SERTUC Update - Summer 2012 by unionlearn

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Southern and Eastern Region

Summer 2012

update

Opening up training to everyone

Apprenticeships Open Day at Stephen Lawrence Centre

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Think local, learn local Right across the southern and eastern region, unionlearn and the unions are reaching out to involve the people who live in and around their communities in their learning projects. Take the example of the Herts Trade Union Learning Centre Unite runs in Watford. Last year, they created the HTULC Forum, which now involves a large number of learning and other voluntary organisations in the area. As the case study in this issue shows, networking like this really pays off. The centre attracts new learners with no particular union affiliations, while Watford’s union learners get to find out about courses run by Forum participants. At unionlearn SERTUC, we’ve been involved in a similarly beneficial partnership with the Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust since the two organisations began working together late last year. During National Apprenticeship Week in February, the Apprenticeships Open Day we jointly organised at the Trust’s south London headquarters helped dozens of local young people find out about apprenticeship opportunities they would never have known about before. We followed up that successful event by co-hosting a busy workshop at the national unionlearn/Campaign for Learning conference ‘Unions and employers helping to build working communities’ in March, where we were able to share the positives of our experience with participants from all over the country. When unions and community organisations get together on learning, they both reach new audiences, access and share new resources and develop new ways of reaching the people most in need. It really is a win-win for everyone involved. Barry Francis, Regional Manager

Learning takes off for traffic control staff

Sandra Garner (left) and Debbie Dixon, the dynamic duo of ULRs at NATS

Workers at the Hampshire-based Corporate and Technical Centre of NATS, the UK’s air traffic control services provider, have been broadening their horizons through informal learning, thanks to a dynamic pair of PCS union learning reps. Debbie Dixon and Sandra Garner teamed up five years ago to launch Learning Lunches at NATS Hurn, inviting a wide range of guests to run lunchtime sessions under one of three different headings: education, well-being and hobbies/pastimes. “We started our Learning Lunches with a French taster session using a local college tutor who organised a speed dating session in French, which everyone enjoyed immensely,” Debbie recalls. The session was so successful that the duo followed it up with a popular and well-received course of eight French lessons after work with an excellent French tutor. Since then, the learning sessions have covered everything from craft activities to gardening for wildlife, learning how to waltz, a travelling planetarium, laughter yoga, sign language, a talk on the history of Hurn Airport and a drumming circle to name but a few, and all at very little cost – usually £1 per person. “Sandra has a natural talent for thinking of unusual themes for our lunches and researching them on the internet and she persuades a variety of people to come in at little or no cost, thus ensuring good support from the staff,” Debbie explains. The ULR pair have been lucky enough to enjoy management support from the beginning, which helps with practical arrangements, and there is also a learning agreement in place. The Learning Lunches have proved an ideal approach for a workplace like NATS, Debbie says. “it’s a break from the job, people are enjoying themselves doing something new and they don’t always realise how much they are learning.” Sandra points out that the sessions have also helped break down barriers between the different departments at NATS. “With 1,500 people on site, the sessions are helping the staff to integrate and come into contact with colleagues they may never otherwise meet.” Debbie and Sandra thoroughly enjoy organising the sessions for their colleagues. “It is extremely rewarding and fulfilling, and we hope we are infecting everyone with our ‘yearning for learning’!” they say.

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UNISON signs apprentice deal with Suffolk councils Councillors from two neighbouring councils in Suffolk have signed a pioneering apprenticeship agreement with UNISON.

“ It’s been really good:

they look after me, they’re really friendly, they have a laugh and a joke, and I’ve got my own mentor, which works really well, ”

Ben Polley, who is six months into a two-year apprenticeship in the waste and recycling department, was one of a number of St Edmundsbury apprentices and former apprentices who attended the signing ceremony. “It’s been really good: they look after me, they’re really friendly, they have a laugh and a joke, and I’ve got my own mentor, which works really well,” he said.

When he completes his apprenticeship, Ben will have an NVQ Level 2 in Environmental Skills but he’d like to go further. “There’s an Advanced Apprenticeship that focuses on the management/supervisor role, and I’d like to go for that one,” he said. Ben has taken advantage of the reduced apprentice rate on union membership. “One of the best things about it is you get a discount of your union membership: I pay £10 for a whole year to UNISON, and they’re really supportive.” Catherine Scarfe is a trainee visitor services assistant in the tourist office who recently completed her one-year apprenticeship with an NVQ in Customer Service. “Most of my friends went to uni, but in my opinion I’m better off because a lot of my friends are going to be in a lot of debt and don’t have any guarantees of a job when they leave uni, whereas I’ve done training and have been paid at the same time,” she explained.

