Professional Development Awards for Union Learning Reps

Unite ULRs at the graduation ceremony at Adam Smith College

More than 20 Union Learning Reps (ULRs) from three different unions, including Unite, recently completed the SQA Professional Development Award in Developing Literacies Learning Programmes for the Workplace at Adam Smith College.  Adam Smith College presented certificates to the ULRs at a Graduation Ceremony on Friday, 7^th October at 7:30pm.

The course, delivered by Adam Smith College and funded by Education Scotland, provided ULRs with the skills required to develop, plan and deliver literacies learning in workplace contexts.  The course was supported by Development Fund projects within Unite, PCS and UCATT.

The ULRs work in various workplaces throughout Scotland, such as Remploy, First Bus, the Simon Community and the HMRC in East Kilbride.  One of the ULRs who took part in the course was Unite ULR James Lillis, the recipient of the 2009 STUC Helen Dowie Award for Lifelong Learning.  Jimmy received the STUC award for his work in Everyday Skills with migrant workers and “Glaswegian” at First Bus inGlasgow.

Speaking on how this qualification will help his role as a ULR for Unite at First Bus Larkfield Depot, James Lillis said:

“I really enjoyed participating in and completing this PDA for the workplace. As expected, the course has developed my understanding of the needs of learners, but it also developed my knowledge and understanding of policies and funding. This has helped me become aware of new paths that I can explore in order to widen access to new opportunities for existing and potential learning centre users and help me to be more effective in my role as a Union Learning Rep.”

David Cairns, ULR/Branch Secretary for Unite at First Bus Parkhead Depot, said:

“We have achieved a highly sought after qualification, which could not have happened without the support of our unions.  It has given me a great personal boost knowing that I have gained this qualification.  I hope it will inspire others into the learning agenda to improve their Everyday Skills.”

Anne Jardine, Director, Learning and Community, Education Scotland, said:

“As the body responsible for the implementation ofScotland’s Adult Literacies Strategy, Education Scotland recognises the importance of workplace learning within that strategy and as a contributing factor inScotland’s economic growth.  We congratulate the successful candidates and wish them well as they work to develop literacies provision in the workplace.”

Christine Sinclair, Executive Director, Adam Smith College, said:

“Partnerships are central for Adam Smith College and we are always delighted to support trade union learning.  We are particularly pleased to offer this important Professional Development Award in Developing Literacies Learning Programmes for the Workplace.  Well done to everyone involved.”

Jim Aitken, Unite Education & Development Organiser, said:

“This is an excellent course and ideal for trade union learning representatives. It helps them gain an insight into the context in which we operate, overcome obstacles to learning for people with literacy and or numeracy issues and empowers reps to establish a learner friendly environment in their workplaces.”

Unite Adult Apprentices in Scotrail

Adult Apprenticeship to SVQ Level 3 and a National Certificate in Mechanical & Electrical Engineering. 

Unite negotiated and organised with ScotRail an apprenticeship programme to facilitate progression paths through the skills grades for our members within ScotRail. This group of members had hit a “glass ceiling” within the employer as they were not accredited as being skilled despite having a huge amount of skills, knowledge & experience. The group were all semi-skilled “B” grade fitters with ScotRail. This apprenticeship will allow them to have the opportunity to move to the skilled “A” grade position within ScotRail or will give them the opportunity to gain skilled employment elsewhere. This progression would not be possible without this qualification.

The Adult Apprenticeship programme was negotiated and arranged by Unite, train drivers’ union Aslef, ScotRail & SEMTA. Prior to the commencement of the apprenticeship, the members undertook an Open College Network accredited “Brush Up Your Skills Course” arranged and delivered by Unite & Aslef through Stow College’s trade union education department. This course gave our members the confidence and skills to undertake the National Certificate studies & the skills to compile the portfolio for the SVQ Level 2 & SVQ Level 3. This everyday skills support was beneficial as a lot of our members had been away from learning for over 20 years prior to commencing the apprenticeship.

All 9 members who under took the apprenticeship programme have completed their studies to SVQ Level 3 and have completed a National Certificate in Mechanical & Electrical Engineering within the last 2 years. They have combined practical knowledge with vocational learning and are now accredited as being skilled. They now have national industry recognized qualifications that will allow them to progress to skilled positions within ScotRail or if they wish gain skilled employment with another employer.

