shipbuilding has proved so popular that the learning centre operates at full capacity almost all year round (except during the summer), and there’s always more members on the waiting list for courses.

Indeed, when veteran night-shift worker Dave Stewart was finally able to get on a course when he came onto the day shift, he even turned down management requests to go back on nights just so he could get on with his learning.

Welder Paul Comber, who hadn’t done any learning since leaving school in 1987 admits he didn’t find returning to learning easy at first.

“Level 1 was difficult, because it was refreshing everything you’d forgotten since school, but I picked up Level 2 quicker because Level 1 was fresher in my mind,” he says.

The problem was even greater

Photo: Paul Carter

22 » spring 2007

Successful learning is all about teamwork (from left): George Clair (senior learning rep), Paul Comber (learner), Gary Martin (learner), and Geof Price (training manager)

for fellow-welder Gary Martin, who’d left school ten years earlier in 1977. “I found it quite hard because I hadn’t done anything like it for such a long time since leaving school when I was 15,” he admits.

Studying with workmates made a big difference, they agree. “It’s good to do the courses with people you know – Gary might pick something up that I’m struggling with and he can help me out,” Paul says.

And the courses have definitely made a difference to both of them.

Paul, who doesn’t have to ask his wife how to do things on the computer at home any more, is keen on trying for a leading hand job, which he reckons might not have occurred to him as a possibility before.

Gary has also made more progress since starting to use the learning centre as well, “I used to shy away from anything where I’d have to write reports whereas now I can make sense of what I’m writing!” he says.

He’s also taken two specialist

work-related courses in nondestructive testing which he’s sure he wouldn’t have done before the union scheme.

The programme is extremely cost-effective, according to training manager Geoff Price, who pioneered the training programme when he was senior ULR. “If you go outside to get a basic introduction to Word or Excel, you’re looking at anything from £150 to £200 per individual, whereas in the learning centre the only costs are the paid release because the facilities are there and the tutor is paid for through the LSC core funding,” he explains.

In addition to literacy, numeracy and ICT, the unions have recently started using the centre on Fridays (when the shipyard is usually not working) to run English language classes for 11 Polish welders and one electrician – all of whom get full paid release for attending the courses.

They are also looking into securing funding to help learners like Paul and Gary progress onto Level 3 qualifications.

The atmosphere in the learning centre is usually pretty serious, says tutor Peter Daniels. “I enjoy working here because they’re all decent guys – sensible, grown-up, good attitude.”

Well, most of the time: participants have been known to remove the trackball from a workmate’s mouse when he’s out of the room just to test his understanding of the hardware on his return. “Put that down to shipyard humour!” Gary says.

From the regions « Roundup «

News from across the regions Gordon Brown and Minister for Skills Phil Hope are just some of the high-fliers taking an interest in the array of unionlearn regional projects Midlands

Corby workers press for learning

Gordon Brown meets learndirect support worker Hilda Douglas, Nexus ULR Lynne Dickinson and USDAW ULR Jeff Beresford Northern

Gordon heralds the shape of things to come Chancellor Gordon Brown praised the rich service of unions in the northern region when he officially opened the Newcastle unionlearn Education Centre.

The Chancellor, who was joined by unionlearn Director Liz Smith and Regional Manager, Barney McGill, said: “We are not just opening a new centre but heralding the shape of things to come and providing training for the future.

This will be a hub and a centre not just for education but for community life for the future.”

The new £2 million awardwinning centre is home to a suite of classrooms and a learning centre filled with computers. In the last 12 months, over 2,500 trade unionists have benefited from a wide range of innovative tailor-made Skills for Life courses.

The centre received the matrix

award for the high standard of advice and guidance given by its staff to learners. It also has an Association of Colleges Beacon Award for learndirect provision and runs over 500 courses online.

Mr Brown, himself a former trade union lecturer, said: “Nowhere has the trade union movement worked harder over many decades to ensure the best opportunities for working men and women. This is a centre that will pioneer new ways of learning, transform lives and play a critical role in raising our country’s skills and investing in the potential of the North East.”

Lynne Dickinson, a ULR at Nexus, said: “The unionlearn education centre brings an accessible and flexible learning provision into the workplace. It really is a huge asset to ULRs and the region.”

The TGWU union learning centre at Wincanton/Argos, in Corby has been officially opened by local MP and Minister for Skills Phil Hope.

The site has only recently been organised by the TGWU, mainly through the efforts of senior shop steward, Stewart Campbell. The union now has sole recognition for the 300plus employees with five shop stewards and a further five ULRs. Lesley Stevenson, TGWU Midlands Regional Union Learning Co-ordinator, said: “The opening of this centre for our members to access Skills for Life and computer courses is testament to the work of the ULRs over a relatively short period. They have shown how to use the learning agenda to develop our organisation at the workplace.”