Photographs © Peter Smith

St Edmundsbury Borough Council and Forest Heath District Council signed an agreement with UNISON to ensure a consistent and supportive approach to employing apprentices across both authorities in February. “I’m proud that UNISON has been involved with St Edmundsbury and Forest Heath Councils in developing this agreement, which can be held up as a model for other organisations to adopt,” said UNISON Regional Secretary Glynn Hawker. John Griffiths, the leader of St Edmundsbury Borough Council, the council was currently training 11 apprentices, had another 25 people on the payroll who had come through the system, and had helped create more than 70 new apprenticeships in small and medium size enterprises in the area. His Forest Heath counterpart James Waters said there was a need to find employment opportunities for young people in the area, and developing and promoting apprentices in the community would benefit the individuals involved and the employers they worked for. “The model agreement will be an essential tool in maximising the benefits to the organisation and the individual,”

said UNISON Learning Co-ordinator Craig Young, who led the work to develop the agreement. Unionlearn Regional Manager Barry Francis, who also attended the signing ceremony, said that developing quality apprenticeships was one of the key priorities of the bookbinders’ union, one of the very first unions established in the 19th century. “Trade unions have always been concerned with the quality of the training which apprentices receive and that is no different today,” he said.

Cllr John Griffiths (left) and Cllr James Waters sign the new agreement, which is designed to help apprentices such as Ben Polley (right)

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Kay Carberry Q& A Many people see health as an individual issue, so why are unions and unionlearn involved in promoting health, work and well-being? Ever since unions were formed, we have been concerned about workers’ health and safety, so this isn’t really anything new. You could see it as an extension to the work unions have traditionally done on health and safety, but overall the wellbeing of workers has always been a core concern to unions. Work can affect your health and the workplace can help you improve your health and fitness. It’s a collective issue: unions can talk to employers about what they can put in place – whether it’s health checks, healthy canteen food, gym membership, or other initiatives. There are lots of examples in the toolkit.

What would you say to activists who might think health, work and well-being is a distraction from the core union business of pay and conditions?

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erence to working ff di g bi a e ak m n ca s on Uni ampioning ch by e lif of y it al qu ’s le peop ns TUC Assistant ai pl ex k, or w at h lt ea h good rberry. General Secretary Kay Ca

r u o y g n i t t e G workplace in shape

Of course, when it comes to collective bargaining, unions are primarily concerned to improve terms and conditions for their members. But equally we’re concerned to see safe workplaces, healthy work and work contributing to overall well-being. Workers want that too. This is core union business. We can use the experience of going to work to improve individuals’ health and well-being, at the same time as benefiting the employer.

How do you think unions can benefit from prioritising work on health and well-being? It’s of direct benefit to unions to reach out to people who aren’t members and show them the practical ways unions can help change their lives. I think some working people might be a bit surprised that unions are keen on working to ensure workers’ better health and well-being, particularly if they aren’t familiar with unions, so it could change some people’s attitudes to unions and lead to more people joining. This is just another approach that unions can make to working people, to demonstrate the broad range of work

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that unions do in workplaces and all the different benefits they bring to the working environment.

“ There is a mountain

How do you think union work on this issue can also benefit employers? It’s not just unions saying that engaging in workers’ health and well-being brings advantages to the employer: there is a mountain of evidence to show the direct link with individual workers’ productivity and the organisation’s performance. The arguments are there in the toolkit, as are the very positive case-studies that show how different-sized employers have actually made quite big financial gains as a result of putting in place programmes that have, for example, greatly reduced absenteeism, particularly sickness absence. So we’re putting a tool in reps’ hands to help them make the arguments to employers and point employers in the direction of all the evidence and research out there, if they don’t want to take the union’s word for it.

Kay Carberry became the first head of the TUC’s Equal Rights Department when it was set up in 1988, helping establish new equality structures, including new specialist committees and conferences for disabled and lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBT) workers. Kay is now Assistant General Secretary of the TUC, where she leads in key areas of policy development and project management for the organisation, including overseeing work on pensions and equality. She is also responsible for internal management issues. Kay has served on a number of government advisory bodies on equality, education, training and employment, and is currently a Commissioner of the Equality and Human Rights Commission and a Trustee of the People’s History Museum.

of evidence to show the direct link between promoting well-being at work and improving productivity.”

Kay Carberry CV

Do something healthy for Adult Learners’ Week region ULRs across the southern and eastern k and wor lth, are planning a wide range of hea ’ ners Week, well-being events during Adult Lear from Saturday 12 to Friday 18 May. ce, download the To help plan an event in your workpla and new unionlearn SERTUC Health, work org.uk/ arn. onle well-being toolkit from www.uni advice/learn-4455-f0.cfm

Is there a wider economic perspective we should be considering when thinking about this issue? We quote a rather startling figure in the toolkit of the estimated cost of working days lost to ill-health every year among the UK working age population: £100 billion a year. By any measure, that’s a huge sum, and if there’s anything we can do to reduce that, we want to play our part.