The next step for our group of learners is have their skills utilized within the workplace & to achieve “A” grade status within ScotRail. Having completed the training our members are undertaking CV & interview training provided by Unite, Aslef and Stow College.

In undertaking this apprenticeship programme our members overcame many barriers. Some of these were being away from learning for over 20 to 30 years in some instances, doubt that the employer was committed to the scheme, doubt that the skilled workforce within ScotRail would recognize their apprenticeship as being “pucker”, learning in their own time, attending night school, incorporating learning into their rotating shift patterns and still managing to for fill their substantive role as a “B” Grade Fitter within ScotRail. It is testimony to the groups determination that they have overcame all of the above and completed their Apprenticeship & their National Certificate in Mechanical & Electrical Engineering.

The entire group’s lives have been changed by undertaking union lead learning as they are now more confident & importantly accredited skilled workers. This progression path in learning that Unite & Aslef has created & negotiated has facilitated the opportunity for our members to break that glass ceiling on progression with ScotRail & indeed within all employers within this sector.

This group of adult union learners is particularly exemplary as they were a pilot group around skills utilization within the workplace, that looks to take the skills, knowledge & experience that workers have in a workplace and put them to use. This is matches with the Scottish Government policy of Skills Utilization. It is now hoped that this model can be rolled out across employers and sectors. Our members at ScotRail have now set the paradigm for others to follow.

Union learning: A collective bargaining growth area?

From the TUC-ESRC Unions, Collective Bargaining and Employment Relations Project

British unions have always had a keen interest and involvement in workplace training and skills, but this work has become significantly more important since the creation of unionlearn and union learning representatives, and could be one way for revitalising collective bargaining more generally.

This is particularly the case because training (or learning) is one area where unions are broadly acknowledged to ‘add value’. Historically, Britain’s performance on workplace skills has been much weaker than other developed economies such as Denmark. The reluctance of employers and governments to make industry-wide agreements compulsory partly explains this, which has also had the effect of deterring employers from investing in learning (because of worries about poaching).

The under-‘utilisation’ of skills seems to be another major problem. While the last Labour government focused considerable energy and investment in skills (especially basic skills), some commentators saw its policies as limited because they did not pay enough attention to matching the skills that workers possessed with the skills that employers required. Union-led learning could potentially address this issue because of its joint focus on improving workers’ skills in a way that helps the skill needs of both employees and their employers. Indeed, one recent study claimed that because unionised workers have higher training and lower turnover rates than non-unionised workers, the success of unions in moving union-led learning to workplace bargaining agendas could address skills gaps and thereby help to solve problems relating to skills utilisation.

Another recent study of union learning agreements by academics at the Leeds University Business School seems to support these suggestions. It found that learning agreements are ‘consistently associated with higher levels of reported learning and business outcomes’, with positive results for workers, employers and unions. As well as delivering learning opportunities to workers that they otherwise may not have received, a very high proportion of employers reported that union learning had a positive impact on workplace performance and skill gaps. The study also found that unions are increasingly using learning as an issue for recruitment and organising, and to broaden the collective bargaining dialogue with employers.

The Leeds study showed that employers are more receptive to attempts by unions to bargain over workplace learning because it seems to be helping to address their skill needs. The growth of learning as a core area of union activity was highlighted in a recent internal unionlearn survey, which found that around 10% of all full-time officers are now involved in learning, around twice as many as a decade ago.

Union learning therefore appears to be an area of great potential for collective bargaining, and could possibly even help to address some of Britain’s broader skills problems. Aside from learning, unions could use their local knowledge to meet employer and industry needs in other areas, such as green workplaces and the development of industrial clusters, among others, as ways of expanding their collective bargaining agendas.

ULR’s Walk Forward at Diageo Kilmarnock’s Johnny Walkers Factory!

Unite Union Learning Reps at Diageo Kilmarnock lead by Site Convenor & Union Learning Rep Janette Dunbar are moving forward in helping members facing redundancy.  The Diageo Kilmarnock plant which is the home of the world famous Johnny Walker Whisky is due to close in May 2012.

This has not stopped the Union Learning Reps at Diageo walking forward with the task of giving members opportunities in learning and training. In February 2011 Janette Dunbar, Jim McGhee, Margaret Logue, Karen Sinclair, Christine Bell, Gina McCurry, Georgina Cunningham and Karen Duffy were trained as Union Learning Reps. They then set about the task of analysing the learning and training needs of members on site.