ULRs at the opening of the centre with Sean Kettle, UL organiser for the TGWU East Midlands, Lesley Stevenson, TGWU Regional Union Learning Co-ordinator, Phil Hope, MP for Corby and Minister for Skills and senior shop steward and ULR Stewart Campbell

spring 07 «

23

» Roundup » From the regions Yorkshire and the Humber

Library staff lend a hand A pilot forum has been held in Leeds to link libraries with learning in the workplace, using the local network of ULRs. Libraries in the region are keen to let potential learners know about the wide range of resources and facilities they have to offer working people and their families. The Vital Link project, run through the Reading Agency, aims to get libraries and ULRs to understand the unique position of both and get them to establish new local partnerships.

ULRs at the forum were told of the modern, wide-ranging offer from libraries and library staff heard about the unique position of ULRs and their access to working people. There were workshops which grouped together ULRs with representatives from their local libraries, with the aim of discussing how they could

work in partnership.

Ideas included getting ULRs to organise visits or courses to their local library with their learners.

Another suggestion was for libraries to visit workplaces to break the ice with potential users.

Using mobile libraries and having stalls on Learning at Work Day

were actively discussed.

GMB ULR Brian Mottershaw said: “Libraries will be a really useful resource for us.”

Library staff were equally pleased: Anna Turner, from Calderdale Libraries, said: “It was particularly useful to brainstorm with such enthusiastic people.”

South west

Northern region

Motivating for migrants

Union sets

Courses on migrant workers for union officers were held in March, paying partiucular attention to the South West region’s needs.

Migration into the South West has been concentrated in agriculture, food and drink, tourism, care and construction. It is hard enough for trade unionism in these sectors at the best of times. Union officers and reps in these industries have to tackle the myths and rumours about foreign workers as well as trying to recruit migrants who can be vulnerable to being sacked and evicted.

Many foreign workers are highly skilled and union reps and officers want be to be aware of the issues and understand the practical ways to organise them.

The courses explained the nature of foreign migration and

USDAW members at Shop Direct in Wigan who will lose their jobs this year are making the most of lifelong learning opportunities to improve their chances of finding new work.

Since the announcement that the Wigan site is to close by the end of August 2007, ULRs have reached an agreement with management to allow learners who have taken a Level 1 qualification to carry on with their learning and go for their Level 2. It has also been agreed that all entry level learners can continue to learn for as long as they need.

So far over 40 learners have taken SfL tests.

And an open day promoting lifelong learning at the learning centre and involving staff from Wigan and Leigh College

24 » spring 07

the facts. They also highlighted good practice and exposed the worst. They also offered practical solutions to language and cultural barriers as well as developing ideas for the future.

And they coincided with reprinting of The South West TUC’s popular booklet Who makes up the South West? due to popular demand.

The 20-page full colour booklet takes a look at race in the region, busting myths about asylum seekers and migrant workers as well as hearing some of their stories. It also looks at the far right political parties trying to exploit ignorance of these issues and explains how their racism can be combatted.

If you would like free copies for your workplace email southwest@tuc.org.uk or call 0117 947 0521

From the regions « Roundup « Midlands South east

TGWU mushrooms at Sainsbury’s TGWU membership has mushroomed by 500 at the Sainsbury’s Distribution Centre at Hams Hall in the Midlands since staff have taken up the learning agenda.

The union decided to use learning as an organising tool for its 100 per cent campaign with support from the regional union learning team.

Senior shop steward Andy Hall and six ULRs negotiated for 100 colleagues per year to receive paid release for Skills for Life courses taught by North Warwickshire and Hinckley College (NWHC). NWHC was willing to offer these courses to suit the different shift patterns worked at the busy Midlands distribution centre.

A survey to discover the type of courses the workforce wanted revealed a demand for computer learning and the college offered to develop a Skills for Life computer course to improve literacy and numeracy levels.

Mark Astley and Linda Steward, ULRs at Sainsbury’s, have given a lot of commitment and dedication into making the project a massive success, and have moved forward by introducing ECDL and ESOL courses too.

Recognition of their success has been marked with an LSC regional award for colleges working in partnership for successful employer engagement, workforce development awards to the ULRs, the TGWU and Sainsbury’s.

And the project has been short-listed for the national AOC Beacon Award.

“Our achievement in being nominated for this award has delightfully made us aware that our perseverance and diligence has been recognised to such a high degree and we thank everyone for their support along the way,” said Bob Sissons, Regional Education and Development Organiser.

Wigan wheels in motion enrolled a further 35 learners on SfL courses.

USDAW member, Karen Lowe, who is now working towards her Level 2 Literacy and Numeracy, said: “Now that we are closing down, these courses will make me feel more confident when looking for other employment. I am also doing an NVQ in warehousing, which I am really enjoying.”

Another USDAW member, Sadie Charlesworth, added: “I didn’t get any qualifications from school and now thanks to lifelong learning and the onsite learning centre, I will have both an English and maths qualification before I am made redundant.”

