Union Learning TUC Report.Pdf

5.4.4.1 UNISON and the TULiP Project 5.5 Work Based 5.5.1 Shift Working 5.5.1.1 Anglesey Aluminium 5.6 Sustainability 5.6.1 Project Managers 5.6.2 ULR Forums 5.6.3 Networks of Excellence 5.7 Non Union Workers and Ripples of Learning 6. Learning and the Recession 7. Conclusion Acknowledgements I am grateful to Siân Cartwright, Head of Learning Services, Wales TUC who commissioned this research and also to Julie Cook, Head of Trade Union Education, Wales TUC, for their support and encouragement for this research. I would also like to thank the Development Officers of the Wales TUC, Barbara Hale, Mark Rees, Kevin Williams, Roger Jones and Deri Bevan, the Project and Support Workers, Linsey Shingles, Katrina Wood and Marion Burke, and the Networks of Excellence Project Office, Bernice Waugh. In addition the following union officials have been equally helpful, Clive James and Kelly Andrews, both GMB, Siân Gale, BECTU, Paul Westwell, Musicians Union, Clare Jenkins, USDAW, Alwyn Rowlands, AMICUS, Gareth John and Ruth Gates, UNISON, Jayne Smith and Anne Jenkins, both PCS, Charlie Jones, then of UNITE, Wendy Williams, UNITE, Jackie Owen, Community, and David Lewis, AMICUS. Discussions were also held with Richard Young and Kay Smith of Bridgend College, Jeff Amor of the WEA and Janet Barlow, OCN Wales. Finally, a note of thanks to the many ULRs to whom I have spoken, and are too numerous to mention. Katy Huxley participated in this Research Project with the financial support of the Richard E Benedict Scholarship Award, and I am grateful to Mrs Benedict for her continued support in this matter. If I have omitted anyone who should have been listed above, this is merely an oversight for which I apologise. The Report was typed by Beth Green. 3 1. Introduction The purpose of this Report is to provide the findings of a Research Project investigating the role played by trade unions in Wales in engaging with the ‘Hard to Reach Worker’ in learning activities. Such learning activities are often initiated by union learning representatives (ULRs) trained and appointed by trade unions and supported by full time officials of the union, the Wales TUC Learning and Education Services and in many cases through the financial provision of the Wales Union Learning Fund (WULF). In 2002, section 43 of the Employment Act (operative April 2003) provided for the statutory introduction of this new form of union representative, the ULR. This person has an agenda of developing learning in the workplace, often in conjunction with, or through partnership, with the employer. The legislation provided rights for ULRs to reasonable paid time off to be trained and to undertake a number of activities connected with developing the learning agenda (see ACAS, 2002). Such activities include the following: • Analysing the learning or training needs of their members; • Providing members with information, advice, and guidance about learning and training matters; • Arranging learning and training activities; • Promoting the value of learning and training; • Consulting the employer about developing the above. It was also envisaged that ULRs would attempt to establish a learning agreement with the employer, in conjunction with the establishment of a learning centre, in which this learning agenda could be delivered. The reason for undertaking this research follows from the comments made by Martin Rolph in the ‘Review of Welsh Assembly Government Support for Union Learning’ (henceforth known as the Rolph Report, 2006). In particular, the final recommendation from his Review indicated there could be greater potential for union learning, suggesting unions could contribute to: “initiatives aimed at increasing learning participation amongst hard to reach individuals (and) may need to target individual workers within workplaces.” (p. 16) 4 This current research and Report builds upon and supersedes the Pilot Project on the same topic, ‘Developing Learning Opportunities for the ‘Hard to Reach Worker’: Identifying Barriers to Participation’ (Simpson, 2007). However, in covering the activities of unions in Wales a caveat needs to be drawn; Wales is much smaller than England, and whilst this allows a close contact with members, it should not be forgotten that the head-quarters of most unions are in England, and that because of a comparatively larger membership, there are considerable economies of scale. This allows unions in England to appoint ‘learning officers’, a privilege partly as a result of the reasons above, not generally found in Wales because of resource issues. This issue may also apply to employers with their headquarters in England, for example the civil service in which Ministers in Whitehall sign the Leitch Pledge, allowing heads of Departments in Wales to abstain in the signing of the Employer Pledge, leading to funding problems. Before embarking on clarifying the definition of the hard to reach worker, and indeed examining the many and various ways trade unions have been successful in engaging the hard to reach worker, there