Diageo Kilmarnock Convenor and ULR Janette Dunbar

Lead by Convenor Janette Dunbar the ULRs collectively bargain around the learning and training needs of members on site. The ULRs were successful in setting up a Steering group made up of Diageo’s senior HR, HR change team Unite Regional Learning Organiser and all ULRs. The group meets on a fortnightly basis and invites PACE (Positive Action for Continuous Employment) partners to the meeting to discuss and agree what support can be delivered for members on site. The Steering group negotiates and agrees what learning, training and support will be given, how it will be delivered, who will delivery it and when and where it will be delivered.

In the short period since completing their ULR training in February the ULRs have been recognised as delivering best practice within Diageo, with ULRs given a presentation to Diageo’s senior management team on Tuesday the 31^st May. Karen Duffy and Janette Dunbar gave a presentation to the Tapestry Steering Group (Senior Diageo Management Team) on the role of the Unite Learning Reps. The meeting was attended by Bryan Donaghey (Supply Director Europe Supply) John Paterson (Site Director Leven) Pauline Rooney (Site Director Kilmarnock) Richard Bedford (Grain Distilling Director) as well Senior HR Business Partners.

Karen and Janette started by giving the group a short introduction of who they were, what training they had and why they took on the role of the ULR. Explaining the importance of Lifelong Learning was not only to those leaving the business but how up-skilling and retraining can benefit the Employer and the Individual.

Karen and Janette  explained some of the roles of the ULRs, not only encouraging others but how they as a team participate, i.e. by being present at the Job Shop on open days and making sure everyone attending sees the right people.  They encourage others to participate in the SIVQs (Spirit Industry Vocational Qualifications) and to become Assessors themselves.  They analysed our skills survey which had a total of 730 learning and training requests from people on site. The results we are hoping for, working together with the HR Change team and with the Training Department on site, is to ensure that we are all aware of the timelines as people are due to leave the business and need assistance provided to them prior to leaving.

Since the completion of the workplace survey in June 2011 on site the ULRs and the Steering Group have arranged ICT training, a Start your own Business Course, a Customer Service Course, SIVQ L2 & SIVQ Assessor training, CV writing & Interview & tips sessions

The ULRs at Diageo continue to be an inspiration to all in their committment to give opportunities and help to Unite members who are faced with redundancy.

Is this 1910 or 2011?

The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists

A look at today’s parallels with Robert Tressel’s classic novel of working class life, The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists.

The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists was written by Robert Tressell, the nom-de-plume of Robert Noonan, a house painter. It tells the story of a group of painters struggling to find work and keep a roof over their heads.

Although born in Dublin, Tressel settled in England after living in South Africa at the beginning of the twentieth century. The novel is set in the fictional town of Mugsborough, based on the southern English coastal town of Hastings, where Tressell lived. The original title page of the book carried the subtitle: “Being the story of twelve months in Hell, told by one of the damned, and written down by Robert Tressell.” He completed The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists in 1910.

Clearly frustrated at the refusal of his contemporaries to recognise the iniquity of society, Tressell’s cast of hypocritical Christians, exploitative capitalists and corrupt councillors provide a backdrop for his main target — the workers who think that a better life is “not for the likes of them”. Hence the title of the book; Tressell paints the workers as “philanthropists” who throw themselves into back-breaking work for poverty wages in order to generate profit for their masters.

There are plenty of issues that Tressel raises that will be very familiar to workers today:

• Causalisation of Labour
• Cost of Housing and Landlordism
• Debt
• Fear in the Workplace
• Race to the Bottom on Conditions
• Control Of Information
• Immigration
• Distractions
• Control of Government bodies
• Social Bail Outs for Capital

All sound as familiar today as they did in the book 100 years ago!

Causalisation of Labour

Has the labour market of today changed significantly from that of the early 1900s?  It seems that businesses are attempting to move us back to what is described by Tressell.

The gains of the labour movement and policies of Social Democratic Governments after the Second World War moved us towards more secure employment with improvements in conditions of employment and great progress in social housing.

In the last decades of the last century neo-liberal governments with a free market agenda set about eroding the conditions of employment that workers had gained, along with the privatisation of the national assets and the removal of social housing.

The other focus of these free market governments was to erode the power of the workers’ trade unions through restrictive and regressive legislation.