As well as all the SfL provision, learning at the Wigan site includes 10 people signing up for ITQs, a new computer and technology qualification, which can be studied

at Levels 1, 2 and 3. A further 12 people are doing their NVQ2 in warehousing. And there are 20 learners on ECDL courses run via learndirect, with a further 34 waiting to be enrolled. All learning is available to USDAW members in work time and was negotiated by the onsite ULRs. In addition, all members of staff are being invited to attend a CV and letter writing course in the learning centre. The local Advice and Guidance service will be there to help members in the search for alternative employment.

And, says ULR Coordinator Anthony Keough, some staff have already moved on to new employment, having benefited from the many learning opportunities offered in the centre during their time at Shop Direct.

Joanna is our new best friend You don’t usually get queues for autographs at TUC events, but when world-famous author Joanna Trollope agreed to sign some of her books at the unionlearn southern and eastern region conference in January, virtually every delegate joined the line at the back of the main hall in Congress Centre.

Having written The Book Boy for the Quick Reads initiative, Joanna gripped the 300-plus delegates with the story of her writing career and her love of reading.

The conference also saw southern and eastern TUC Regional Secretary Megan Dobney presented with her Skills for Life Advocate welcome pack in recognition of her work in trade union education, and also heard key contributions from TUC Deputy General Secretary Frances O’Grady, SERTUC unionlearn Regional Manager Barry Francis, and unionlearn Director Liz Smith.

“I was delighted to welcome Joanna Trollope to the conference and thrilled that the region was able to bring together such a wealth of expertise,” Barry said.

Joanna Trollope and Bobby Barnes from the PFA and former West Ham player

spring 07 «

25

» Feature » TUC Education Everyone booked an a ULR course with TUC Education this summer will not only be finding out how to promote lifelong learning – they’ll also be gaining a few insights into how to make their workplace more gay-friendly.

Betterthan outin

By Martin Moriarty

U

nion reps, including ULRs, who need practical help to make their workplaces more welcoming for lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans members can now take advantage of the new unionlearn with TUC Education workbook, Out At Work.

The workbook outlines a range of strategies to help union reps and others to: » understand the language around LGBT issues » assist LGBT members » negotiate on behalf of LGBT members.

It also provides vital information about work/life balance, lesbian, gay and bisexual rights at work, harassment and bullying as well as a number of useful case studies.

Out At Work is designed both to help stimulate discussion of LGBT issues at union courses, workshops and conferences and as a resource for activists keen to find out more about areas they may be unfamiliar with.

TUC Education will be giving a copy of the ground-breaking publication to everyone attending its courses this summer (including ULRs) and training them in how to use it to best effect in the workplace.

They hope that raising the profile of LGBT issues in this way will further consolidate the progress unions have been making on the LGBT agenda in recent years,

26 » spring 2007

We must combat bullying of LGBT people, argues Angela Eagle MP

according to unionlearn Director Liz Smith.

“Giving the workbook to everyone on one of our courses means we’ll be raising these issues with 15,000 reps, and because they reach out to thousands and thousands of ordinary workers in all sectors of the economy and

throughout the country, they can affect social attitudes in a very powerful way,” she says.

The workbook will also fill a gap which had existed in TUC Education’s work on equal opportunities, according to TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber.

“The trade union movement has come a long way in a relatively short time, but if we’re going to put on our banners ‘unity is strength’, then we’ve got to make that a reality in all the workplaces of this country by bringing together black and white, young and old, men and women, gay and straight,” he says.

The workbook was launched at a Westminster reception in February, with the help of campaigning Labour MP Angela Eagle, whose contribution was crucial in seeing off the recent attempt by faithbased adoption agencies to avoid government regulations outlawing discrimination.

“This extremely impressive and very practical workbook will assist all reps to deal with an issue that’s not always been easy to address, especially when LGBT people can face the bullying and intimidation we have to drive out of the system,” she said.

To purchase Out at Work, please visit: http://www.tuc.org.uk/publications/viewPub.cfm?frmPubID=493

TUC Education « Feature «

Photos: Jess Hurd reportdigital

So what should you do?

Extinguising prejudice Consistent campaigning by LGBT firefighters over the last ten years or more has helped create a more inclusive fire service, according to Fire Brigades Union executive council member, Stewart Brown.

It all began in 1993 when a group of LGBT firefighters in London formed a support group where they could discuss workplace issues: they started lobbying on the LGBT agenda within the union one year later.

As a result, the first lesbian and gay motion-based conference was held in 1999, the national gay and lesbian committee was incorporated into the mainstream structure of the union in 2001, and Stewart himself became the first person to be elected to the newly-created gay and lesbian seat on the union’s

executive in 2005.

“It’s been a long process, but I feel we are slowly changing people’s minds,” he says.

“We’ve created a workplace environment where it’s okay to come out at work and we’ve been able to tackle policy, harassment and bullying so that LGBT firefighters are now an accepted part of the workforce.”

So much has changed that the FBU banner is now frequently seen at Pride events throughout the country – symbolism which Stewart hopes isn’t lost on everyone else attending.