What do you think union learning reps can be doing at a local level with the help of the toolkit? We hope that they will be speaking to their fellow workers about what they can do to make their own lives healthier: there are lots of tips in the toolkit about the kind of programmes that

individuals could expect to be provided in their workplace. And at the same time, union reps can also help to educate their employers about this whole area and encourage employers to work with unions on it.

Unionlearn SERTUC developed this toolkit with public health groups in the region. Do you think working on this agenda gives unions the chance to develop similar partnerships at local level?

steps that can be taken, so this is a really good opportunity for both employers and trade unions to work with partners outside the workplace. The unions can be the agents that bring in these experts in to talk to the employer, and at the end of the day, everyone’s going to win from this.

Nobody expects the union rep in the workplace or the employer to be experts about the health benefits of different

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Community engagement The Herts Trade Union Learning Centre (HTULC) is engaging the community around Watford through a new forum that’s helped raise its profile and attract a wider range of local residents.

Photographs © Rod Leon

“We spend a lot of time going into workplaces with laptops to enable people to take Skills for Life courses and so on, but we’re keen to encourage more people in Watford and the surrounding area to use our facilities in the town centre,” explains Unite Project Development Officer Eileen Francis. “We set up the Forum to let people know we’re here, that we’re open to everyone, not only trade union members, and we’d like to help other organisations with the learning and training needs of their staff and volunteers – the theme for our next meeting is sharing skills we have in training and supporting ULRs with organisations who wish to develop the role of Community Learning Champion.” Many people have joined Unite as a result of attending the learning centre, Eileen points out. “Community membership is especially attractive to those who are not working at present: they like the idea that they can have the benefits of union membership and take it with them to jobs they will get in the future,” she says. The centre launched the Forum 12 months ago first through contact with the regional unionlearn team, which agreed to chair the Forum and provide support. Eileen then started contacting

Reaching out to the local community “ By joining the Forum,

organisations enable people using their services to do courses in our learning centre – we’re a flexible provider, so people don’t have to wait for the next term to begin to start a course with us. ” other local organisations through the learning partnership in neighbouring Three Rivers, the Hertfordshire Adult and Family Learning Service (HAFLS), as well

as the local libraries, women’s centre and YMCA. “By joining the Forum, organisations enable people using their services to do courses in our learning centre – we’re a flexible provider, so people don’t have to wait for the next term to begin to start a course with us,” Eileen explains. The Forum also means the learners using the centre can now access a wider range of learning opportunities. “It’s about networking: through the Forum we can also signpost our learners onto other organisations that are doing really good work that we wouldn’t otherwise know about.” Eileen has noticed new learners are now coming in since the centre set up the Forum. “When I ask people where they’re from, they might say the children’s centre, somewhere that I haven’t had personal contact with, so word is spreading through the grapevine,” she says. In addition, the local Jobcentre Plus is also referring people who want to improve their CV or job search skills – and once they’ve taken a skills check, some of them decide to take an English or maths course. The Forum mainly shares information through email, but in addition has also met three times in the past year. “These things take time, but we’ve now got quite a few people interested in joining the Forum and in accessing services we can offer, so I’m quite pleased about how it’s going so far,” Eileen says.

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Apprenticeships for everyone Unionlearn SERTUC and the Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust organised an Apprenticeships Open Day to help young people in south-east London access more training opportunities during National Apprenticeship Week. Around 100 young people and union learning activists attended the Apprenticeship Open Day organised by unionlearn SERTUC and the Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust at the beginning of National Apprenticeship Week in February. The event gave dozens of young people from the area surrounding the Trust’s Lewisham headquarters the chance to learn about the apprenticeship opportunities offered by a wide range of businesses and enterprises. They also heard first-hand testimony from former apprentices Megan Caulkett and Claud Grant (from catering company Compass) and current apprentices Bethan Sherbourne and Gareth Humphreys at defence firm MBDA about the significant opportunities available to young people who choose the apprenticeship route. Organisations supporting the event included Compass, the De Vere Academy of Hospitality, Landmark Training, Twin Employment & Training, the London

