www.unionlearn.org.uk

learning repthe

» Autumn 09

Linda GuthrieFirst Group Headof Learning andDevelopment

“The UnionLearning Fundhas totallycontributed toour success atFirst Group”

ULFspecialissue

Unionlearn a hitat TUC congress

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» Comment

The Learning Rep, autumn 09Editor: James Asser jasser@tuc.org.ukWriters: Astrid Stubbs, MartinMoriartyDesign: wave.coopPrint: Ancient House Printing GroupDistribution: Cavalier mailing

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At TUC Congress last month, unionlearnsuccessfully relaunched our Learning andCareers Advice service; hosted a highlysuccessful reception with top North-Westcompanies and a key GovernmentMinister;and organised a packed fringemeeting onapprenticeships with the Skills Minister.Also warm congratulations to Nicola Njie, our

ULR of the year. She’s done a fantastic job inbuilding a formidable learning organisation andunionmembership in E.ON.We also received a powerfulmessage from

the Government. Addressing Congress, GordonBrown called on the trade unionmovement toworkwith him against unemployment. “I ask youto campaign with us to say that wewill not allowa new generation of young people to become alost generation: wewon’t let that happen –never again,” he said.He also delivered an encouragingmessage on

apprenticeships, saying that, as well as creatingnew apprenticeships, the Government wouldput the apprenticeship programme on astatutory basis for the first time and ensure thatan apprenticeship place is available for everysuitably qualified young person by 2013. AnyGovernment that prioritises apprenticeships andjobs for young people has our full support.In this issue, we highlight the workof the

Union Learning Fund (ULF), and show how itadds value to the investment of the Governmentand employers. The fund has clear aims,themes, eligibility and responsibilities; it seekssustainable projects; and is rigorouslymonitored for effectiveness. The projects fundeddraw inmuch additional investment in terms oftime and resources from employers. I hope thismessage gets through to themany politiciansand employerswho have not yet encounteredthe valuable workof the ULF.

TomWilsonDirector unionlearn

Contents:3 Nicola Njie is ULR of the year4 Nicola tells her story6 TUC Congress roundup8 News12 Investing in People14 “Life’s too short” – Quick Reads15 Union Learning Fund adds value20 Meet the new OU Vice-Chancellor21 Greening our reps24 BBC’s “My Story”25 TUC Education30 Contacts31 Jay knows32 Free resources

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Prime Minister presents UNISONULRwith top award

UNISON activist Nicola Njie, a customer serviceadviser at energy giant E.ON, was named ULR ofthe year at TUC Congress after helping createthousands of learning opportunities at thecompany, signing up 500 new members andhelping recruit a dozen new ULRs.

Praising the winners of all the reps’ awards, PrimeMinister Gordon Brown said: “They are heroes and I’mproud to stand with them and thank them today.”

TUC President Sheila Bearcroft said lay activistslike Nicola were “the bedrock of our movement.”Nicola says the PM personally thanked her onthe rostrum, saying it was “brilliant” she hadrecruited so many new members. “He saidit must feel really rewarding helpingpeople back into education and

furthering their careers,” she says.

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Read Nicola’s story overleaf

Nicola’s our numberone learning rep

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» Roundup » Congress

Gordon Brown was among a longline of people at this year’s TUCCongress to congratulate NicolaNjie on winning ULR of the Year.No wonder: the call centre

customer service specialist iscredited with helping bringthousands of learningopportunities to E.ON colleaguesand for recruiting at least 500 newmembers to UNISON.But turn back the clock three

years and Nicola was not even anactive member of the union.“Prior to coming to work for

E.ON, I hadn’t been a unionmember but after I joined in 2006I kept seeing items on the noticeboard about UNISON andeventually spotted an ad recruitingULRs. I’d never previously beeninterested in being a steward butI was interested in being a ULRbecause of my interest intraining,” she says.Nicola applied to be a ULR and

within months took over the EastMidlands ULR coordinator’s role,recruiting new members and newULRs across five sites as well as inthe North-West and intoYorkshire too.“We saw our first real interest in

learning during Adult Learners’Week last year when we held anevent in Nottingham,” says Nicola.Meetings got underway with

management and Nicola waspivotal in negotiating a learningagreement involving UNISON,GMB, Unite and Prospect. The

agreement is the first such in theenergy sector and gives facilitytime for reps as well as membersto promote and take part inlearning projects throughout thebusiness.“At the same time I continued to

have one-to-ones with members tosee what they wanted: lots wantedfurther development at work whileothers wanted courses that wereof interest to them outside work,”says Nicola.The company now has maths

and English tests taking place inmany of its sites and membersembarking on courses theywouldn’t ever have consideredwithout the help of a ULR.Working with ULR Maria

Hollingworth at the company’sDearne Valley call centre inYorkshire, Nicola tookmembership from six to over 200with recognition very near.“It’s me and my team who are

responsible for the recruitments,not just me,” she claims modestly.So just a year later, ALW 2009

saw not one but five companysites hosting successful events.“E.ON has been really good. I

met with them and did apresentation at their UKConsultative Forum,” she says.

In addition, the company isworking in partnership with theULR team in recruiting morefemale and minority ethnic stafffrom its existing workforce to itsacademies in engineering, sales

ULR Rep of the Year Nicola Njie has fuelled a learning surge atenergy giant E.ON, recruiting hundreds of new members on the way.

By Astrid Stubbs

E.ON you go,Nicoand marketing, procurementand HR. “We invited academyrepresentatives to Learning atWork Day to talk aboutapprenticeships and are workingin partnership,” says Nicola.Nicola is now also a UNISON

steward, vice-chair of her branchand sits on one of her union’snational service groups. Havingleft school at 16 because shewanted to earn money, she alsonow plans to further her ownlearning with a degree in TradeUnion Studies.And her levels of confidence

have changed out of allrecognition, she says. “I wouldnever have stood up in front of thechief executive and done apresentation or spoken at myunion conference in front of3,000 people without thehelp that UNISON hasgiven me.”But what really

inspires Nicola isthe face-to facemeetings withcolleaguesand thesupportshe cangive themtochangetheir lives.“The workforce

is really enthusedabout learning again: there isso much more we can do.”

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Thanks to thesupport she’s hadfrom UNISON,ULR Nicola Njienow has theconfidence tomakepresentations toseniormanagement andspeak at unionconferences

“The workforce isreally enthusedabout learning againand there is so muchmore we can do.”

6 » autumn 2009

and it is our public services that arenow being told they will have to facethe consequences.”The current public sector deficit is

not the big problem that somepeople claim, he argued. “A publicsector deficit is inevitable in arecession: it’s a symptom – not acause,” he said.“Let us speak up for decent jobs,

workers’ rights and public services.Let us speak out against greed,exploitation and discrimination. Andlet us ensure that when this stormsubsides, Britain emerges a better,fairer, more equal place.”

Speakingup for jobsTrade unions must speak up fordecent jobs, workers’ rights andpublic services as the countryemerges from recession, TUCGeneral Secretary BrendanBarber told delegates to thisyear’s Congress in Liverpool.

“Green shoots mean little whenthousands of people a day arejoining the dole queue. Risingshare prices count for little when amillion and more young peoplecan’t find work.

“And bumper bonuses are anobscene joke when it was ourmoney that rescued the banks,

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Givingyouthachance to train Don’t cutskills cashRe-skilling the workforce tohelp the country out ofrecession means educationfunding cuts must bereversed, Congress agreed.Delegates demanded

restoration of Equivalent orLower Qualification (ELQ)funding, and the provision ofproper funding for all adultsseeking access to post-schooleducation.Lecturers’ union delegate

Alistair Hunter made animpassioned call for increasedfunding.Prospect delegate Neil Hope-

Collins, an inspector for the HSE,pointed out that unionlearnrelies on ELQs: “Funding for thisis vital as it is for a higher skilledeconomy,” he said.Many Prospect members had

degrees which were out of dateand looked on ELQs as a way ofgetting up to date.A high proportion of people

who needed qualifications to getback into the job marketfollowing a career break werewomen but it didn’t appear thatany equality impact assessmenthad been carried out and cutswould fall disproportionately onfemale members, he added.

Scarlet Harris(right) outlinesthe TUC’s work onapprenticeships,watched byunionlearn BoardChair Billy Hayes(left) and SkillsMinister KevinBrennan at theCongress fringemeeting

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Unions, employers andGovernment showed how muchcommon ground they shared onapprenticeships at a packedunionlearn Congress fringemeeting.Apprenticeships are vital during

the downturn, and the Governmentis committed to makingapprenticeships a mainstreamoption for 16- to 18-year-olds, SkillsMinister Kevin Brennan said.Confirming that the Government

would be creating 21,000 newapprenticeships in the public sector,he also said that apprenticeshipsmust feature in growth areas like thelow-carbon sector.The TUC aims to become a leading

voice on apprenticeships, Policy andCampaigns Officer Scarlet Harris said.A new project will work with

affiliate unions to ensure thatapprenticeships are incorporatedinto at least 20 workplace

agreements. The project will also bedeveloping a network of UnionApprenticeship Advocates, who willpromote apprenticeships in theirunions and workplaces.Merseytravel Head of Learning Liz

Chandler said apprenticeships werekey to the success of the company.“We develop young people and

apprentices in Merseytravel bygetting them to try a variety of jobsuntil we find what suits the person’sneeds and skills. In that way, we findout what’s best for the organisationand the individual.”Unionlearn Director TomWilson

said that the promise of furthergrowth and new public sectoropportunities was “veryencouraging”.

Employers and ULRs from some of the biggest organisations inthe North-West got their chance to explain how they are workingtogether to improve the regions’ skills levels when they metMinister for Business, Innovation and Skills Pat McFadden atTUC Congress in Liverpool.