“We promote a positive image of gays in the fire service now – we’re at Pride events up and down the country, which basically says that it’s okay and cool to join the fire service as a gay man, lesbian or transsexual.”

Unity is strength must become reality, argues Brendan Barber with (from left) report author Helen Carr, Angela Eagle MP and TUC Education Manager Liz Rees

Although she was the only “out” lesbian in the college catering team, Jo was determined that other people’s attitudes would not make her feel invisible, so she began to talk openly about her partner and their lesbian and gay friends.

But other staff, including some other union members, made it clear they didn’t want to hear about her private life and complained to their manager.

The manager told Jo that she was being too political and should talk less about her private life for the sake of the good teamwork that was essential to getting the job done.

If you were Jo’s rep, what would you do when she came and asked for help?

This is one of several case studies in the new workbook designed to help activists think about what they would do in response to discrimination in the workplace.

An appendix at the end includes suggestions about how reps might best approach every one of the situations.

The workbook also includes an action checklist in every section and suggestions for a range of discussions and activities to help union reps develop their understanding of and work about LGBT issues.

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» Interview » Brendan Barber

It’s time to Unionlearn has got off to a great start, but we can’t afford to ease up as the organisation heads into year two, argues TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber.

By Martin Moriarty

A

s first years go, unionlearn’s has been pretty darn impressive, opening with the heavyweight political support of the Chancellor and the Education Secretary for the official launch and closing with the takeover of the £15 million Union Learning Fund.

Little wonder, then, that TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber is beaming like a proud parent in his office at Congress House: he reckons the organisation has got off to a flying start.

“We’ve built up a lot of enthusiasm around the unions, we’ve formed a stronger basis for the partnerships that are so crucial with providers, there’s clearly a lot of political support for the work that we’re doing, and a very good buzz around the unionlearn workforce,” he says.

None of this could have been achieved without the increasing professionalism of the everexpanding network of union learning reps, those new type of activists who are refreshing parts of the movement others haven’t reached.

“The growing army of ULRs are themselves fantastically persuasive champions for this work within their own unions: more and more, they’re bringing the power of what they’re doing to a wider trade union audience at union conferences and events.”

We’ve built up a lot of enthusiasm around the unions...there’s clearly a lot of political support for the work that we’re doing

28 » spring 2007

skill

But if he is happy with what’s been achieved over the past 12 months, he’s also profoundly aware of the brute reality of how far the UK continues to lag behind the international competition on skills.

Mountain to climb In the league table of the top 30 developed economies, Britain still lies 11th on high skills, 20th on intermediate skills and 17th on essential skills – which means unionlearn still has a mountain to climb.

That’s why the TUC made a weighty contribution to Sandy Leitch’s review of the skills challenge commissioned by the Treasury, and why Brendan is pleased with many of its outcomes.

But he remains to be convinced about the new employers’ pledge to voluntarily train more members of the workforce which the government is so keen on.

“I’m not against the pledge, we’d like to see it succeeding, but appeals to employers’ enlightened self-interest have not delivered the necessary commitment in the past and my prediction would be that the response will not be positive enough to the new initiative,” he says.

If that does prove to be the case, the Leitch report argues that the government should accept the case for compulsion and legislate to force employers to train from 2010.

Of course, Brendan would say the case for compulsion is pretty overwhelming already, and has been for some years: he himself can remember the CBI arguing with its own members in the early 1990s that if exhortation and persuasion

did not deliver employer commitment to training targets then the union argument for a statutory framework would be irresistible.

“That’s why I think it’s so important that Sandy Leitch did include this backstop with a very clear three-year timetable: he seems to have thought he needed to give the employer community one last chance – let’s hope a lot of them take it.”

If he thinks it’s unlikely that enough will, that’s because he’s seen how the mantra of employer leadership, which has been reverberating around the training community for the past 30 years, has simply not helped the country reach learning nirvana.

Partnership is crucial “I’m in favour of acknowledging employers are crucial – unless there is employer commitment, it’s very difficult to see how you can make real progress,” he argues.

“But leaving it just to the employers – history shows that that has not delivered: a powerful partnership approach and strong union representation within the relevant machinery, is absolutely crucial.”

That’s why Brendan is hoping that there will be much more than a token union presence on the new Commission for Employment and Skills, and that more Sector Skills Councils will follow the lead of those that have embraced significant union representation – not for some narrow sectional gain, but because those are the SSCs which are working most effectively all round.

Given the urgency of the current

Brendan Barber « Interview «

The government must add training to the bargaining agenda, argues Brendan Barber (right)

skills imperative, Brendan remains baffled about the government’s reluctance to add training to the collective bargaining agenda.

“The best employers stand alongside us time and time again explaining how much benefit they’ve got from union learning projects in their workplaces, but there are others who need persuading,” he says.

“All the evidence is overwhelmingly clear that unions make a positive difference on learning in the workplace, but instead of looking to maximise that by giving explicit statutory recognition to learning as a bargaining issue, the government is missing a trick.”