Apprenticeship Company, 15 Billion (formerly London East Connexions Partnership), and local café and community space Come The Revolution. But the open day wasn’t organised around a traditional ‘exhibition’ model, where organisations set up stalls and hand out promotional leaflets to anyone who drifts past. Instead, the event used a ‘speed networking’ format, where groups of young people spent ten minutes at each stall to find out about training and employment opportunities before moving on to the next one. The unusual format worked well for the young people attending, according to Doreen Thompson-Addo, Smarter Communities Project Manager from The Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust. “Unlike the traditional exhibition where you go round and pick up a leaflet, the ‘speed networking’ format was a lot more informative and a lot more engaging, and helped people make up their minds then and there about applying for that particular role,” she says. “The young people were really impressed and the initial feedback we received was very positive,” she says. “They enjoyed the presentations at the beginning, and they liked the sorts of apprenticeship opportunities that were

Young people were able to network with exhibitors at the Apprenticeships Open Day

available, and they enjoyed the ‘speed networking’ format.” The day also proved a success for the exhibitors, she says. “A number of organisations have got back to us to say that young people from the Open Day have since been interviewed, and some of our young people not in education, employment or training (NEETs) have made progress since the day, so that was really positive.” The Apprenticeships Open Day was the first event the Trust has organised with unionlearn, which was swiftly followed by the Trust running a workshop at the unionlearn/Campaign for Learning conference ‘Unions and employers helping to build working communities’. “It was brilliant to work with unionlearn SERTUC, who were really supportive, and we used the Open Day in our workshop presentation a few weeks later to highlight what partnership with unionlearn can accomplish,” Doreen says. Claire Timmins, Head of Learning & Development at Compass Group UK & Ireland, said the company was proud to support the Open Day. “We hope this initiative will encourage young people in Lewisham and Greenwich to look into the opportunities available to them locally,” she said.

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Contacts

Learner focus

Unionlearn Southern and Eastern Region Congress House Great Russell Street London WC1B 3LS

020 7467 1251

Regional education office

020 7467 1284

Outreach office Community and Trade Union Learning Centre

020 3288 5520

Regional Manager Barry Francis

bfrancis@tuc.org.uk

Unite’s Simon tackles dyslexia at work

Simon Cotton receives his certificate from Southampton Itchen MP John Denham

Regional Coordinator Jon Tennison

jtennison@tuc.org.uk

Community and Trade Union Learning Centre Manager Phil Spry

pspry@tuc.org.uk

Senior Union Support Officers Mick Hadgraft Stuart Barber

mhadgraft@tuc.org.uk sbarber@tuc.org.uk

Union Support Officers Adrian Ryan Oreleo Du Cran Joanna Lucyszyn

aryan@tuc.org.uk oducran@tuc.org.uk jlucyszyn@tuc.org.uk

Field Worker Jane Warwick

jwarwick@tuc.org.uk

Regional Education Officers Rob Hancock Theresa Daly

rhancock@tuc.org.uk tdaly@tuc.org.uk

Administration Sonia Dawson Johanna Garcia Jaspal Ghtoray Tanya Nelson

sdawson@tuc.org.uk jgarcia@tuc.org.uk jghtoray@tuc.org.uk tnelson@tuc.org.uk

Cover photo of the Apprenticeships Open Day by Jess Hurd/reportdigital.co.uk

Southampton Unite member Simon Cotton has overcome long-term learning problems and progressed at work, thanks to the union learning reps (ULRs) at Southampton City Council, where he works in the waste management department. When the 27-year-old first started at the authority eight years ago, he resisted the ULRs’ attempts to involve him in workplace learning, as he didn’t want to disclose his dyslexia to his workmates. He’d felt ashamed of the condition ever since his early teens: he was once beaten up for attending a special school by a group of kids who’d known him at primary school, and he lost his job at a supermarket bakery after burning the bread because he was too embarrassed to ask for help with weights, measures and times. But after he started work in the Southampton waste department, ULRs Dave Ross and John Early gently persisted, and he was finally convinced to tackle his Skills for Life issues by the ‘gremlins’ literacy adverts that were being screened on TV at the time. As well as gaining entry level literacy and numeracy qualifications, Simon has trained to be a shop steward and health and safety rep, would like to train as a ULR in the future, and has been promoted to charge hand of a round at work. “I would like to thank my ULRs for encouraging me and persisting with me even when times were a bit tough and especially at the start of the learning journey when I didn’t want to know!” he says. “I hope to inspire others who face the same or similar barriers to learning as I did growing up and to show that tackling your gremlins can lead to a better way of life: my life has improved at work with the promotion to charge hand, my social life has improved 100 per cent, and I can now look forward to the time I have children and know that I have the ability to be able to read to them just like all daddies do!” Lead ULR Dave Ross pays tribute to Simon’s determination to overcome his obstacles. “It is great to see how Simon has grasped the opportunity and faced his demons and wanted to learn: he is an inspiration to others,” he says.