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Liverpool John Lennon Airport'sHead of Training and DevelopmentDavid Otter and learning reps StevePenketh (GMB) and Tom MacDonald(Unite) were delighted at theopportunity to tell Pat how theairport had signed the Government’sSkills Pledge. They also told him howthe Pledge and their activitieswere encouraging colleagues toimprove their skills.Sefton Metropolitan Borough

Council’s Work-Based LearningManager Emma Finnegan toldthe minister how unionlearnfunding had helped to create afull-time post in their learningand development programme,with the council contributing halfthe cost. Sefton UNISON ULRsAmanda McNally, Jane Evansonand Glen Williams agreed thattheir learning programme hadhelped to improve industrialrelations in the council generally.Unionlearn Director TomWilson

praised the kind of partnershipworking revealed by those in theroom. “The examples of realcommitment to increasing skillsshown by the North-Westorganisations are examples tobe followed around thecountry,” he said.

Minister givesaPaton thebacktoNWlearningpartnerships

Pat said how pleased he was to beat the reception: “Tonight I’ve heardhow people are being given theopportunity to maximise theirlearning potential. And that’s why Icame into politics, to help people

make the best of their lives. Thesegreat achievements are thanks toreal commitment from managementand unions to help their workforcegain new skills and experience, andfrom Government support throughthe Union Learning Fund.”At the reception, union and

employer reps also came from:McVities, Aintree NHS Trust, BAESystems, Merseytravel, First Bus,and Shop Direct Group.

Pat McFadden meets (far left)Billy Hayes, Frances O’Grady andTom Wilson; and (left) helps Billymake a special presentation to UniteEducation Officer Ann McCall inrecognition of her outstanding workin supporting union learning

Pat McFaddendiscusses theSkills Pledgewith (above)David Otter, StevePenketh and TomMacDonald fromJohn LennonAirport; and (left)listens to AmandaMcNally, JaneEvanson, GlenWilliams andEmma Finneganfrom SeftonMetropolitanBorough Council

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Ordnance Survey’s LearningCommittee mark the deal:(back row, from left) AndyKennard (OS OrganisationalDepartment) with ULRsJulian Davis and GaryHedges; (front row, fromleft) ULRs Trevor Pinhorneand Jo Lines, Hazel Hendley(OS OrganisationalDepartment) and LibrarianCathy Layton

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» News

UCATT member and bricklaying apprentice SamFairgrieve, who came home from WorldSkills inCanada with a Medallion of Excellence, hasvowed to do even better when the “skillsOlympics” comes to London in two years’ time.“I would’ve liked to have been placed higher, but

was really pleased with my work given the timelimit,” said the 21-year-old building worker, whoalso had the honour of carrying the team flag at theopening ceremony.“I felt really proud to be competing in the event,

which was amazing – a real once-in-a-lifetimeexperience.”Sam was the best tradesman in the competition,

according to Keith Binns, the Leicester Collegebrickwork lecturer who helped him achieve his NVQLevel 3 as part of his Advanced Apprenticeship withJelson Homes in Desborough.“His workmanship and trowel skills were superior

to anyone else, which was remarked upon by manyof the technical experts and general passers-by:unfortunately his accuracy was not quite goodenough on this occasion to win,” Keith said.After missing out on a Gold Medal this year by just

two marks, Sam is already in training for the 2011competition, whenWorldSkills comes to London.His Medallion of Excellence – marking his

achievement of the world standard in his specialism– was one of 14 secured by Team UK, whosemembers also secured three gold and six bronzemedals in the competition.

Sam flies the flag for youth skills

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ULRsmapoutnewOrdnanceSurveydealProspect ULRs have agreed anupdate to their learning agreementwith Ordnance Survey’s (OS)Organisational Development,originally signed three years ago.The update takes account of OS’snew Pathways progressionsystem and renews OS’scommitment to learningand training in the workplace.

UCATT member Sam Fairgrieve carries the British flag at theWorldSkills 2009 opening ceremony (above) after a send-offat a London reception (left) where fellow competitor ChrisCoates, a Unite member at Bentley Motors, met (from left)UK Skills Chairman Chris Humphries, Skills Minister KevinBrennan and celebrity chef James Martin

Much-loved TV presenter and maths guru JohnnyBall visited the KP snacks factory in Billingham,Tees Valley to inspire staff to improve theirnumeracy and literacy skills this summer.The national treasure, who fronted children’s TV

programmes Think of a Number and Johnny Ball RevealsAll in the ’70s and ’80s, was promoting the importance ofgaining numeracy and literacy qualifications as part ofthe Learning and Skills Council (LSC) North East Skills forLife campaign.“Many people today do not handle the basic maths

required for everyday life very well: we must encouragepeople with such problems to try confronting them, asthis can lead to improvements in every aspect of life,from becoming better qualified in the workplace, tobuilding similar confidence in our kids,” Johnnycommented.A six-strong team of ULRs led by Jean McDermottroe

(on full-time secondment through the Learning for AllFund) is helping hundreds of staff to improve anddevelop their skills in the fully equipped learningcentre onsite.“By holding events like this, coupled with the fantastic

work that ULRs are doing both here at KP and atworkplaces across the region, we’re helping people makethe first steps to improving their skills,” said the thenunionlearn Regional Manager Barney McGill.Rachel Ovington, HR Cluster Lead – Northeast at KP,

said employee development was vital to help thebusiness continue to succeed on Teeside. “We will lookfor any opportunity to encourage learning anddevelopment in our workplace whether that is an NVQ, avocational programme or a visit from Johnny Ball – mathsis at the heart of everything we do.”

Ruskin College for welcoming theOrganising Academy with suchopen arms.”Ruskin Principal Audrey

Mullender was delighted towelcome the TUC OrganisingAcademy to the college. “It makesabsolute sense for Ruskin and theTUC to draw together our proudhistories of educating tradeunionists to organise for socialjustice and social mobility,”she said.Originally launched in 1998, the

TUC’s Organising Academy nowtrains over 350 union officers andorganisers every year, whileRuskin’s strong ties to the labourmovement mean its graduatesinclude former TUC GeneralSecretary George Woodcock andformer Deputy Prime MinisterJohn Prescott.

autumn 2009 « 9

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Academy signs up with Ruskin

USDAWcampaign scoops top award

Ruskin College has become thelead national provider of TUCOrganising Academy coursesfor the next two years under anagreement signed at CongressHouse this summer.The new partnership will allow

Organising Academy graduates totake advantage of Ruskin’s broaderprogramme of training andsupport, which includes MA andundergraduate programmes.“This new partnership marks an

opportunity to shape a newgeneration of skilled, educated andmotivated trade unionists that willcreate stronger and moresuccessful unions,” said TUCDeputy General Secretary FrancesO’Grady.“I’d like to thank Newcastle

College for their wonderful supportover the past four years and also

Here’s Johnny!

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Johnny Ball (centre) with Barney McGill (left) and LSCNorth East Skills Development Director Nick James

Retail union USDAW’s CheckOut Learning campaign wasnamed Best Campaign at theTUC Press and PR Awards thissummer.Check Out Learning

encouraged over 330 USDAWmembers to return to learninglast year, directly led to the

union signing up over 440 newrecruits and identified 250-plusmembers who expressed aninterest in becoming USDAW reps.“Check Out Learning … is a great

name for a campaign that getseverything right: the objectivesare clear and the outcomes willhave significant long-term benefits

for the union, developingboth the union and the individualand collective skills of itsmembers,” the judges said.“Unions are at their best when

they show members that they arenot just ordinary people, butextraordinary people, and thiscampaign does that in spades.”

Audrey Mullender and FrancesO’Grady celebrate with (from left)Liz Rees (TUC Education), PaulNowak (TUC Head of Organisationand Services), and Liz Blackshaw(TUC Organising Academy Director)

USDAW’s CheckOut Learningcampaign(above) gets itall right

Unionlearn SERTUC andFoundation Degree Forward(fdf ) set out what they hope toachieve through their joint pilotproject Accessing HigherEducation in the Workplace atan event in Congress Housethis summer.The project aims to promote all

forms of higher level learning in theworkplace, especially Foundationdegrees, which combine academicstudy with workplace learning toequip people with the relevantknowledge, understanding andskills to improve performanceand productivity.Speakers included Open

University Executive Director BobCoates, unionlearn Standards and

Quality Manager Ian Borkett, fdfDirector of Workplace LearningStrategy Susan Hayday andunionlearn SERTUC Project WorkerSean Ruddy, who is steering thepilot in the region.In addition to putting questions

to the speakers in a Q&A session,participants were also able to takepart in two activities designed toexplore the demand for higherskills development and to informthe project’s guide to accessinghigher education in the workplace.For more information about the

Accessing Higher Education in theWorkplace project, please contactProject Worker Sean Ruddy.Tel: 020 7467 1368Email: sruddy@tuc.org.uk

Tributes have rolled in to FireBrigades Union learning repPaul Fletcher, after the 39-year-old activist collapsed and diedduring an emergency call thatturned out to be a false alarm.

Firefighters, police andparamedics escorted the coffinon a fire engine from NewportFire Station to the church on theday of his funeral in September,bringing the streets to astandstill as hundreds stoppedto pay their respects.

An inspirational advocate forworkplace learning since joiningthe service in April 2004, Paulwas instrumental in helping theIsle of Wight become the first

Fire and Rescue Service in the UKto achieve the Go Fire Award thisyear, and was awarded the LocalGovernment Go Award ULR of theYear in March.

He also won the unionlearnaward at the learndirect South-East Regional Awards in July andwas in the running for the nationalaward at the time of his death.

“Paul had the unique ability towin the respect of trade unionistsand chief officers,” commentedFBU General Secretary Matt Wrack.“With all his work, he made manyfriends both in and outside of theFire and Rescue community.”

Paul leaves a wife, Lisa, and twochildren aged seven and four.

Higher and higherWorkshopparticipantsdiscuss how toexpand higherlevel learningin theworkplace

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Brigade mourns inspiring ULR

The new right to requesttraining from next spring willbring both opportunities andchallenges for trade unions,according to TUC Learningand Skills Policy OfficerRichard Blakeley.For the first time, workers will

have the right for their trainingneeds to be heard by theiremployer. That means unions (andULRs in particular) will need to beprepared to support members withinformation, advice and guidanceand to develop winning argumentsfor paid time off and fundedtraining within a more formal legalframework.“Employers will be obliged to

listen and respond to individualrequests for training – in response,many will introduce or reviewtraining review systems anddevelop policies for paid time offand funded training,” Richard says.“Trade unions will need to

engage employers to argue forbest practice arrangements,equality of opportunity andfairness of procedure.”