The Labour Government of the 21^st century halted to a certain extent the erosion of conditions but never repealed enough of the legislation put in place. Although there have been some gains such as minimum wage, working time directive and family friendly legislation.

It could be easily argued that forces are at work trying to return us to world that Tressell faced with the perpetual fear of being stood down at a moments notice.

Today as we speak the government is considering legislation that it says will “Ease the Burden on Business” or as we know it “Get your coat you’re going!”

They are also looking at removing workers rights to challenge unfair dismissal through putting a charge on lodging a employment tribunal claim, making it harder still for workers to get any justice.

This on top of extending the already too long time period for acquiring employment rights from one year to two years. This is if you are lucky enough to enjoy the status of being classed as an employee under law and not that of a worker. Workers already have next to no employment rights.

Business already exploits labour through employment legislation without making it even easier for them again to do so. Figures on agency and temporary work are varied, but range from between half a million to one and a half million at any one time, with these workers used a flexible labour force to meet employer’s requirements or break strikes. This leaves workers with no employment rights as employees as they are classed as workers and not employees.

This it brings us back 100 years to the days of where the Mr Hunters of Tressell’s novel hired & fired at will with no justification and indeed no fear of any consequential action.

The temporary and agency workers of today are used as levers against so-called “core employees”, treated differently in the workplace. Employers encourage core employees to believe that they are superior, and that agency workers are there to fill gaps and are worthless. This leads to divisions within workplaces, and that suits employers.  Is this any different from the divide and conquer tactics used by Rushton and Hunter in the book?

So have conditions changed significantly? The reality speaks for itself: workers today have all the same anxieties that workers faced in the early 1900s.

• The fear of the sack at short notice
• The consequences that brings
• The end results are the same:
• No job
• No money
• No house

Cost of Housing & Landlordism

The perpetual fear of not being able to pay the rent for the painters in the book is the same fear workers of today face for rent or mortgage payments. Indeed the painter’s largest proportion of their wages went on keeping a roof over their families’ heads – is it any different today?

Today it is the same; with the lack of affordable housing available to ordinary working people. The total erosion of social housing by neo-liberal governments has given rein to a new breed of exploiters of labour – the Spivs.

These so called entrepreneurs exploit the needs of the ordinary working person by charging huge amounts of rents for housing and grease the cogs of the capitalist merry go round of property sales.

The average house price in the UK is around £165,000 mark and the average UK wage is around the £25,000 mark. The equation does not square. Is this done by default or by design?

This manifestation keeps the ordinary working person on a perpetual struggle to keep a roof over their head and facilitates a subservient, obsequious workforce. This is yet another mechanism of the capitalists to keep workers under the cosh. A life of perpetual debt.

Debt

Tressell’s painters were caught in never ending circle of debt:

• When they were not working they ran up debt with the sellers of the necessaries of life.
• When they were working they had to use their wages to pay their debt off or else when they were out of work they would not receive credit to acquire the necessaries of life and would starve and die.

Yet again this facilitates the capitalist merry go round of buying and selling and keeps a constant flow of money back to the capitalist class even when workers are not being directly exploited by them in the workplace.

Is today any different? The principle is the same – the mechanisms have only moved with the times.

Today it is still the capitalists who control the credit; they do this with credit cards and loans. Indeed the poorest pay the highest rates for credit, this is another way of keeping workers in the perpetual need for employment to provide the necessaries of life.

This is fear that exists away from the workplace today the same as it existed in Tressell’s time. But what about the similarity in the fears of the workplace of Tressell’s time to the fears in the workplace of today?

Fear in the Workplace

Tressell continually describes the regime of fear applied by Hunter and Rushton on the hired hands or employees. Hunter is constantly monitoring the men, harassing them, pressuring them to do more, cut corners and constantly attempting to catch them not working.

Today complex monitoring machinery monitors the worker on the job, so the need for a character like Hunter is not as great as it was although they do exist. Computers do the job of Hunter, they log the time a job is completed and how efficient it is deemed to be.

Whether this is cutting a piece of metal in an engineering works to answering a phone in a call centre, everything is monitored. Charts are produced under the guise of monitoring the process to improve it to make it easier on the worker.

The exploiters of labour play the charade of wanting workers to “work smarter not harder”. This is bullshit. The reality is that it is the Hunter of today except it is worse as:

• there is no respite from the Hunter of today.
• he is ever watching
• ever present
• he does not have to be there to apply his fear.

