Union Learning Fund

24 THE TUC has published two new reports celebrating the impact of Unions on workplace learning across the UK. According to the reports, in the year since union learning reps were given new legal rights to promote learning at work, they have encouraged 25,000 of their workmates to try their hand at some form of workplace learning. One of the reports, ‘Trade Union Learning Representatives’, is produced by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development with the Learning and Skills Council and the TUC. It says that workers in junior positions, many of whom tend to be suspicious of learning and training initiatives, are gaining the most. Union Learning Representatives are encouraging their colleagues to overcome suspicions and persuade them to go on courses that will help enhance their own skills and their effectiveness at work. The other TUC report contains the results of a TUC survey of learning reps conducted last year which, as the RMT News reported in February, reveals that women appear to be particularly attracted to the new learning roles. Just over one in four (28 per cent) of learning reps are new to union activities, and almost two-thirds of these (59 per cent) are women who have never before been active in a union. There are around over 7,000 union learning reps active across the UK, and the TUC believes there will be 22,000 trained learning reps by the end of the decade. TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said that because of their unique position in the workplace, union learning reps are perfectly placed to encourage both their bosses and their colleagues to take learning at work seriously. “In the last twelve months, with their role now backed by the law, learning reps are going from strength to strength and bringing learning to those parts of the workforce who traditionally missed out,” he said. Full versions of both reports are available at www.learningservices.org.uk RMT member Terry Springett (right), a Revenue Protection Officer for South Central Trains based at Brighton, explains how the Union Learning Fund project at South Central, Passport to Learning, got him back into the classroom. I first realised that I needed to improve some of my skills when the company (then Connex) introduced new RPO contracts which meant that everyone had to do an assessment and I failed. I knew that it was my maths and English that had let me down. I only failed English by a few marks but I failed miserably at maths. No one could understand why I’d done so badly at maths when I was fine with ticketing and calculating discounts and other aspects of my work that involved using maths. I think it was just because I wasn’t used to the lay-out of the questions and the kind of sums they were asking me to do. Connex said they would offer training to everyone who failed but that never happened. When I heard about Passport to Learning I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to do something about it. The first thing I did was sign up for an IT course as I knew nothing about computers and I did a sign language taster course too which was really enjoyable. I then signed up for maths and English. At first I was nervous about the idea of going into a college environment and I was very apprehensive but when I found out it would all take place at Brighton station I wasn’t so worried. The teachers were really nice and they put us all at ease. Last term, I sat the City & Guilds Level 1&2 Adult Literacy and Level 1 Adult Numeracy tests and I passed them all. I’ll sit the Adult Numeracy Level 2 test in June. I have now enrolled at Portslade Community College to do an English GCSE. My Union Learning Representative suggested that I apply for a learning bursary from P2L which I got and that covered all of my costs. I’m also going to apply for maths GCSE. I would really recommend signing up for a course to anyone. I feel I’ve gained a lot of confidence as a result. It helps that my colleagues are really supportive. They’re all for it. In a way it adds extra pressure as everyone is expecting me to do so well in my exams! G Passport to Learning (P2L) is the Union Learning Fund project on South Central Trains. If you work for South Central and you would like to do a course, contact the P2L office in Lewes on 01273 784441. If you work for another company and you want to find out if there are any similar projects where you work, contact Scarlet Harris on 0207 529 8820. RMT news – Union Learning Fund Union learning reps train 25,000 in their first year Passport to learning