Look out for moreinformation in thenext edition of TheLearning Rep

Training lawon the way

The FBU has setup a memorialfund to help thefamily of PaulFletcher (right,with hislearndirectaward). Youcan make adonation bysending acheque toShaunElvers, IoWFire & RescueService,58 St John’sRoad, Newport,Isle of Wight,PO30 1LT

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RodLeon

Trade union reps and officers in the South-West will be able to offer more completesupport to members facing redundancy in theregion with the help of the new unionlearnbooklet, Coming out on top: a trade unionist’sguide to getting through redundancy.Union members faced with losing their jobs

need advice on a range of issues, includingdeveloping their skills, retraining opportunities,and practical support in applying for jobs –which is where the new booklet comes in.Coming out on top includes detailed

advice on:� action planning� workplace support� membership retention� union support� other agencies that can help.It also includes a detailed redundancy

support journey planner and explains how AreaAction Forces throughout the region can be usedto bring together all the key agencies involvedin redundancy support.The guide has been supported by the South

West of England Regional Development Agencyand the Department for Business, Innovationand Skills.There are limited numbers of the free

publication available: to order a hard copy,email unionlearnsouthwest@tuc.org.uk ortelephone 0117 9470521.

You can also download a copy fromwww.unionlearn.org.uk/southwest

Creating Connections is thetheme for next year’s Learning atWork Day (LAWD), which falls onThursday 20 May, during AdultLearners’ Week.The Campaign for Learning (CfL)

says the theme reflects the differentways in which learning in theworkplace is strengthened andsupported through makingconnections, whether that’s peoplelearning together or managementand unions working in partnership.“Our theme for 2010 is all about

celebrating the partnerships thatunderpin learning and this includesour long-standing partnership withunionlearn,” says CfL Chief ExecutiveTricia Hartley.“There was a fantastic

amount of activityundertaken by unionlearning reps forLearning at Work Day2009 and we arelookingforward toanother

Get connected toLearning atWorkDay

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autumn 2009 « 11

New guide offersjob loss strategy

Department of Work andPensions ULR MargoMcNicholas had to virtuallydrag security guard KenMitchell onto the IT learningbus when it parked at hisBarnsley workplace on Learningat Work Day three years ago.By his own admission, Ken had a

real phobia of computers – hewouldn’t have one in his home andrelied on colleagues to undertakeany IT tasks for him at work.But to his surprise, he found

using a computer at the LAWDsession wasn’t as daunting as he’dconvinced himself he would be.And when his typing colleaguestold him they wouldn’t respond tohis work emails for him in future, hereally started to get to grips withonline communication by himself.His confidence grew so much

brilliant celebration of thetransformational impact of learningat next year’s Learning at Work Day.”For 2010, the CfL is also working

with the Reading Agency to promotereading activities through the SixBook Challengewww.sixbookchallenge.org.uk.LAWD planning seminars will take

place in January 2010 for organiserswho want to find out more aboutrunning an event.For more information about

Learning at Work Day, planningseminars and details of how to addyour LAWD pictures to the newonline gallery, please contact JamieWright Email:jhwright@cflearning.org.uk Tel: 0207766 0014. You can also registeronline to receive regular updates atwww.learningatworkday.com.

that when his daughter suggestedthey buy a computer to help herwith her nursing degree, he notonly agreed, but set about teachinghimself how to use it with the helpof a couple of “idiots’ guides”.As well as helping him keep up

to date with changes at work, Ken’snew-found IT skills allow him toshop online, research his holidays,trace his family tree and even keepin touch with friends form theforces on Facebook.“Ken believes that the experience

has totally changed his life and thathe is still learning – he is now moreconfident and will try anything:Learning at Work Day really makesa difference,” says PCS DWPRegional Learning Officer forYorkshire and the Humber JanetJohnson, last year’s TUC ULR ofthe year.

HowKen conquered computers

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» Briefing » IIP Ambassadors

any level – to be part oftheir learning journey isan absolute privilege.”Now Unions2Learn

Project Coordinator andULR Co-ordinator atBlackpool Council,Elizabeth is also one ofa select handful ofunion Ambassadors forInvestors in People inthe country.“I first became

involved withInvestors in Peoplewhen my authoritywas working towardsgaining the status:mine is a bottom-upapproach in the organisationand ensures people are given theopportunity to achieve their fullpotential – particularly in areaswhich have traditionally beenconsidered hard-to-reach,” sheexplains.For Elizabeth, it’s all about equality

– identifying the ‘hidden’ talent andbringing it on, so that individuals, thewhole organisation and the

Elizabeth Bullen isn’t someoneto pass up the chance to speakout loud and proud about thebenefits of learning.Just recently, for example, she

could be found addressing anational event at the QueenElizabeth II Conference Centre onskills for the public sector.Her enthusiasm and passion for

learning stretch back to 1988 whenshe first became involved in Skills forLife as a volunteer.Having been a UNISON member

for years, Elizabeth realised veryquickly that ULRs were the trustedcolleagues able to engage withemployees in areas traditionallylabelled hard-to-reach.“I enjoy all aspects of my role but

in particular seeing the way learningchanges people: not only are theymore confident in their own abilities,they raise their aspirations and talkabout wanting a career and not justa job,” she says.“Every day colleagues tell us about

how they are sharing the learningwith family and friends: it is verysatisfying seeing people achieve on

community ultimatelybenefit.“I hope to help achieve

the regeneration ofBlackpool and have nodoubt whatsover we willdo this by encouragingpeople to return tolearning and supportingthem to gain thequalifications they need toimprove their own lives andthe lives of their lovedones,” she says.“Being invited to be an

Ambassador for Investors inPeople is a great privilegeand gives me the opportunityto promote the many benefitsthe process brings to otherorganisations.

“There are scores of case studiesfrom Blackpool Council which clearlydemonstrate how true this is.”Fellow Ambassador Roger Irvine,

UNISON Branch Secretary and seniorULR at Merseytravel, says the rolehas evolved from the partnershipwork between management andunions over a long period of time.

Investors inPeople allowsorganisations toadopt aconsistentapproach toworkforcedevelopment, sayMerseytravel’sRoger Irvine andBlackpoolCouncil’sElizabeth Bullen

AmbassadorsMeetthe

Elizabeth Bullen and Roger Irvine want more learning reps to

You can downloadyour copy ofMaking the Mostof Investors inPeople from:http://tinyurl.com/yz5tr7p

By Astrid Stubbs

IIP Ambassadors « Briefing «

autumn 2009 « 13

With more than 20 ULRs from arange of unions in place and threebusy learning centres working toprovide numerous opportunities,becoming an Investor in People wasa natural underpinning of workalready in progress, explains Roger.“It took the whole process forward:

we needed a coordinated approachacross the organisation – we wereultimately after a consistency ofapproach and equality ofopportunity,” he says.“Our learning agreement meant we

negotiated separate agreementsbetween office and external staffbecause we represent such a verydiverse group of staff: the Investorsin People approach gave us a properprocess to follow where we couldsee what was happening.”Because of the success of the IIP

approach Roger has attended manyconferences with Chief ExecutiveOfficer Neil Scales, who has beenvery keen to explain the businessbenefits of the Merseytravelapproach, including better retentionof staff and lower sickness levels.As a result of its work, the

“I’d like to see more peoplefrom the union side becomeIIP Ambassadors and helpsend the message acrossthe country about the roleunions can play.”

passenger transport organisationapplied for Investors in PeopleChampion status – and became thefirst public sector organisation tosecure it.For Roger, it meant an invitation to

become an Ambassador. “I wasdelighted, particularly in trying topromote the positive role that unionshave taken to affect major culturalchanges,” he says.As well as speaking at meetings

and other events to promoteInvestors in People, Roger hashelped launch a new literacy andnumeracy skills leaflet.“My message is that a lot of

organisations still have anadversarial relationship, but one ofthe things we have done here is toring-fence the learning agenda andby using Investors in People we canstill work positively in key crucialareas,” he explains.“I’d like to see more people from

the union side become Ambassadorsand help send the message acrossthe country about the role unionscan play in a formal partnership.”

The TUC and Investors in Peoplehave been working closelytogether ever since they signed aMemorandum of Understandingfour years ago.“It was a win-win situation on

both sides: Investors in People wasused to get unions involved andunions in workplaces could

introduce Investors inPeople to workplaceswhere it did not exist,”explains FrancesGraham, Head of Skills atIIP UK.The publication of the

unionlearn booklet,Making the Most

of Investors InPeople, madea furtherdifferenceby

offering unions the chance to thinkof IIP in a different way, she says.IIP Ambassadors have been in a

key position to promote theflexibility of the standard. “Peoplethink they have to do certainthings in a certain way but theframework is entirely flexible –they can work in a way they want.This gives even more potential forunions and more flexibility ingetting involved in a process that’smuch more forward-looking,broader and engaging,” she says.For Frances, the proof that

Investors in People was workingfor unions came when she foundherself redundant at theunionlearn conference.“We had a stand and I was

incidental because people weretalking to Elizabeth and Rogerbecause they had the conviction of

join their band of Investors in People Ambassadors.

how things really work. We wantmore ambassadors like them inevery region!”The commitment and

dedication shown by the unionIIP Ambassadors is underpinnedby their belief in the value of thestandard, Frances argues.“IIP Ambassadors are key when

it comes to demonstrating toULRs and unions the way inwhich IIP delivers real benefit.Their role, contributing to peopledevelopment at every level, isinvaluable,” Frances says.

More details atwww.investorsinpeople.co.ukIf you are interested in beinginvited to be an Ambassador,contact Anisha Patel. Email:anishap@iipuk.co.uk

Look out for the new unionlearnpublication: Getting the best out of thenew approach to Investors in People: abriefing for union reps.

With the launch of a new more flexibleapproach to Investors in People, thebriefing will provide:

� a short account of the changes

� ideas on how union reps can usethem to improve members’working lives

� advice on where to getmore information.

Why IIP is a win-winUnion IIPAmbassadorshave helpedpersuade moreunions of thevalue of thestandard,according to IIPUK Head of SkillsFrances Graham(below)

14 » autumn 2009

» Update » Quick Reads

Here’s your sneak preview of next year’s short,sharp shots of entertainment.