Looking ahead to the current Chancellor’s likely move into Downing Street later this year, Brendan recognises that it “certainly doesn’t do us any harm to have Gordon Brown as such a powerful champion in government for what we’re doing.”

But there’s also a growing recognition of the positive contribution union learning makes at work from the right as well as the left, he points out.

Conservative Trade and Industry spokesman Alan Duncan came away “hugely impressed” (in Brendan’s words) with the learning project at Metroline Buses when he visited last year and many Tory backbenchers have had their eyes opened by initiatives in their own constituencies.

“I hope that we’re winning the argument across the political spectrum that this is too important to be disturbed – whoever forms the next government,” he says.

Photo: Jess Hurd reportdigital

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29

» Feature » Learning in Prison

Removing bars to learning The confines of a prison or special hospital are no barrier to personal development for prisoners or prison officers.

W

hen an assault at work forced nursing assistant Diane Howard to take 14 months' sick leave from Ashworth Hospital, it was the union learning centre that helped her get back on her feet.

Since joining the learning zone at the Merseyside high-security institution, she’s developed her office administration and computer skills, started training as a counsellor and become a ULR herself.

She now has an NVQ in Business Administration and is about to start the ECDL computer course, as well as achieving her basic counselling certificate.

“One of my long term aims is to complete my NVQ Level 1 in counselling so that I can develop

30 » spring 2007

my skills to help others,” says Diane, who is now back in fulltime work.

While studying in the learning centre, Diane says her personal development has included updating her CV, learning how to make the most of an application form, and improving her interview techniques.

“With the help of the staff in the zone, I have applied for five vacancies all of which were online, I have become more proficient using the internet and my computer skills are improving,” she adds.

“My aims are to build on my life experiences and confidence along with my skills and qualifications.

Hopefully this will give me the necessary toolkit to move forward and widen my redeployment horizon. I would like to feel I am not just employed but that I will make a positive contribution to the organisation.”

The POA UK Life Long Learning Project, which started in September 2003, now works with staff like Diane across all eight learning centres up and down the country.

These union learning centres are all based within either the prison service estate or the high-security hospitals estate attached to prisons in England and one attached to the special hospital at Maghull as well as ULF projects in Wales and Northern Ireland.

The range of courses offered is vast with staff and individual

learners gaining qualifications in IT and essential skills to meet the changing needs and increasing computerisation in the prison service and NHS. And, says Andy Rowett, project manager, because ULRs across the country are getting involved with learning centres the project has exceeded its targets of creating a learning culture. “ULRs are important to the project as they provide an extension of the learning centres in establishments where centres are not present.”

The work of staff has already seen qualification successes and recognition. The partnership work in essential skills undertaken at Belmarsh Prison with Lewisham College has also been recognised by the Association of Colleges with a Beacon award.

And the ground-breaking work by centres in developing an information, advice and up-skilling service to all potential new prison officers has been endorsed by the Prison Service, which is now signposting staff to centres to undertake essential skills preparatory work before applying to join the service, explains Andy.

This follows feedback from the service, which reported that 80 per cent of officer support staff applying to become prison officers were failing the entrance test The POA now supplies those who are interested in joining the service with information to help them complete the entrance test to become prison officers.

The union is also responsible for embedding lifelong learning into

Learning in Prison « Feature «

Toe to toe

induction training at three prisons – on the Isle of Wight, Nottingham Prison and Norwich.

Staff who join the service in these prisons now find out about the opportunities for lifelong learning as well as being offered the chance to take national literacy and numeracy tests as part of their introduction to the job.

“It’s a step change for the prison service,” says Andy.

The POA is also working in two prisons to try and embed a whole organisational approach to Skills for Life – working with Lancaster University (The Network), which offers a seminar for management to look at its policy and procedures and give feedback on making policy changes.

Says Andy: “ULRs are seen by the union as being learning champions providing quality information, advice and guidance and encouraging staff to come forward and address their learning needs.

“The vast majority of learning takes place in staff’s own time, which is a real tribute to

Claire Simpson, manager of Holme House learning centre in Stockton-on-Tees with ULRs (above). ULRs attending the Hatfield in Doncaster ULR seminar (below)

those individuals who are working in very demanding jobs within the Prison Service and in special hospitals. These staff have proved that they are highly motivated, giving up time to upskill, a great deal of which will benefit the employer as well as the individual.”

He added: “The Prison Service is slowly accepting the need for a whole organisational approach to embedding essential skills including ITC within individual workplaces.”

The union is also helping plug the skills gap in two of the UK’s prisons – offering prisoners at Moorland open prison in Doncaster the chance to learn health and safety using laptops.

Meanwhile, at High Down prison in Epsom, prisoners identified as having problems with issues of equality are using union-supplied Disability Discrimination Awareness materials to help them improve their offending behaviour.

“While prisons contract in educational opportunities, they don’t have the money to provide unique learning opportunities for individual people. We are talking about one or two people and we are happy to help with that – it’s part of making us sustainable,” says Andy.