is a need to place the learning agenda in the workplace into a wider context, not only in relation to globalisation and the need for upskilling, but also within the broader context of learning. This Report thus examines the Government’s stated policy on learning and training, and the role (or rather very limited role) they assign to trade union activity. This is then countered by the evidence from a considerable amount of research conducted on the trade union impact on learning and thence on training; in short trade unions have been central to the creation of the development of a learning culture within workplaces, widely thought as a necessary pre-requisite for the desired upskilling. The Report then considers significant barriers to the continuity and sustainability of this learning culture and the activities that flow from it, and considers that the limitation in funding on a two year basis (as under WULF) might constitute a barrier in itself. The end of the Report considers a variety of means to overcome this issue. The bulk of the Report concentrates on the barriers confronting unions in engaging with the hard to reach worker, and provides examples of the many success stories where unions and ULRs have established a solid learning agenda, with extensive 5 learning activities, and in some cases allowing organisations to use this as a basis for the training to provide the upskilling so necessary for the future of the economy in combating globalisation. Finally, the Report draws attention to the way unions interact with many organisations creating ‘ripples of learning’ which go far beyond their membership, and in recognition of the current economic problems considers the role of learning in a recession. 2. Globalisation, Upskilling and the Hard to Reach Worker 2.1 Leitch, Webb, and the House of Commons Welsh Affairs Committee The Rolph Report concentrated on the activities of the Wales TUC Education and Learning Services, and whilst applauding much of the work achieved by that organisation in association with its constituent trade unions, nevertheless raised the issue that trade unions could undertake more activity in order to engage with the hard to reach worker. The challenge provided by the Rolph Report should be seen in the context of many other Reports on the need for upskilling amongst the workforce employed within the Principality of Wales. These Reports have been undertaken because of the Government’s concern over the challenge of globalisation, and in particular the lack of a sufficiently skilled workforce to enable Britain effectively to meet this challenge. There have been three major Reports considering the main issues of upskilling: first, one relating to the UK as a whole, but with implications for Wales, generally called the Leitch Report, 2006, ‘Prosperity for all in the Global Economy’ – World Class Skills’; second, one that builds upon a response by the Welsh Assembly Government to the Leitch Report, but also extends the analysis considerably in addressing educational deficiency in Wales, the Webb Report, 2007, ‘Promise and Performance’, though essentially focusing further on the Mission and Purpose of Further Education in Wales in the context of a Learning Country; and finally, The House of Commons Welsh Affairs Committee’s Report, January 2009, entitled, ‘Globalisation and its Impact on Wales’ (chaired by Hywel Francis, henceforth called the Francis Report), which included significant sections on the need for upskilling the workforce in Wales, particularly in an economy affected by recession. 6 In broad terms, all of these Reports were concerned with the issue of upskilling of the workforce, but also with the basic skills deficit of the working population, many of whom have already progressed through formal school education, with Leitch addressing the UK as a whole and the other two focussing on Wales. The Leitch Report defined the basic skills deficit thus; “7 million adults lack functional numeracy and 5 million lack functional literacy” (p. 10). The Report in its Executive Summary outlined the problem and suggested the solution: “the UK’s skills base remains weak by international standards, holding back productivity, growth and social justice. The Review has found that, even if current targets to improve skills are met, the UK’s skills base still lags behind that of many comparator countries….Progress towards world class is best measured by the number of people increasing skills attainment. The raised ambitions will require additional investment by the State, employers and individuals.” (Leitch, p. 3 and 4) (my emphasis). The Webb Report, whilst concentrating on boosting educational provision to enhance the skills levels so central to the Leitch analysis, nevertheless was also concerned to eliminate the “Basic Skills gap” (p. 6), and provided some insight into current problems of low skills, by stating that in the past insufficient priority has been given to, “the upskilling of the adult workforce” (paragraph 1.24, p.

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