By taking Quick Reads to theirhearts, union learning reps andtheir members have helped thepublishing initiative become arunaway success that’s changedthe face of literacy work inthis country.With the support of unionlearn,

workplaces across the country haveordered the titles by the boxful, usingthem to engage reluctant readerswith fast, fun, affordable reads bybest-selling authors.Now shopfloor demand for the

new batch to be published nextMarch is set to really take off – andnot only because the titles includebig-name authors like former SASsoldier Andy McNab, TV treasure RolfHarris and finance guru Alvin Hall.For union members, the 2010 list

is particularly special because itincludes Life’s Too Short, the seriesof true stories about life at workselected from the short storycompetition unionlearn ran last year.

And to make the collectioneven more appealing,publishers Bantam Bookshave asked best-sellingthriller writer (and formerNUJ activist) Val McDermid topen an introduction.“Back when I was a trade

union official, it neveroccurred to us we should beexpanding people’s horizonsin the way unionlearn hasdone over the past fewyears,” Val says.“I’m delighted Quick Reads

is publishing this collectionso people can read aboutworking lives that are liketheir own: and for the writersof the stories, an initiativelike this gives themencouragement and showswhat’s possible for them.”

Alongside Life’s Too Short,next year’s non-fiction includesAlvin Hall’s timely insight intomanaging your money, popularhistory from Alison Weir, acollection of Lottery-winners’real life stories and Rolf Harris’stouching memoir of his caninecompanion, Buster Fleabags.The fiction includes action

adventure by Andy McNab, love andrelationships by Cathy Kellyhumorous crime by Peter James,another Doctor Who story and asearing novel about teenage knifecrime from Bernadine Evaristo.

For its fifthanniversary in2010, QuickReads haslaunched a majornew design andmarketing approach,re-branding theseries as “short,sharp shots of

entertainment” which can bethrilling as a theme park ride.All the new titles will be downloadable

from the website and a key backlist title willbe made available free, for a limited period,as part of the launch promotion.

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There’salwaystime for aQuick Read

Union Learning Fund « Feature «

autumn 2009 « 15

The Union Learning Fund hasclocked up some prettyimpressive outcomes over theyears – but there’s still a lot to doif it’s to continue helping the UKcompete more effectively onlearning and skills, explainsCatherine McClennan.By Martin Moriarty

In the dark days before thelaunch of the Union LearningFund, it was people who alreadyhad qualifications who mostlygot the chance to further developthemselves at work.The idea that shopfloor or frontline

staff might relish the chance toimprove their skills (or acquire newones) was not exactly orthodox.Even enlightened employers who

tried to do something different rarelygot very far.The majority of people with Skills

for Life issues had long ago got usedto covering them up, and manyfeared coming clean to a supervisoror manager would only make themvulnerable to losing their job.“When you look back at the old

approaches to work-based training,the results were poor, the take-upwasn’t particularly brilliant and theydidn’t and couldn’t reach out to themost disadvantaged groups –people on part-time work,shiftworkers and women returning

to work,” says unionlearnNational Union Development

Coordinator CatherineMcClennan.

“What the ULF andthe union route hasdone is makelearning much moreaccessible, moreflexible, and it’sactually madeemployers andproviders aware ofthe barriers whichpossibly weren’tas visible to themas they couldhave been.”

Universallyacknowledged

as one of the success stories ofrecent times, the ULF had relativelymodest beginnings, splitting just £2million between 21 different unionsto help them launch 45 separateprojects in Round One in 1998.Many of these initiatives were local

and small-scale in those early days:some focused on awareness-raising,others on accessing ready-madeprovision, while the most ambitiousused the Fund to open workplacelearning centres.But what were probably most

important were the projects that setabout training the first batch of unionlearning reps to spread the wordabout the possibilities of workplacelearning and encourage theircolleagues to try what was on offer.Significantly, the demand for ULR

training was almost instantaneouslyoverwhelming: in that first year, forinstance, the ULF helped train 1,000learning reps – three times morethan originally planned.Over the past 11 years, the ULF has

invested significant sums in unionprojects to help workers improvetheir literacy, numeracy andcomputer skills: “I think the ULF hasbeen pretty pioneering in the workthat we’ve done raising the skills levelof the workforce,” Catherine says.And it’s also proved adept at

ensuring that union-led learningembraces government initiatives likethe Skills Pledge, Train to Gain andthe latest drive to boostapprenticeships.“We’re really making sure we

promote those key messages so thatULRs and trade unions on theground can make these things areality,” she points out.Now worth £15million a year, the

Fund has grown by proving itself able

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» Feature » Union Learning Fund

16 » autumn 2009

really instrumental to their ownworkforce development strategy –people who’ve got a taste forlearning have gone on to higher levelqualifications, moved intomanagement, and become assets totheir organisations,” she says.Building partnerships – with

employers, learning providers, SectorSkills Councils (SSCs) and otheragencies – has been crucial from theword go. “We’ve really seen somekey partnerships with a jointapproach to learning anddevelopment which is beneficial tothe individual and the employer aswell,” Catherine points out.The UK workplace of today would

to identify, monitor, evaluate andsupport the most successfulworkplace learning projects, wheremanagement, unions and providersare working together towardscommon goals of enhanced skills,reduced staff turnover, andimproved productivity.

“By investing in their staff throughthese projects, employers get amuch better return in terms ofboosting morale, loyalty, employeeretention, productivity, a differentattitude towards essential trainingand development – and in terms ofactually making a much betterworkplace culture,” Catherine says.But the Fund has also enabled the

kind of progression that has helpedboth individual workers and theorganisations that employ them.“Employers see these projects as

With the help of the UnionLearning Fund, Unite the unionis helping London’s migrantand domestic workersovercome barriers to learningand play a bigger role in theircommunities and workplaces.Every weekend, 150migrant

and domestic workers gather tostudy IT and take literacy courses

» Case Study »

Reachingthe hardestto reach

look very different had the ULF notcome into existence.“Without unions and ULRs doing

that work on the ground buildingconfidence, we’d never have had theapproaches that we do have toliteracy, numeracy, basic IT, Englishfor Speakers of Other Languages,dyslexia, and any of the otherbarriers to progress that hadn’t beentackled before,” she says.With the country only now

beginning to climb out of recession,the pressure on public finances isgoing to push future governmentsinto difficult decisions about wherebest to invest taxpayers’ money.But the Union Learning Fund has

repeatedly proved that it’s able togenerate significant returns for arelatively small slice of thegovernment pie.“While it’s done a lot of good work,

there’s still a whole host of work tobe done on the skills agenda if we’regoing to be globally competitive,”Catherine says.“The ULF really does reach into the

heart of the workplaces where weneed to make that difference, wherewe need to upskill – it would bereally remiss of any futuregovernment not to see unionlearning as integral to workforcedevelopment.”

“Motivating employees tolearn is critical to ensuringtraining is effective … TheUnion Learning Fund hasbeen highly effective,together with the growingnetwork of ULRs inworkplaces throughoutthe UK.”Leitch Report on Skills

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with English for Speakers of OtherLanguages embedded (numeracycourses are just getting underway forthe first time).So successful has the project

been, and so positive the word-of-mouth, that Unite has had to movethe courses out of its TransportHouse building into the morespacious surroundings of nearby

Faraday House (the home ofSyracuse University’s LondonProgramme), where learners canspread out over six classrooms, a 30-piece IT suite, and the studentlounge.In addition, the young members

section of the Justice for Cleanerscampaign (where many of themigrant workers first made contactwith the union) runs workshops forup to 40 young people (mostlychildren the learners bring withthem) on photography, video, art,drama, music, dance, food andSpanish.Without the backing of the Union

Learning Fund, the migrants wouldhave had to fall back on courses run

Migrant anddomestic workers(above) aredeveloping theirlanguage skillswith the help ofthe ULF

workers; contribute toimprovements in workforceproductivity; and improveindustrial relations withprogressive constructioncompanies,” explains NationalProject Worker Steve Craig.“ULF resources have helped

UCATT secure qualifications forskilled but unqualified constructionworkers; bridge the digital dividethat exists across the sector;improve awareness of health andsafety through the CSCS TouchScreen Test scheme; improve theemployability of members; anddevelop the confidence and self-esteem of individuals who didn’tthink learning was for them.”The union has also been able to

persuade employers to train moreapprentices: Lincoln City Councilhas given a start to its first threeapprentices in 20 years, andNottingham City Homes haspromised to employ oneapprentice for every million poundspent on its huge investmentprogramme across the citycouncil’s housing stock.“Using the ULF, trade unions and

their ULRs have added value to thelives of thousands of workers, tothe communities where they liveand to the companies where theywork,” Steve points out.

Construction union UCATT isseizing the opportunity ofcontinued Union Learning Fundsupport to push ever closer toits goal of a fully qualified andregistered constructionworkforce by 2010.The union’s ULF work has

ensured thousands of experiencedbut unqualified constructionworkers have secured recognitionof their skills and knowledge byachieving NVQs and ConstructionSkills Certification Scheme (CSCS)accreditation.It’s also helped the union

establish a network of ULRs topromote learning opportunities;provide information, advice andguidance to members; engagewith employers on a wide range oflearning and skills issues; and setup on-site learning centres inatypical learning environments.Learning partnerships like the

one UCATT helped set up at themassive Kings Waterfrontdevelopment in Liverpool havegarnered praise as innovativemodels for meeting the learningneeds of a fragmented and diverseworkforce.“The ULF has had a dramatic

and beneficial effect across theconstruction sector, helping toenhance the confidence, dignityand self-esteem of individual

Union Learning Fund « Feature «

autumn 2009 « 17

What the ULFis all aboutThe key goals of the Union Learning Fund are to:

� build union capacity to sustain and embedwork on learning and skills

� develop the key role of ULRs in raisingdemand for learning

� maximise the union contribution to thedevelopment and delivery of governmentstrategy to drive up the demand for skills

� help unions form active learning partnershipswith employers

� help unions form effective partnershipswith learning providers

� develop union capacity to engage ineffective partnership working with regionaland national skills organisations

� help unions and ULRs develop a frameworkto provide high quality information, adviceand guidance

� help unions engage with union-led learningcentres in the workplace, union offices andunionlearn centres to offer a growing rangeof learning opportunities.