The real reason for these processes is the same as Rushton and Hunter wanted: They want more for less and will spin any yarn to get it.

The exploiters of labour of today are just a bit more subtle about it. They use Human Resource Management techniques such as Team Based Working and Self-Directing Teams that offer Empowerment and Ownership of the processes of the workplace.

These processes facilitate the art of the negotiator for the employer as it allows employers to apply to workers the:

• “Let them have our way” strategy. 
• It is much easier and more efficient to have workers police and drive themselves than having a Nimrod to do the hunting.
• This allows the exploiters of labour to portray that they are benign and only giving worker what they want.
• Propaganda applied at its finest and it works.
• Foolish workers buy in to it in a quest for self preservation.

These processes facilitate cuts in conditions and numbers of employees. They give the employer evidence to race to the bottom on pay and conditions.

Race to the Bottom on Conditions

The constant scheming by Hunter in looking in ways to cut costs, is as relevant today as 100 years ago. Employers are constantly looking at ways to erode conditions & cut wages by pitting one employee against another potential employee. They will sacrifice anything including quality to cut costs and increase profit.

Control of Information

In the same way as Tressell describes in the book the newspapers the Obscurer and the Ananias shaping and controlling the opinions of ordinary working class people to the benefit of the ruling capitalist classes, today’s media fulfills that role for today’s capitalist classes.

The difference today is the control is much wider and more intense. Capitalist moguls such as Murdoch control the world media of newspaper, TV and TV news, espousing their right wing doctrine that facilitates the keeping of the working classes down and the capitalist classes free from regulation that would curtail their exploitation of labour.

The avenues of these media allows the capitalist to present smoke and mirrors around issues facing workers and thus skewers the views of the working classes into their way of thinking. These outlets allow the capitalist to distract workers with coverage of issues that are twisted to suit the capitalist class’s aims.

Immigration

None more so than in the illusion of Johnny Foreigner taking away all British Jobs and how things would be fine it was not for them coming over here. Tressell captured these views early on in the book, when he told us of the views of some of the painter stating that all foreigners should be driven into the bloody sea.

This is the same today with the Sun and the Daily Mail especially as they fill the roles of the Obscurer and Ananias. These papers – especially the Sun – facilitate the illusions of distraction with their coverage of trivial issues that seem to capture the masses: celebrity, scandal and sport.

Distractions

Booze, betting, football, are the same today as in Tressel’s book. A new one is celebrity and the quest to achieve this through X-Factor and Britain’s Got Talent. All distraction that keeps the working classes amused and focused while they are exploited and used by the capital classes in their quest for the status quo to remain.

Control of Government Bodies

Tressell describes that the capitalist classes of Muggsborough had control of the local council and decided policy that best served their business interests rather than the interests of the citizens of the town.  Is the situation the same today?

Like most things over 100 years they evolve; this too can be said of the capitalist control of not just local government bodies but global government. Multinational companies bully governments of countries into what best serves the needs of their business rather than the needs of the country’s people.

They sway huge influence with their capital and the threats of the damage to the country if they remove that capital and take it to a more accommodating country.

Social Bail Outs for Capital

Tressell aptly described how Sweater, Rushton, Didlem & Grinder schemed to get the local tax payer to buy out their interests in the failing gas works business. They did this through a manipulation of the press they controlled and the local government that they also controlled. This is a clear demonstration of individualising the profits by socialising the loss!

Is this so much different from the government bail out of the banks? It’s another demonstration of the Win Win game of casino capitalism that the controlling capitalist classes play.

Their insurmountable greed dined on huge profits and bonuses when it was going good, they then screamed when the floor gave way on their greed.

They then wanted the same socialism that Sweater wanted in the book: That was take the profits and socialise the loss.

Is this arrogance from Sweater any different from that of Bob Diamond, CEO of Barclays PLC who now states:

It’s time for the banks to stop apologising for the banking crisis and get back to what they do best and create wealth?

The question is creating wealth for whom?

Change is Possible

There are straight correlations with what Tressell described in the book in the 1900s to that we are faced with today. It’s uncanny the relationship he describes then to the contemporary position.

Socialism is mocked and the working classes have a degree of fatalism about their lives:

• It’s the way it is,
• the way it has been and always will be,
• there is no other way that works.