The POA’s most successful partnership is at Mersey Care NHS Trust.

The NHS Agenda for Change which encourages staff into lifelong learning has been a major incentive, says Andy, explaining that there is much lifelong

The POA supports the Shannon Trust, a charity devoted to the development of literacy in prisons through peer to peer mentoring. It encourages and helps prisons to develop teams of inmates, who run daily oneon-one lessons for illiterate fellow prisoners. POA members are also involved in the scheme.

The Trust is in contact with over 90 per cent of the prisons in the UK and has successful schemes running in around half.

The Government says that 38 per cent of all adult prisoners have no useful literacy skills. A further 29 per cent have very poor reading skills. That equates to over 50,000 prisoners.

At the moment there are some 1,000 prisoners receiving tuition.

The trust’s aim is for every prison to be running the Toe

by Toe literacy scheme on every wing, turning the time inmates spend inside prison into an opportunity to change their lives. learning activity with 200 staff on waiting lists for Skills for Life training.

Added Brian Caton, POA general secretary and Skills for life Advocate: “The Prison Service is under huge pressure with the rise in prisoner population and the difficulties and pressure this places on staff. I welcome the continued commitment by the employers to this element of joint working to enable staff to update skills and meet the challenges ahead.

“We look forward to working with employers and the TUC to achieve our aim to provide all prison, correctional and secure psychiatric staff with access to Skills for Life opportunities, including ICT skills.”

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31

» Feature » Unionlearn board

All

The first meetings of the unionlearn board and its advisory groups have created a learning buzz.

aboard S

ome people say experience is a great teacher but the cost of that experience can be high, warns Billy Hayes, chair of unionlearn’s new board.

And he should know – he learned the hard way. Failed by the 11 Plus system, Billy’s education suffered until he became involved with trade unions, which finally allowed him to broaden his horizons.

He’s determined that such a path does not need to be followed by other union members who missed out on schooling – and it’s why he’s such a passionate advocate of the union learning agenda.

Billy says that even though the board has been in existence such a short time, he has been impressed by the vision of its members.

“The board has a big remit and a

big job of work to do. Provided we stay focussed on the essentials we can be one of the most successful innovations that trade unions have undertaken. I’m sure that in years to come unionlearn will be seen as the rebirth and modernisation of trade unions,” says Billy.

He says that unionlearn’s tradition is totally in keeping with the union path of the past. “In days gone by unions regarded it as their role to agitate, educate and organise – it’s no accident that the second part is to educate – an educated workforce is a confident workforce.

Billy Hayes (left) explains how learning regenerates the workplace to Gordon Brown, and Miles Templeman, Director General of the Institute of Directors

I’m sure that in years to come unionlearn will be seen as the rebirth and modernisation of trade unions

“Now the union learning agenda is part and parcel of the 21st century, drawing new activists into the trade union movement.

“It infuses our members with a new perspective and can help regenerate the workplace. It’s good for our activists and good for our members.

“The learning agenda is a real winwin situation – for the individual who receives education and for unions in infusing their organisations with a more confident membership.”

Two advisory groups support the board »

»

A Union Advisory Group of union national officers with responsibilities for education and training, regional representatives and representatives from Wales TUC, STUC and NIC-ICTU. This group will ensure that planning, standards and delivery of unionlearn services are meeting union needs.

A Partners’ Advisory Group of external experts from the world of learning and skills. Their role will be to advise on how unionlearn can effectively engage with stakeholders, secure quality and mainstream best practice.

32 » spring 07

Union advisory group

Partner advisory group

Board

Director

Business and finance

Trade union education

Union development

Standards and quality

Research Communications and strategy and marketing

Photo Jess Hurd

Unionlearn board « Feature «

Sense of purpose Unionlearn will help unions to become effective learning organisations. It will do this by: » running programmes for union representatives » delivering programmes for regional officers » providing strategic support for national officers promoting integrated learning and organising strategies supporting ULF and regional projects » offering a consultancy service on funding, management and standards.

Unionlearn will help unions to broker learning opportunities for their members. It will do this by: » providing support for unions and their union learning reps » supporting learning centres (including learndirect provision) » promoting learning agreements at the workplace » establishing websites to advise learners and their union representatives » providing a brokerage service to secure quality provision » ‘kitemarking’ provision to a quality standard.

Educating Alison Chief Executive of the National Extension College (NEC) Alison West is no stranger to education meetings. But at her first meeting of the Partners’ Advisory Group (PAG) to the unionlearn board she had a new experience.

“I’ve haven’t been in a meeting in years where there was such a good atmosphere and such a positive commitment to cooperative working,” says Alison.

The NEC was set up over 40 years ago as a not-forprofit organisation to help people of all ages fit learning into their lives – it makes a natural partner with both the Open University, also a member of the PAG, and with unionlearn.