» Case Study »

Building for the future

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by their employers (and take-uphas always been low on thosecourses) or somehow find themoney from their minimum-wagepay packets to sign up with alocal college.“We couldn’t have achieved any

of this without the backing of theUnion Learning Fund,” says UniteNational Union LearningOrganiser Steve Rowlatt.“The workers themselves

couldn’t communicate with theiremployers or the union aroundtheir industrial issues, but nowthey’ve taken the courses, they’vegot a bit more confidence, andthey’re taking the agendaforward now.”

» Feature » Union Learning Fund

18 » autumn 2009

Frizlands Learning Centre in Dagenham hashelped hundreds of street cleaning, refuseand recycling staff improve their skills,thanks to early support from the UnionLearning Fund. Centre Manager PennyRobinson explains how it overcame achallenging start to become a byword forexcellence. By Martin Moriarty

What sort of a reception did theproject get when it was launchedat the authority?When I first came, it was horrendous!I was thrown out of the buildingwhich now houses the learningcentre twice by a manager whosaid they didn’t need any trainingorganised for them. But we werereally lucky because the chiefexecutive was really behind theproject, and that helped usget going.

What courses did you offerin the beginning?Because there were loads of issuesaround health and safety in theworkplace, the first course we didwas health and safety with literacy

and numeracy embedded – and itreally took off. Within a year, I hadabout 300 people on a waiting list –it was amazing. And the managerwho’d thrown me out said: “Look,this is obviously working, my healthand safety is far better and the guysseem happy, so if I get a learningcentre built at the end of the three-year project, will you stay andmanage it?” So I said “Yes!”

What did the money fromthe ULF actually cover?The ULF money was used to pay thetutors from the College of NorthLondon (CONEL), to cover theexpenses to set up the courses, andto pay my wages. As well as thehealth and safety courses, we ranEnglish, maths, IT and equality anddiversity courses written for us anddelivered by CONEL. Now the councilfunds the courses and my wages. Weuse Train to Gain and we hire out thelearning centre for corporate trainingand as a meeting venue whichmakes money for the centre.

How did you prepare forthe project to becomeself-sustaining?We tried to embed learning in the

whole culture of the council. Whenwe started, the culture was thatstaff in frontline services didn’t getany training. One manager told me:“My guys don’t need training – theyknow how to push a broom!” Andthere was another manager whowould always go on about peopleon courses going on “another ULRjolly-up” so I said to him: “If youthink it’s a jolly-up, you come anddo the course.” And he did – whichchanged his mind big time! Onething we did wrong was that we putthe guys on the courses before thesupervisors, and I had a terribleproblem with the supervisors: theywere letting people come on thecourses but they were giving themhell in front of everyone. But oncewe got them on the courses, it wasamazing – they started pushingthem for me!

So how did the project changethe workplace culture?Before the project started, theworkforce was angry and apathetic– they’d say things like: “There’s nopoint telling you because no one’sgoing to do anything.” There neverused to be staff meetings or one-to-ones. When the Transport Waste

Early supportfrom the ULF hashelped LondonBorough ofBarking &Dagenhamtransform itsworkplace culturethrough a newemphasis onlearning andskills

Takin’ ittothe stree

autumn 2009 « 19

and Street Scene Services GroupManager Mickey Neale started staffmeetings, he said: “I want your ideasand your feedback” and one of theguys said: “That’s your bloody job –that’s what you get paid for!” So itwas hard going at first. But what’schanged more than anything is thatwith the training staff have becomemore confident and they know thatpeople will listen to them. Healthand safety has improved, andsickness rates which used to bereally bad have reduced, as well.

Has the project helpedstaff progression?All the managers used tocome from outside theborough but now wecan grow our own.We’ve got aphotograph in thelearning centre of acourse we ran for streetcleaners and refuseworkers – all of themare managers now andtwo are area managers.Chris Taylor is anotherone: he started off on amechanical road-sweeper and couldn’tread or write before hecame to the centre –now he’s got an Instituteof Leadership andManagementqualification and is anArea Manager and hesays learning has reallychanged his life.

Could you have got towhere you are todaywithout the ULF?Definitely not. Mostmanagement didn’twant to know in the

Transport companyFirst Group will berunning a total of 60learning centres bythe end of thecurrent financialyear, and won’t stopuntil 100 per cent ofits employees havesome kind of accessto learning,according to GroupHead of Learningand DevelopmentLinda Guthrie.After starting work with the

TGWU (now part of Unite) back in2002, the company signed anational learning agreement withthe union in 2006 andestablished a joint educationsub-committee to oversee thedirection of Skills for Life provisionand manage the learning centres,project workers and the 100-plusunion learning reps.The company and union work in partnership to

ensure there is a diverse range of courses on offer,based on demand, at a combination of fixed andmobile learning centres across the country.“All our learning centres are striving to be the

best – it’s not enough to put some PCs in a room,”Linda says.“We’ve used all sorts of attraction strategies to

engage people in learning, including scuba divingand guitar lessons – our ULRs and project workersare very creative and organise and run somesurprising courses, always aimed at getting peopleinvolved in learning in a fun and unthreatening way.”At its annual union learning reps conference, First

recognises the achievements of the ULRs andlearning centres of excellence by hosting a uniqueawards ceremony. It also runs a short storycompetition every year for employees and publishesthe winning entries in a book in partnership withUnite and learning advocates NIACE.“The Union Learning Fund has totally contributed

to our success – without it, we wouldn’t have got ourworkplace learning provision off the ground: wewouldn’t be where we are today if we hadn’t startedearly and we started early because we had supportfrom the union,” Linda says.

» Case Study »

Drivingahead

early days, so who would havefunded me? And I couldn’t havedone that work as a volunteerbecause it was so time-consuming,it was hours and hours, youcouldn’t do that as well as anotherjob. And I wouldn’t have had thetutors, and I wouldn’t have had anymoney to be able to pay for all thevenues for learning (before we gotthe learning centre). So without theULF, it wouldn’t have happened.

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etsLocal MP FrankField opens FirstGroup'sBirkenheadlearning centrewith SouthYorkshire MD BobHamilton (centre)and TUC RegionalSecretary AlanManning (right)

20 » autumn 2009

» Update » OU

Combining a passion foreducation and technology tolead The Open University intothe future is the pledge ofMartin Bean, who becameVice-Chancellor in Octoberfollowing the retirement ofProfessor Brenda Gourley.Martin is a former Microsoft

General Manager, who wasresponsible for productmanagement, marketing andbusiness development in theWorldwide EducationProducts Group.“I look forward to combining my

passion for education andtechnology to lead The OpenUniversity over the coming years,as we continue to provideinnovative and high-qualitydistance education solutions tomeet the needs of the 21stcentury,” he says.Martin believes in supporting the

acquisition of 21st century skills tohelp students become lifelonglearners with critical thinking,problem solving, communication,and collaboration skills.And he’s keen to develop good

working relationships with thetrade union movement.

Broadening access meansextending the reach of the besttutors and learning materials toanywhere they’re needed,including rural and undevelopedareas, effectively breaking downthe barriers of time, distance,and cost.“There really isn’t any other

vehicle in the world like technologywith its ability to do that.Wikipedia and YouTube are proofpoints that show what technologycan do to revolutionise the waycontent gets distributed and usedby people,” he says.Tools and resources that allow

for greater individualisation oflearning and insight-drivensoftware tools that enableteachers to guide students alongtheir own learning paths arecritical, he says.Equally important, he says, is

connecting students, theirsupporters and administratorsto share information and trackstudent progress; andconnecting classrooms withpublished content andsubject experts fromaround the world.

Martin’s five key areas where technology has thegreatest opportunity to improve the educationalexperience for everybody are:� broadening access to education for all� enabling student-centred learning� enhancing learning with powerful software tools� creating powerful learning communities at all levels� improving the efficiency of education systems.

The OU’s new Vice-Chancellor plans to merge the best ineducation and technology to improve services to learners.

Students need21st centuryskills like criticalthinking andproblem solvingto help thembecome lifelonglearners, saysMartin Bean

Leading learning

By Astrid Stubbs

into the future

Greeningthe West Country

Harnessing union power tochange environmental behaviourat work is becoming a reality inthe South-West thanks to a newTUC project launched last yearwith the help of a grant from theSouth West RegionalDevelopment Agency (RDA).

Greening South West Workplacesaims to get firms to reduce theirenergy use, set up recyclingschemes and adopt flexibleworking so employees do not needto drive into work every day.

“There are various groupspromoting resource efficiencydirectly to business so the idea isthat we can do something slightlydifferent through the union routeand, alongside that, the employeeroute, to try to move things forwardas well,” explains Project WorkerAndy Moss.

“Because the unions have aninterest in the whole agendaaround the environment anyway,they’re well-placed to engage unionreps and union members and getthem involved in the workplace.”

The three-strong project team ofwhich Andy is a member aims tohelp businesses in the regionimprove their environmentalperformance principally throughthe union route, offering union repstraining that will help them toidentify opportunities, negotiateworkplace agreements, andestablish joint environmentcommittees and a network ofgreen reps.

Environment « Feature «

autumn 2009 « 21

Workplaces across the South-West arereducing their environmental impactthanks to a regional TUC project.

The team is also working with anevaluation team to generate somecase studies of the benefits of theunion approach to greening theworkplace.

The project is already workingwith the unions at workplacesincluding Bristol City Council,Western Power Distribution, RoyalMail and Dairy Crest to put teamsof green reps in place, train themand identify initiatives they can getinvolved in.

“In terms of what the reps see asthe issues, the most common areenergy-saving, travel and wasteand recycling, and some unionsalso have representation on ISO1401 committees, which overseean organisation’s environmentalmanagement systems,” Andy says.

“They’re also exploring ways toget time off for environmentalduties because there’s currently nostatutory right to facility time forgreen reps.”

The project is appealing to bothexisting and new activists, Andyexplains. “We’re getting a mix ofyounger and more establishedmembers coming to events andthere are people coming forwardwho’ve not had a rep role before,”he says.