It is the same spin that is espoused today, by our right wing media and governments that are controlled by business.

We need to educate the working classes of the charade that they are falling for. We need to get them to evaluate:

• not what businesses, media & governments are saying
• but why they are saying it!

We need to use modern forms of communications that are unrestricted by the capitalist establishment. Social networks, twitter, text messaging and the internet spread news very quickly and very effectively and they also engage younger workers.

Look how successful these forms of communications where in organising citizens in Egypt in what looks like a successful campaign for regime change.

If you asked anyone a year ago in Egypt about change they would have told you no:

•  It’s the way it is,
• the way it has been and always will be,
• there is no other way that will work here.

In the same way that the capitalist are repeating their successes of the past so can we. This time we need to make better use of the gains we make!

Gains of the past

At the time of the Ragged Trousered Philanthropists in 1910, trade union membership was 2.5 million. By 1920 it was 8.3 million. The face of the trade unions was changing. The traditional artisan craft unions were now being supplemented by the growth of “New Unionism”, or as we know them today general unions.

It differed from the established trade unionism in both organisation and tactics. “New Unionism” brought organisation to large numbers of unskilled workers. Catering for the unskilled and poorly paid, its unions recruited across industrial barriers.

The organisers saw the role of trade unions as active rather than passive – to win improvements from employers by industrial action, but industrial action on its own was not enough.

Today we see large general unions like Unite espousing an organising agenda to win gains in the work place.

Unite’s national organising structure is pushing forward the union’s radical strategy for growth. Organising is the key to the future; it is a focus on taking trade unionism out to the millions of workers who need it.

Unite is grasping these new opportunities and is refocusing its time, money and effort into organising. The work of rebuilding is about much more than just recruitment. Union organisation depends on developing a whole new generation of activists and representatives, able to embed trade unionism and win and grow in the workplace by getting active again.

The two main aims are:

• Strengthening organisation in existing workplaces to win and grow through the 100% Membership Campaign
• Organising the unorganised on a scale no union has ever attempted as Unite mobilises to bring trade unionism to all workplaces throughout Britain and Ireland

There has to be congruent industrial and political progression to match the aspirations of the working classes who are again growing frustrated with their position within the capitalist society.

If the industrial environment is to be changed for the good of the working classes, then there has to be a strong political voice affiliated to the trade unions and the working classes and this needs to be representative and effective.

It is no different today as it was as Tresselll describes in the Ragged Trousered Philanthropist.

We must now use our gains more effectively!

MAHLE Kilmarnock Learning Agreement

Pat Rafferty Scottish Regional Secretary for Unite signed a learning agreement between Unite the Union & MAHLE Engine Systems on the 23rd May 2011 at the MAHLE Kilmarnock plant.

Regional Secretary Pat Rafferty & Jim English Site Manager Sign Learning Agreement

Unite the Union -Scotland’s largest trade union – is delighted to work with MAHLE a leading global development partner for the automotive and engine industry and one of the biggest employers in Kilmarnock.

The learning agreement will facilitate a joint learning programme between Unite & MAHLE. The learning program will be run by Unite’s Union Learning Representatives (ULR).  The ULRs at the Kilmarnock MAHLE plant that employs’ five hundred and forty seven people will offer opportunities in learning that will enable workers in MAHLE to start a journey in Life Long Learning.

The range of accredited courses that members can undertake will range from all levels of ICT, Languages, Literacy/Numeracy Brush up Your Skills, Pensions, Home Budgeting, British Sign Language, Open University courses, City & Guilds courses etc.

The learning will be delivered within the MAHLE factory; at shift friendly times in an environment the workers are both comfortable and familiar with. This is part of an innovative project by Unite and MAHLE to bring new learning opportunities to the workplace.

Pat Rafferty Unite Regional Secretary said: “I am delighted that our members at MAHLE will now get the opportunity to take part in Unite’s Life Long Learning program thanks to the work of our Union Learning Reps and the agreement negotiated by them and MAHLE management. Hopefully now our members can race forward with their learning”

John Hawkshaw Unite Convenor & Union Learning Rep for the MAHLE Kilmarnock site said: “This is a fantastic opportunity for the workforce at MAHLE Kilmarnock to learn new skills or develop the skills they already have through the wide range of education courses and training activities that the Life Long Learning programme provides.”