“Our first meeting went very well,” says Alison. “It was particularly refreshing because everyone there was committed to learning and to cooperative principles. Too often in education at moment there is a slightly competitive, market-driven

ethos – but at this meeting there was none of it.

“Everyone was fizzing with ideas.

The unionlearn initiative has energised a whole group of us!”

Alison added that the fact that TUC Deputy General Secretary Frances O’Grady attended was also a boost to the group. “It made us feel the TUC is committed to it too,” she says.

As well as discussing ideas, the group proposed major bonuses for union members with both the OU and NEC agreeing discounts on courses.

Unions and learners will both benefit, because some people will feel that it’s worth their while to join a union to get the discount. So by deciding to take an NEC course, and signing up to the union, it’s like saving on membership subscriptions. “It helps unions go from strength to strength in gaining members,” says Alison.

Unionlearn will help unions to have an impact on learning and skills policy. It will do this by: » researching union priorities in learning and skills » identifying and disseminating good practice » helping evaluate unionlearn projects » supporting union members on learning and skills bodies » helping to shape and deliver sector skills agreements.

Feel the buzz The first meeting of unionlearn’s Union Advisory Group had a real buzz about it, reports Tom Beattie from Amicus.

Tom is one of the many union senior education and training officers whose task is to support and feed ideas as practitioners to the unionlearn board, using the different perspectives of the various unions involved.

“The first meeting was very well attended and there was a sense of embarking on something new and exciting in relation to union education and learning and skills,” says Tom. He said the first meeting set the terms of reference for future meetings, adding that discussions were wide-ranging and included union reports of learning initiatives from Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland as well as England.“There was very much a good feeling that it is going to be a group which will spark ideas and be positive in taking unionlearn forward.”

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» Feature » Q&A

Jay knows Contact us...

If you have a question you want answered or want to take part in online discussions, please visit www.unionlearn. org.uk/discuss

Jay Sreedharan, unionlearn’s website officer, answers some recent questions raised by site visitors

Q In the last edition I asked if

» Use case studies to publicise

readers had any good motivational tips to help staff take up Skills for Life training. Here’s a summary of some of your answers.

the benefits. “It’s really helped me”, “If I can do it, so can you” type of personal stories work wonders in getting reluctant learners to start.

For more case studies visit www.unionlearn.org.uk/casestudy » Your local ULRs and branch officers should lead by example.

Get them to start courses and make sure everyone knows that you’re doing it! » Find out what members’ current needs and learning aspirations are through a training needs survey.

This will ensure relevant courses

A Highlight the positive benefits of SfL learning to staff (at work and at home) and don’t emphasise their knowledge/skills deficiencies. » Have an open day in your workplace, run in partnership with your local provider. Offer short taster sessions in SfL learning. This will encourage staff and weaken their reluctance to take part.

are introduced to staff. » Start with short courses to entice reluctant learners i.e. CV writing, digital photography, interview techniques » Word of mouth and individual encouragement from your ULRs is a really effective way of getting people to sign up. » Seek advice and guidance from your own union or regional unionlearn project workers.

They will both have dealt with similar problems in the past and offer innovative ideas to get people elearning.

Over a million hits per month for the website

Our lively and dynamic website generates more than a million hits a month. Already visitors are showing a huge interest is finding out more about learning in the workplace and over 15,000 users have subscribed to receive regular email alerts. www.unionlearn.org.uk was launched in May 2006, offering a new and exciting service for Union Learning Representatives, with up to the minute news, views and articles on workplace learning. www.unionlearn.org.uk contains a wealth of information and advice to help union learning reps be more effective in the workplace. So what can the website offer you?

34 » spring 07

» Courses directory: The courses directory is a key feature, sorting through hundreds of training courses for union reps and officers across the UK. Users can search or browse through the directory listings by region, category and date range. www.unionlearn.org.uk/courses » Online Learning: We provide a range of online courses suitable for union representatives. These courses offer an ideal solution for reps looking for a convenient and flexible approach to training. www.unionlearn.org.uk/online » Free online publications: unionlearn produces a wide range of campaign material, newsletters, reports, guidance for union learning reps, educational resources, and more, all of which are available to order or download free of charge. www.unionlearn.org.uk/publications » Discussion forums: The site contains a debate forum giving users the opportunity to ask questions, share information and create an online community. www.unionlearn.org.uk/discuss » Diary dates: Want to know what is happening in the world of unionlearn?

Visit: www.unionlearn.org.uk/ events and apply for the latest learning related workshops, seminars and network meetings.

Hungry to know more? Take a RSS feed from the unionlearn site at www.unionlearn.org.uk/RSS sign up for regular unionlearn email alerts at www.unionlearn.org.uk/register or simply visit www.unionlearn.org.uk

For more information about the website or if you’re an organisation wanting to link to the site please email the website officer at ulweb@tuc.org.uk

Give aways « Feature «

New materials for ULRs Go to www.unionlearn.org.uk/freebooks

Three leaflets for ULRs to encourage learners These new leaflets come in different formats they are:

» A scratch card with six basic

» This quiz leaflet offers a prize

» ULR information 18-section

maths questions, and the answers are revealed by scraping the silver squares.

for answering five questions. The answers are on the unionlearn website, where a prize can be claimed and people can sign up for email alerts.

fold-out Z-card – for getting colleagues to take up skills offers – with space for ULR name, phone number and email.