The project is well aware of thelearning opportunities involved, interms of both upskilling activists andbroadening members’ understandingof environmental issues.

“There’s clearly an element ofnew skills and new learninginvolved in the green agenda –people want the information to givethemselves the confidence todiscuss what needs to be changedwith their managers and theiremployers,” he says.

South West RDA Director ofPlanning, Transport and EnvironmentClaire Gibson says the agency isbacking the project because of itscommitment to the green agenda.

“We’re supporting the ‘GreeningSouth West Workplaces’ projectbecause we are leading theregion’s transformation to alow-carbon economy by helpingbusinesses embrace theopportunities of climate changeand tackle the challenges of globalwarming,” she says.

Find out moreThe project website is at:www.greenworkplacessouthwest.org.uk.You can get in touch with the project tosee how it can support you, or to sharethe work you’re doing. Contact AndyMoss amoss@tuc.org.uk or FrancesRobertson froberston@tuc.org.uk.Tel: 0117 947 0521 Illus

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The only problem was that themuseum’s keen interest in reducingits carbon footprint wasn’t exactlycommon knowledge among its1,000 staff.

“The management had brought inthe Carbon Trust in 2004 – theyjust hadn’t told anyone else in themuseum!” Peter recalls.

To launch the GWP pilot at themuseum, management and unionsjointly organised a Green Day, witha range of organisations runningstalls and workshops including theCarbon Trust, local authorityCamden Council, Friends of theEarth, and the four unionsthemselves (PCS, Prospect, FDAand Unite).

“We took the lead in getting the

When British Museum tradeunion side chair Peter Clennellfirst heard about the TUC’sGreenWorkplaces Project (GWP),he immediately suggested tomanagement that they join theinitiative, which was funded bythe Carbon Trust.

The project aimed to show howunion involvement could paydividends when it came to reducingthe environmental impact of a rangeof businesses and organisations.

The museum readily agreed tobecome one of six “demonstration”workplaces for the one-yearinitiative, having already brought inthe Carbon Trust a couple of yearsearlier to help it get to grips withthe green agenda.

Staff must getinvolved inworkplace greenissues to achievelong-term gains,argues BritishMuseum tradeunion side chairPeter Clennell

project off the ground, with thehelp of the TUC GWP team: weincorporated management andnon-union people into it from thestart – it was geared towards thewhole museum,” Peter explains.

The open day attracted everyonefrom curators to cleaning andsecurity staff, 200 people in all, aturnout that was five times theaverage attendance at similarmanagement-led events, accordingto the keynote speaker from theCarbon Trust.

Most importantly, 100 staffexpressed an interest in becomingenvironmental reps, and 25 of themcovering every area or departmentwithin the museum went on to betrained.

While most were union membersand many union reps already, forsome this was the first time they’dfelt moved to become a workplacerep of any kind.

The role of the new reps was togather information about theirdepartments and help managersand fellow work colleagues get thegreen message, by identifying how

“The British Museum green reps came upwith a long list of improvements whichmanagement had not previously identified.”

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Environment « Feature «

autumn 2009 « 23

each area could make efficiencysavings.

A key aspect of the first stafftraining workshop was a trial energyaudit introduced by a Carbon Trustconsultant which provided reps withthe skills needed to undertakesimplified energy audits in theirown work area.

Once they got down to work, theenvironmental reps came up witha long list of improvements whichmanagement had not previouslyidentified, ranging from usingenergy-saving lightbulbs tore-organising exhibits to controlthe environment around vulnerablepieces in the most energy-efficientmanner.

The key was getting staffinvolved, Peter says. “If you can’tget the staff to turn off computersand lights when they’re not neededor report things that need doing,you’re not going to achieve anylong-term gains.”

The project was a major success,dramatically raising the profile ofenvironmental issues throughoutthe museum and kick-starting a

Help theplanet inthe workplaceThe TUC guide How To Green Your Workplaceoutlines some of the workplace issues whereenvironmental improvements may beneeded and summarises some of the keyactions that union members can take toaddress these issues.www.tuc.org.uk/extras/greenworkplace.pdf

You can find more detailed guidance andresources at the sustainable workplace website:www.sustainableworkplace.co.uk

Why repsneed rightsThe TUC wants legal rights for trade unionenvironment reps – both in terms of trainingand facility time. Workplace environmentalrepresentatives should be able to takereasonable time off during working hours to:� promote environmentally sustainable

workplace initiatives and practices� carry out environmental risk assessments

and audits� consult on workplace environmental

policies, practices and managementsystems

� receive relevant training.

process which has led to year-on-year reductions in the size of itscarbon footprint.

The project directly led tosignificant energy savings of 7 percent in the first year (another 7.3per cent cut has been achieved sofar this year) and reductions in CO2emission (another 5.3 per cent cutto date in 2009) and contributedtowards a £700,000 cut in energyconsumption.

In addition, the recent re-assessment of the museum’sDisplay Energy Certification hasmoved it up from G to F, making itthe most energy-efficient buildingin the National Museums sector,and this summer it secured theCarbon Trust Standard, marking itout as an organisation taking realaction to reduce its direct impacton climate change.

Nowadays, environmental issuesare overseen by the GreenWorkplace Group, which is primarilyan information-sharing network.

Peter says that unions interestedin organising a Green Day to kick-start a workplace environmentalinitiative should follow the BM leadand invite everyone who’s gotanything to do with their building,from the local council to the localenergy suppliers, as well as obviouspartners such as the Carbon Trustand Friends of the Earth.

But they should also learn fromthe one big mistake Peter and hiscolleagues made and not forget tostock up on membership forms.

“There were lots of people askingthe various unions aboutmembership because they saw theunions were interested in greenissues – so make sure you bringplenty of membership forms so youcan sign them up there and then,”Peter says.

When the BritishMuseum set abouttrying to reduce itsimpact on theenvironment, it waspartnership with theunions thatencouraged staff tobuy in.By Martin Moriarty

issues

British Museum workers check out learningopportunities on the PCS stall at the BM’s Green Day

24 » autumn 2009

» Update »My Story

A new BBC websiteis encouragingeveryone to tell theirstories – and the bestwill get published inbook form.

Findthebook

They say there’s a book insideall of us and now the BBCwants to hear about yours, asthe My Story booklet includedwith this edition of TheLearning Rep explains.Up to 15 of the most compelling

storytellers will get the chance toappear in a major TV series onBBC1 in 2010.Five of the storytellers will also

get the chance to have their bookpublished, which could see theirwork on bookshop shelvesalongside their favourite authors.“My Story aims to get the whole

nation reading, writing and tellingtheir most remarkable stories. TheBBC believes that the arts shouldbe accessible to all and we’reproud as a publicly fundedbroadcaster to be at the heart of

the nation’s storytelling,” says BBCArts Commissioner Mark Bell.Anyone over 18 can submit their

true, untold real life stories in300–1,500 words via the My Storywebsite, which contains videosand interactive tools to help youplan and structure your story aswell as tips on writing stylesand skills.In addition, short videos

presented by NinaWadia(EastEnders) and Lenny Henry(returning to the role of Deakus)will show you how easy it is to getstarted and explore simple ideas toget the creative juices flowing.There are also cameo appearancesfrom Peter Duncan, Tara PalmerTomkinson, Stephen K Amos andRoland Rivron.Roadshows in September and

October encouraged people fromall walks of life to tell their stories;gain inspiration and advice fromstory-gatherers from The OpenUniversity; take part in workshopswith their local BBC team; and filmtheir story with Video Nation.Each entry will be read by the

production team. There will be twopanels in the latter stages of thecompetition, which will be madeup of professional storytellers andthe television production company.The third and final panel – whichdecides the five winners – will bemade up of storytelling experts.Send your story via the My Story

website or by post using the entryform on the site. All entries mustbe received byWednesday 16December 2009.

www.bbc.co.uk/mystory

Mininganewseam

TUC-educated reps have a pivotal role to playhelping find new ways to regenerate Yorkshireand Humberside’s major cities, devastated byrecession and the loss of historic industries.

Trevor became a TUC tutor atBradford College, then coursecoordinator and finally REO fouryears ago, just when most peopleare thinking of retirement.“I tried retirement once – but you

can only put up so many shelves,”he laughs. “I still really enjoy whatI’m doing and want to keep goingwhile I’m still doing a useful job onbehalf of the TUC.”Trevor is proud that his region has

been at the forefront of diplomacourses through Hull, Park Lane andBradford Colleges introducing thefirst one-year access certificate inTrade Union and Industrial Studies.“We still have a very good

balanced programme of courses in

Trevor Sargison, unionlearn’sregional education officer (REO)for Yorkshire and Humberside,first realised he needed somequalifications while working asa miner in North Derbyshire.“I left school at 15 with no

qualifications at all and it was onlywhen I moved to a pit where therewere health and safety problemsthat I started getting involved as aNUM union rep and discovered aneed to be educated,” he explains.Trevor started his education

through the NUM’s day releaseprogramme at the University ofSheffield, eventually winning ascholarship to Ruskin College,Oxford, where he took the LabourStudies Diploma, followed by adegree in Economic History atLeeds University.“I am a practitioner in TUC

Education and a product of it aswell,” he proudly declares.“I love the whole education field.

You can put something back in thatcan never be replaced.”

Union activistsneed all theeducationalopportunitiesthey can get tohelp them in theirunion roles, saysTrevor Sargison

“Trevor is a brillianttutor and negotiatorwho is respectedwithin unions andloved by hiscolleagues.”

different part of the region, from thetwo-day induction course, throughcore courses and onto all three one-year diplomas,” he says.Trevor says a major bonus to

the region is its teams of tutors indifferent centres, something hehopes to see consolidated inthe future.“When you look at the way

education has developed, you alsosee the need for a number ofpeople in any one centre to validatewhat’s happening and just tosupport each other and developcourses,” he says.He also hopes to see the widest

range of courses to support repscoming through, as well as onlinelearning to enhance what’shappening in the classroom.“Those brave enough to take on

the job of a voluntary officer needall the educational opportunities tosupport them in what they aredoing,” says Trevor.