Alison Bryson MAHLE Human Resource Manager said: “I am very pleased to be involved in introducing Lifelong Learning on the site. I’m a firm believer in a partnership approach with Unions and this joint initiative will result in us offering shift friendly learning delivered on site and will increase both our employees’ skills and their confidence”

Jim English MAHLE Site Manager said: “A key milestone has been jointly agreed through our Lifelong learning program within Mahle Kilmarnock. It is now within the reach of our employees to realise their full potential through embracing this fantastic opportunity”

The ULR’s at MAHLE have within 3 months of their ULR training have had major success in a short period of time. The ULR’s lead by Site Convenor Johnny Hawkshaw have successfully negotiated the setting up of a Lifelong Learning Steering Group that meets fortnightly.The Steering Group oversees the Learning Strategy on site and is made up of Site Convenor, Lead ULR,  Unite Regional Learning Organiser, ULR on rotating basis, Site HR Manager, Site Manager & 2 Production Managers.

The ULR’s have negotiated a Learning Agreement that facilitates an office for Lead ULR Robin Brodie, an on site learning facility for course delivery. The ULR have developed a workplace survey which they have distributed and collected, a result of this was the first ICT course commenced on site at the start of May.

Well done to our 5 ULR’s from Mahle; Johnny Hawshaw Convenor; Robin Brodie Lead ULR, Clare McAvoy, Derek Barcaly & John Kay.

3 of the Best: MAHLE ULR Derek Barclay, Clare McAvoy & Lead ULR Robin Brodie

Don’t Break Britain Seminars in Scotland

As part of the “Don’t Break Britain” campaign Unite’s Education Department has arranged a series of one day seminars throughout Scotland.

These days are intended to give you an overview of the campaign and for participants to work together to consider how Unite can campaign locally to oppose the harsh and deep cuts being made in our communities by the Con-Dem coalition government.

The second part of the day focuses on the political aspect of the union’s campaigning and how members/activists could get more involved.

If you would like to attend a seminar, please apply for the venue nearest to your place of residence.

Edinburgh       31st May       10am – 3pm
Glenrothes      1st June         10am – 3pm
Galashiels       20th June      10am – 3pm

Contact Janice Galloway/Shona White on 0845 345 0145

Dundee            9th June         10am – 3pm
Inverness       14th June        10am – 3pm

Contact Lorraine Rayner/Gillian Miller on 0845 345 0144

Ayr                   6th June          10am – 3pm
Dumfries      15th June         10am – 3pm

Contact Janice Moffat/Bernie MacDonald 0845 345 0142

Glasgow        7th June           10am – 3pm

Contact Jean Gibbs on 0845 604 4384

Aberdeen      2nd June     10am – 3pm

Contact Jane Sedgwick on 0845 604 8312

Len McCluskey at Glasgow May Day

Unite General Secretary Len McCluskey spoke at Glasgow’s May Day celebration. In a passionate speech, he defended workers in the both the public and private sectors against the savage cuts being implemented by the Conservative-Liberal coalition. He attacked the police for politically motivated policing that has restricted the right to protest, and praised the Glasgow Defence Campaign and UK Uncut. He said that the experience of the Middle East shows that when working people stand together they can change the world.

He quoted John MacLean’s famous words from his trial, accusing an economic system “dripping with blood from head to foot”.

If you weren’t able to attend on the day, you can watch the video below.

Filmed by Kevin Buchanan of the STUC.

Research: are ULRs State Agents or Social Partners?

The TUC’s learning and skills agency, unionlearn, has released new research on the role of Union Learning Reps (ULRs).

Union Learning Representatives: State Agents or Social Partners? by Bert Clough, was originally published in Labour and Industry, the journal of the Association of Industrial Relations Academics in Australia and New Zealand.

The paper compares the experience of union learning reps in England and New Zealand, reflects on the limitations of the current model and suggests some areas for development. If you’re interested in the bigger picture, it’s worth a read.

According to the paper, social partnership in vocational education and training is undeveloped in the UK, when compared to other North European countries. This is because of Britain’s fairly unregulated labour market, as well as Thatcher’s policy of removing union influence from skills and training policy. Tripartite bodies – such as industry training boards with skills levies – were largely abolished.

The Thatcher Government took a market driven, voluntarist approach to skills, and attempted to create a training market in which decisions to train would be up to individuals or employers.