Giveaways

If you’re a ULR then there’s some new and important materials for you to order on this page.

Skills for life posters You can now decorate your learning centre, workplace or college with these new A2 size (594mm x 420mm) landscape posters. They come in seven languages.

The posters are in three designs in English, and one of each in Polish, Urdu, Punjabi, Hindi, Bengali, and Gujarati.

Skills for life six-pack These six new Skills for Life publications are essential reading for ULRs. They include a general guide and ones on reading and writing, numeracy, ESOL, Dyslexia, and speaking and listening.

You can order further copies of this edition. Please pass them round to your colleagues.

Just go to unionlearn’s website at the above URL and order.

spring 07 «

35

» contacts

unionlearn contacts All TUC email addresses are letter/surname@tuc.org.uk eg: lsmith@tuc.org.uk All Congress House numbers begin with 020 7079 followed by four digits

» unionlearn

» Midlands team

Tel: 020 7079 6920 Fax: 020 7079 6921 Liz Smith, Director Secretary, 020 7079 6922

0121 236 4454 Mary Alys, Regional Manager Gary O’Donnell, Union Development Coordinator Pete Try, Regional Education Officer

» National unionlearn managers Ian Borkett, Standards and Quality Manager, x 6940 Bert Clough, Research and Strategy Manager, x 6925 Matthew Fernandez-Graham Business and Finance Manager, x 6936 Mike Power, Communications and Marketing Manager, x 6942 Liz Rees, Trade Union Education Manager, x 6923 Judith Swift, Union Development Manager, 0151 243 2568

» Learndirect centres 0191 227 5567 Helen Gagliasso

» Equal 0151 243 2571 Joe Fearnehough, Equal National Project Manager

» Website 020 7079 6943 Jay Sreedharan, Web Officer www.unionlearn.org.uk

» Southern and Eastern team 020 7467 1251 Barry Francis, Regional Manager Jon Tennison, Union Development Coordinator, Rob Hancock, Regional Education Officer

Supported by:

The Learning Rep is part of a community programme called Equal – a European Social Fund initiative which tests and promotes new means of combating all forms of discrimination and inequality in the labour market. The GB Equal Support Unit is managed by ECOTEC.

» Northern team Barney McGill, Regional Manager 0191 227 5552 Elizabeth Killoran, Union Development Coordinator 0191 227 5557 Ian West, Regional Education Officer 0191 227 5572

» North West team Dave Eva, Regional Manager 0151 236 2321 Tony Saunders, Union Development Coordinator, Liverpool office 0151 236 2321 Manchester office 0161 445 0077 Peter Holland, Regional Education Officer 0151 243 2564

» South West team Helen Cole, Regional Manager, 0117 947 0521 Regional Development Workers: Alan Shearn, Bristol 0117 947 0521 Geoff Hale, Cornwall 01209 611 604 Marie Hughes, Regional Education Officer 0117 933 4443

» Yorkshire and Humberside team 0113 245 4909 Alan Roe, Regional Manager Trevor Sargison, Regional Education Officer 0113 200 1071

» Union contacts Tom Beattie Amicus 020 8462 7755 tom.beattie@amicustheunion.org Mark Holding ATL 020 7782 1596 mholding@atl.org.uk Kirsi Kekki Connect 020 8971 6052 kirsi.kekki@connectuk.org Trish Lavelle CWU 020 8971 7340 tlavelle@cwu.org Trevor Shanahan FBU 07917 75 9473 trevor.shanahan@fbu.org.uk Jennifer Moses, Stephen Smith NASUWT 0121 453 6150 lifelong.learning@mail.nasuwt.org.uk Andrew Parry Williams NUT 020 7380 4800/4780 learning.reps@nut.org.uk David McEvoy PCS 020 7801 2727 ext 2360 david.mcevoy@pcs.org.uk Andy Rowett POA 07917 699 210 poaulf@yahoo.co.uk Rachel Bennett Prospect 020 7902 6687 Rachel.Bennett@prospect.org.uk Andrew Barton RCN 0207 647 3657 andrew.barton@rcn.org.uk Jim Mowatt TGWU 020 7611 2628 jmowatt@tgwu.org.uk Rail Union Learning RUL Programme Support Team 0207 317 8612 info@rul.org.uk Jeff Hopewell UCATT 01302 360 725 jhopewell@ucatt.org.uk Pam Johnson Unison 020 7551 1267 pam.johnson@unison.co.uk Graham Cooper URTU 07795 562 874 grahamcurtu@yahoo.co.uk Ann Murphy USDAW 0161 224 2804 ann.murphy@usdaw.org.uk