Liz Rees, Head of TUC Education

Phot

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By Astrid Stubbs

TUC Education with unionlearn « Roundup «

autumn 2009 « 25

26 » autumn 2009

» Roundup » TUC Education with unionlearn

Coalfield centre burnsbright

U-Net has added further value towhat is on offer at CCLC, providingan opportunity for WEA and U-Netto work closer together for thebenefit of trade union learners.“CCLC provides a very friendly and

supportive environment which hashad a positive impact on the overallquality of teaching and learning,”says WEA/TUC Course CoordinatorBrian Chadwick.“WEA tutors and trade union

learners are very comfortable here:they are made to feel at home andlook forward to coming back anddoing another course.”The WEA’s relocation to

Castleford has helped it developnew union partnerships and a morediverse and interesting trade unioncurriculum. It has also opened upaccess to trade union education fornew communities and the facilitiesand teaching resources haveimproved significantly.“Moving to CCLC was the best

thing we could have done: it’spleasing to see so manyorganisations pulling together inthe same direction and sharing thesame principles and values andproviding a valuable service tounions, union reps and widersections of the community,”says Brian.“I’m just glad that I’m part of what

can only be described as a successstory: the new learning partnershiphas attracted substantialinvestment and reinvigorated itswhole purpose as a centre for adultand community learning.”REO Trevor Sargison says the

centre is vitally important inensuring the delivery of a TUCEducation programme in the oldmining towns of West Yorkshire.“CCLC is a safe and welcoming

environment with wonderfulresources and ever-helpful staff– and they do the best hamsandwiches in the county!” he says.

Three years ago, CastlefordCommunity Learning Centre(CCLC) was threatened withclosure, but is now facing abrighter future after joiningforces with theWorkers’Educational Association (WEA).In the aftermath of the miners’

strike, CCLC became one of thepioneers of community learning,establishing key partnerships withthe University of Leeds and localeducation providers like the WEA.This led to a wide range of learningopportunities being offered to thepeople of Castleford and thesurrounding area.But by 2006 cuts in adult

education funding meant CCLC wasfacing the possibility of closure,while the WEA was at risk of losingits status as a TUC-approvedprovider in Yorkshire.The relocation of the WEA’s TUC

activist provision to CCLC proved tobe the perfect solution to a diresituation for both organisations,and there has been a dramaticturnaround over the last threeyears.Thanks to the support of

unionlearn, the centre has beentotally transformed and as aconsequence the WEA’s TUCactivist provision is going fromstrength to strength.The decision to accommodate

Moving to CCLCwas the bestthing theWEAcould have done,says coursecoordinator BrianChadwick (above,with CCLC’sMargaretHandforth)

Castleford Community Learning Centre hasn’tlooked back since joining forces with theWEAthree years ago, and now plays a crucial role inthe union movement and local community.

With the help ofunionlearn, CCLChas beenreinvigorated as acentre for adultand communitylearning sincejoining forceswith theWEA

TUC Education with unionlearn « Roundup «

autumn 2009 « 27

College that Leeds thewaycollege for trade union learners toaccess other college departments.Learners have been signposted to avariety of courses; languages, ESOL,ICT, Skills for Life, Tai Chi, guitar,wine-tasting, and aerobics.The Faculty of Adult & Community

Education has taken an active partin Learning at Work Day events withvarious unions, including PCS at theDepartment of Work and Pensionsin Leeds and the RMT at LeedsRailway Station. ICT courses havetaken place at Stourton Mail Centre,Leeds, in partnership with the CWU;Darnell with the NUM; Skills for Lifewith the FBU; and the WestYorkshire Fire Service.

A vision of Leeds City Collegebecame a reality this year asLeeds College of Technology,Leeds Thomas Danby and ParkLane College Leeds & Keighleymerged to form what is now oneof the largest and mostinfluential colleges in the countrywith over 60,000 students and aturnover of £70million a year.The Trade Union Studies Centre at

Leeds College of Technology offersthe full range of TUC courses forunion reps and officers. In addition,there is a new satellite centre, partof the University of York, engagingreps in the North Yorkshire area.The centre acts as a gateway to

The centre has recently launched its own website: www.tradeunionstudiesleeds.org.uk

Homeof the champions

available across the country andonline, although it originally startedas a 15-month project for Unite.“It was highly successful in terms

of engaging people,” says DaveParr, who taught the course and isnow course coordinator at thecollege.So successful was the course that

it has now been expanded acrossthe country in a number of forms,including online, and there are now

High among the achievements ofEast Riding College Trade UnionDepartment is its reputation asthe originator of the successfulDisability Champions course.Disability Champions are reps

who are interested in working togain genuine equality for disabledpeople in the world of work.A dedicated five-day training

course written as part of the TUCtraining programme is now widely

more than 1,000 DisabilityChampions representing membersin a wide cross-section of unions.As well as the Champions course,

the centre offers a full programmeof day release courses, includingdiplomas in Employment Law andOccupational Health and Safetyplus the Equalities and onlinecourses. And the centre continuesto maintain a cutting edge presencewith its own Facebook group linkedvia www.tradeunionstudies.com.And all staff – Dave Parr, Hazel

Plunkett, Dave Prodham, AdieToomey, Eddie Markey, LesleyYoung and Angela Silcock – knowwhat it’s like to be students as theywere all reps on courses at thecentre before becoming tutors.

Like all staff atEast RidingCollege, DaveParr (standing,left) was once astudent at thecentre

Dave Prodham(below, left) withstudents on theUnion Reps 1course at EastRiding College

The nature of work in andaround Sheffield has changedmassively but the need for repswith good quality learningremains the same.Sheffield College TU Studies

Centre Manager Tony Fletcher saysthat trade union education hasbeen part of the landscape of theregion for decades.“But I’ve been in the job for 14

years and have seen quite bigchanges. There used to be somany places where people camefrom manufacturing andengineering but these jobs havedisappeared,” he says.

“Now our reps are more likely tocome from the public sector, fromthe universities, hospital, localauthorities and Governmentagencies around here.”The college offers a full range of

courses for students, includingonline courses, which it has beeninvolved with from the early days ofonline learning.And while the nature of the work

people do has changed, theproblems remain the same,Tony says.“People who have been

elected to be reps still need tolearn how to do it.”

The nature ofthe work haschanged but theproblemsremain thesame, saysTony Fletcher

Sheffield showssteely resolve

28 » autumn 2009

» Roundup » TUC Education with unionlearn

Union repslearn coreskills atBradford tohelp themthrough tougheconomic times

Bradford College and its historictrade union studies centre ispivotal to the regeneration of acity in massive decline with theloss of engineering andmanufacturing jobs.“There used to be 100,000

textile workers in the area – nowthere are about 2,000,” saysSteve Davison, TUC EducationCourse Coordinator.“The college has a vital role to

play in upskilling. It also has allthe challenges of providingeducation for a minority ethnicpopulation of nearly one third,”says Steve.And this includes a new army

of reps – many from the privatesector – who still need theimportant training in core skills.“It’s about the core courses,about collective bargaining ina tough economic climate,”he says.

Visiting the college once a yearto witness the work of thedepartment is a group ofNorwegian trade unionists, whohave become twinned with thecollege through links establishednearly 20 years ago by a formercolleague of Steve’s.“We call them the Norwegian

School and they call us theYorkshire School!” he says.In addition, he’s proud of former

students who have gone on tobecome big players in the labourmovement.They include Sports Minister

Gerry Sutcliffe, whostudied at the collegeas a trade union repfor the print unionSOGAT (nowpart of Unite),and LabourParty ChairCath Speight.

Bradford cuts its clothto suit anewgeneration

I feel that it is really crucial that union, working

class people like myself, who have had the safety

representative experience are given theopportunity to gain that academic knowledge so

that they can make a difference.Being motivated and keen is all very well, but

without the training and education I feel that any

potential for improvement in the workplace will

be limited at best and in some scenarioscompletely stunted.This was the biggest obstacle that I found I had.

It takes someone from a union back ground tochange the culture of safety from the warm and

fuzzy cosmetic masquerading and hypocritical

statistical showmanship of which manyorganisations are now guilty, to making realsubstantial progress at ground level.

I have just been awarded a BSc (Hons) de

gree in

Occupational Healthand I can now apply for Grad

IOSH. I was only able to get on this cours

e thanks

to attending the Level 3 TUC Safety course

at

Lewisham College TU Education Dept.

The course that youran gave me an excellent

foundation to continue my studies and I often

referenced the workwe did in class as a

foundation for the course work that I did a

t

university.Almost all the other stud

ents had more

academic credentials than myself, but the fact

that during the unioncourse you taught to

think

around the issues really helped me – although I

must admit it was really toughat times.

My plan is now to find work in safetyin the

construction sector with the view to really making

a difference in the workplace – and to co

ntinue

my studies (the more you learn, the more you

understand how little you know!).

Safety success

London CourtsBranchcelebrates itssafety award:(back row, fromleft) DavePutson, AlanEvans, PaulScully; (frontrow, from left)Elaine Bennett,Len Campling,Sin-Ping Leung

Union reps from London CourtsBranch of PCS started using theTUC Education materials whenthey set up a health and safetycommittee in 2007.As a result of the learning

provided by the WEA, the branchsigned up 10 people for Health andSafety courses, says CommitteeChair Dave Putson.“I was winding down my

involvement with the union but thiswas so inspirational that I foundmyself getting more involved,” hesays .Dave praises the WEA’s Phil

Hood, who ran the course. “He wasso inspirational: he was able to putthings into practical terms and he

TUC Education with unionlearn « Roundup «

autumn 2009 « 29

An award-winning branch of PCS puts itssuccess down to health and safety materialsprovided by TUC Education.

inspired members and got peopleto take an active interest.”Dave says that the London Courts

Branch has some 750membersacross 38 offices and that as aresult of learning, the committeeorganised quarterly health andsafety inspections in 50 per cent ofthem within six months despiteserious opposition frommanagement.By the end of last year the branch

had 19 reps at various stages oftraining and had organisedquarterly inspections at all 38 sites.“We’ve now done 100 inspections

in county and crown courts and, asa result, we have activelyencouraged the Magistrates Court

Branch to do the same,” he says,adding that he’s gone on todevelop his own learning, starting adiploma in Occupational Health.And the branch has been

awarded the union’s Ron BrownHealth and Safety Trophy for itsexcellent work.“Without TUC Education and their

knowledge and experience wewould have been nowhere,”says Dave.