Unsurprisingly, this policy failed, and the UK quickly developed skills gaps when compared to similar economies in Europe. These skills gaps have a serious economic impact, and lead the UK to under perform, particularly in manufacturing. This approach is still the norm, and one third of UK employers failed to provide any training at all in the past 12 months.

When Labour was elected in 1997, the new Government attempted to address this market failure by addressing the supply side of learning. Unions were recognised as stakeholders, and a number of initiatives were introduced to encourage employers to train. Specialist skills agencies were created, Sector Skills Councils were licensed, and the Union Learning Fund was created to support union-lead learning in the workplace.

Unions were recognised as being particularly good at engaging “hard to reach, non-traditional learners”.

This approach has been fairly successful, and 24,000 ULRs have been trained. There is evidence to show that they have had a positive impact on learning and skills in the workplace, and a large proportion of managers surveyed agree that union learning has had a positive impact on their company. The research also shows a positive correlation between having learning agreements and negotiating structures, and increased uptake of skills and learning.

However, there are limitations to this voluntarist model: the approach was “all carrot and no stick”, and the Tory’s light touch labour regulation was largely maintained, and few attempts were made to address the demand side of learning, for instance by reintroducing skills levies or compelling employers to train.

The paper argues that in many ways ULRs are “state agents”, because they carry out Government skills policy in the workplace. However, because they are union activists with statutory rights, they also carry out a representative role, and in many instances this supersedes their function as state agents. ULRs respond to members’ needs, and in some cases begin to bargain around skills and learning. This is the case in Unite. We are aware of Government skill’s policy, and we engage constructively with it, but when we design our learning programme it’s important for us to always put our members’ learning needs first.

Our learning programme been most successful in workplaces where we have robust collective bargaining around skills and learning. In addition to providing members with courses to support them, we also negotiate with employers to improve and widen their training offer, and invest in the long term development of their staff.

To create a world class economy in Scotland, industry will need to adopt high-involvement work practices (HIWP). This is a way of working that mobilises employees’ skills and creativity by giving them greater engagement and autonomy.

HIWP are proven to be successful at raising productivity and improving economic performance. The four key principles are giving employees Power, Information, Knowledge and Rewards. To successfully create this kind of economy, we will need to move to more collective bargaining over skills and training, investment in the company, job design and the organisation of work.

For union learning to reach its potential of revitalising both our union and the workplaces we are active in, we need statutory collective bargaining on learning and skills in union recognised workplaces – as is the case with pay and conditions.

Let us know what your views are.

Unite to a Better Way through Skills Utilisation

Scottish Union Learn will showcase one example of the work Unite has done in Skills Utilisation within the workplace at the STUC Congress. A fringe meeting/reception will be held on Monday, 18th April 2011 at 5.30pm in the Roman Warrior Suite of the Ayr Racecourse.

Ian Gray Adult Apprentice

The meeting will feature a short video demonstrating the contribution that Unite the Union can make to improved skills utilisation in workplaces. Working with ASLEF and ScotRail, Unite has developed, facilitated and supported an Adult Apprenticeship programme for Semi-Skilled workers within ScotRail’s Shields and Corkerhill Depots in Glasgow.

The Adult Apprenticeship programme gives opportunities to members who have worked in the railways for years and have hit a glass ceiling in progressing to A Grade Fitter from B Grade Fitter due to not having completed an apprenticeship. Prior to commencing on the Adult Apprenticeship programme, members undertook a 20 hour Brush Up Your Skills course  delivered by Stow College’s trade union education department on site at the depot. This Brush Up Your Skills course refreshed members skills, enabling them to take on the task of producing a portfolio that is required to evidence their knowledge for their Scottish Vocational Qualification Level 3 (SVQ 3).

Benny McGinlay Adult Apprentice

The programme brings members up to SVQ Level 3 and gives them a National Certificate in Engineering. The programme has been developed in conjunction with SEMTA, the Sector Skills Council for Science, Engineering and Manufacturing Technologies. SEMTA supports UK businesses in achieving global competitiveness through investment in skills. The programme that Unite members are undertaking at ScotRail, is a bespoke development to meet the needs of ScotRail and the daily tasks that A Grade Fitters within the railway are required to perform.

This is another good example of where Unite has identified a learning need of our membership within an employer and developed a programme to meet the needs of both our members and the employer that they work for.

Download flyer for event here.