In a letter to Lewisham College, former student Joseph Sammut explains howtaking a safety course helped him progress to higher level learning.

A former student writes …

30 » autumn2009

» UnionlearnTel: 020 7079 6920Fax: 020 7079 6921unionlearn@tuc.org.ukwww.unionlearn.org.ukDirector Tom WilsonTel: 020 7079 6922twilson@tuc.org.uk

» National unionlearnmanagers

Standards and QualityIan BorkettTel: 020 7079 6940iborkett@tuc.org.ukResearch and StrategyBert CloughTel: 020 7079 6925bclough@tuc.org.ukBusiness and FinanceMatthew Fernandez-GrahamTel: 020 7079 6936mfernandez-graham@tuc.org.ukCommunicationsJames AsserTel: 020 7079 6942jasser@tuc.org.ukTrade Union EducationLiz ReesTel: 020 7079 6923lrees@tuc.org.ukUnion DevelopmentJudith SwiftTel: 0151 243 2568jswift@tuc.org.ukDevelopment Officer (ULF)Catherine McClennanTel: 07795 606 982cmcclennan@tuc.org.uk

» U-Net centresHelen GagliassoTel: 0191 227 5567hgagliasso@tuc.org.uk

» WebsiteJay SreedharanTel: 020 7079 6943jsreedharan@tuc.org.uk

» Southern and EasternTel: 020 7467 1251Regional ManagerBarry FrancisUnion Development CoordinatorJon TennisonRegional Education OfficersRob HancockAngela Perry

» MidlandsTel: 0121 236 4454Regional ManagerMary AlysUnion Development CoordinatorGary O’DonnellRegional Education OfficerPete Try

» NorthernRegional ManagerElizabeth KilloranTel: 0191 227 5557Union Development CoordinatorBeth FarhatTel: 0191 227 5576Regional Education OfficerIan WestTel: 0191 227 5572

» North WestRegional ManagerDave EvaTel: 0151 236 2321Union Development CoordinatorTony SaundersLiverpool officeTel: 0151 236 2321Manchester officeTel: 0161 445 0077Regional Education OfficerPeter HollandTel: 0151 243 2564

» South WestRegional ManagerTel: 0117 947 0521Helen ColeUnion Development CoordinatorRos Etheridge

Regional Development Workers:BristolAlan ShearnTel: 0117 947 0521CornwallGeoff HaleTel: 01209 611 604Regional Education OfficerMarie HughesTel: 0117 933 4443

» Yorkshire and theHumber

Tel: 0113 245 4909Regional ManagerAlan RoeUnion Development CoordinatorSharon BurkeRegional Education OfficerTrevor SargisonTel: 0113 200 1071

» Union contactsAspect Judith HibbertTel: 07968 322 969judith.hibbert@ntlworld.comATL Mark HoldingTel: 020 7782 1596mholding@atl.org.ukBECTU Brian KellyTel: 020 7346 0900bkelly@bectu.org.ukBFAWU Dorban IppomaTel: 020 8801 0980dorban58@yahooBSU Vikki BothamTel: 07717 805 521vikki.powell@britannia.co.ukCommunity Roy RickhussTel: 020 7420 4000rrickhuss@community-tu.org.ukConnect Kirsi KekkiTel: 020 8971 6052kirsi.kekki@connectuk.orgCWU Trish LavelleTel: 020 8971 7340tlavelle@cwu.orgEquity Louise GraingerTel: 020 7670 0214lgrainger@equity.org.ukFBU Trevor ShanahanTel: 07917 759 473trevor.shanahan@fbu.org.uk

unionlearn contactsAll TUC email addresses are first initial followed by surname@tuc.org.uk

» Contacts

autumn 2009 « 31

resources «

FDA Martin FurlongTel: 020 7401 5555martin@fda.org.ukMU Pauline DalbyTel: 020 7840 5516pd1@musiciansunion.org.ukNAPO Ranjit SinghTel: 07943 827 353rsingh@napo.org.ukNASUWT Jennifer Moses,Stephen SmithTel: 0121 453 6150lifelong.learning@mail.nasuwt.org.ukNUJ Linda KingTel: 020 7843 3717lindak@nuj.org.ukNUT Andrew Parry WilliamsTel: 020 7380 4800/4780learning.reps@nut.org.ukPCS David McEvoyTel: 020 7801 2727 ext 2360david.mcevoy@pcs.org.ukPFA Alan IrwinTel: 07717 467 718ieteuk@yahoo.co.ukPOA Andy RowettTel: 07917 699 210poaulf@yahoo.co.ukProspect Rachel BennettTel: 020 7902 6687Rachel.Bennett@prospect.org.ukRCN Linda McBrideTel: 020 7647 3855linda.mcbride@rcn.org.ukUCATT Jeff HopewellTel: 01302 360 725jhopewell@ucatt.org.ukUnison Pam JohnsonTel: 020 7551 1267pam.johnson@unison.co.ukUnite Tom BeattieTel: 020 8462 7755tom.beattie@unitetheunion.orgJim MowattTel: 020 7611 2628jmowatt@unitetheunion.orgUnity Gerald CrookesTel: 01782 280 588geraldcrookes@unitytheunion.org.ukURTU Graham CooperTel: 07795 562 874grahamcurtu@yahoo.co.ukUSDAW Ann MurphyTel: 0161 224 2804ann.murphy@usdaw.org.uk

As a rep I’ve completed several TUCcourses but now I’m thinking of doingsome online courses. Can you explainhow they work and do I have to be athome at certain times of the day?

Online courses are a good alternativeto classroom courses but the learning isvery different from traditional classroomeducation. If you want a convenient andflexibly delivered course, then onlinelearning could be the answer.TUC Education online courses are

delivered through a web-based learningenvironment. Similar to classroom courses,they involve a mixture of discussion-basedactivities, workplace tasks and individualproject work.Although you’re not required to log in at

specific times, you do need to completeonline activities on a frequent basis andyou will need to have regular access to theinternet either at home, at work or in alearning centre.In order to benefit from the online

course, you will be expected to access thelearning environment at least three times aweek, study between three and five hoursa week, work with the group you areassigned to and complete workplaceactivities and coursework on time.A new online course brochure containing

information on all the courses, how toapply, some handy FAQs, and three brandnew online courses can be ordered fromwww.unionlearn.org.uk/online.Many reps who have taken the online

route have found this method of learningvery rewarding. I hope you have the sameexperience. Good luck.

I’m a ULR and an apprentice hasapproached me for some advice on pay.She’s currently getting £80 per week.This seems really low to me and wellbelow minimum wage. Can you tell me ifapprentices are covered by the NationalMinimum Wage (NMW)?

Well the bad news is that manyapprentices are currently exempt from theNMW. Apprentices under the age of 19 andapprentices who are in the first 12 monthsof their apprenticeship are not currentlyentitled to the NMW.However, the good news is that the Low

Pay Commission is currently reviewing thisand the TUC and many trade unions havebeen lobbying hard to remove thisexemption.In the meantime, all apprentices with a

contract of employment are entitled to atleast £95 per week. So you should tell theapprentice who came to you for advice thatthey are entitled to receive more thanthey’re getting. You and/or their union repcan help them to get the employer to paythem what they’re due. For moreinformation, have a look atwww.apprenticeships.org.uk andwww.directgov.gov.uk or contact the TUCapprenticeships team on 0207 636 4030.

Q

A

Q

A

Jay knowsJay Sreedharan, unionlearn’s website officer, answerssome recent questions raised by site visitors

Whatever problems you have, the chancesare that there’s a ULR out there who hasbeen there and solved it. The unionrepsdiscussion forum has over 13,000 membersregistered at present. This is the perfectplace for you to swap ideas, and get helpand support from other reps. Join now atwww.unionreps.org.uk

Ask questions, share information andcreate an online community

BBC My StoryThe BBC is

looking for your story.You can write up to1,500 words and theclosing date is 16December. Thispublication containsall the details for you,your learners andcolleagues to takepart. See page 24.

Resources « Roundup «

Order now fromwww.unionlearn.org.uk/freebooksAnd postage and packing is also free

Apprenticeships areUnion Business

This guide is for union negotiatorsand reps. Its purpose is to helpfull-time officers and union reps getapprenticeships on the bargainingagenda. The publication detailswhat apprenticeships are, whatmakes a good one, and how toorganise around them.

Getting reading to workThe Reading Agency has

joined forces with unionlearn inYorkshire and the Humber topromote reading in a range ofdifferent workplace. Here youcan read case studies from:Royal Mail, Fox’s Biscuits, HMP Moorland, CorusSteelworks, Fletchers Bakeries and Tesco, and getideas on how ULRs have got reading to work.

Spread the wordabout the work of

ULRs and learningproject workers byordering more copies ofThe Learning Rep.Give them tocolleagues at work,learners and anyoneinterested in unionlearning.

Freematerials

www.unionlearn.org.uk

learning repthe

» Autumn 09

Linda GuthrieFirst Group Headof Learning andDevelopment

“The UnionLearning Fundhas totallycontributed toour success atFirst Group”

ULFspecialissue

Online learning withTUC Education

This guide to TUC Education’sonline courses shows how theservice has expanded. There aresome 18 courses now available– all are fully described in theguide. It also contains a helpfulintroduction to online learning,answers to some frequentlyasked questions, and a learnercase study.

new

new

new

newApprenticeshipsSubtitled “a detailed

overview for trade unionnegotiators and reps”, thispublication provides anin-depth explanation ofapprenticeships. Any rep orunion member who has anycontact, involvement orresponsibility for apprenticeswill find this guide invaluable.

Leaders in learningThis is a must-read

for all ULRs, employers,union officers andpoliticians. It is packedwith solid case studyevidence of how employersand unions working inpartnership can benefitboth the organisation andthe workforce.

Unions opening up learning for allHow will you tackle discrimination in

learning and skills training? This newpublication provide examples of unionsdealing with equality in learning for retiredmembers, migrant workers, people withmental health problems, disabled workers,women, black and Asian workers,apprentices, people needing Skills for Lifecourses, part-time workers, and LGBT people.