RAIL UNION LEARNING

RMTnews :: april 2006 :: www.rmt.org.uk 22 The Rail Union Learning Conference at the TUC Congress House in London brought together rail union learning reps, project workers and organisers from four different unions RMT, ASLEF, AMICUS and TSSA. Over 100 people from the rail industry gathered with a mutual goal - to make the Union Learning Initiative a success by making learning at work accepted as a ‘normal’ activity. I arrived just before the speakers started and it wasn’t long before a familiar face sat next to me. It was Didier, a rep from Tonbridge. His speciality subject is French, his native tongue. We chatted for a few minutes about progress and problems in our workplaces until RMT Education Officer Ray Spry-Shute opened conference and made everyone feel welcome. The first speaker was the Rail Union Learning Programme Manager Steve Hayes, who stressed the value of union learning reps, making us feel a very important part of the whole movement. Following a break, we filtered off into various unions to learn ‘How your union works’. Before the meeting started, I met Caroline from Orpington who has been studying sign language for some time with the aim to teach others in the workplace when she has qualified. The RMT workshop was presented by our very own Mike Sargeant, who gave a cracking, informative power point presentation about the history of the union. This left the charismatic Bob Crow to remind us about how the union works and of our individual parts to play to make a union successful as a whole, telling us that we, the members, control the decisions to make RMT what it is. After lunch the afternoon workshops began and I sat in on one about setting up the learning agreement. This was presented by Teresa Williams, a Regional Development Worker. Southern Railways was used as a good example of how an agreement is reached. Southern Railways Company Council Rep, Kevin Eade was on the panel. The last workshop was about partnerships, which promised to be fun. At first, I thought I’d gone to the wrong workshop as lecturer, Professor Colin Armistead grabbed our attention and said ‘let’s play a game’. We formed into pairs and I teamed up with Elizabeth, who shared my competitive spirit. We were each given two cards, colour coded so that only the individual can see. The object was to score as many points as possible, not against, but with my partner, without using any form of communication. I beat Elizabeth in the first hurdle, then she overtook me in the second, but our cumulative total was quite appalling and we both learnt a little about understanding the overall objective first and the importance of having a strategy. We all had great fun and learnt a lot about forming partnerships. The final plenary in the main hall was addressed by Tessa Van Gelderen, a Regional Development Worker. She thanked us for our commitment and hard work and asked us to return conference evaluation forms. ‘You will all return yours from today, won’t you?’ She pleaded. So just remember fellow reps, if you haven’t done so already, get it in the post because Tessa knows where you live! RAILUNIONLEARNING REPS GATHER IN LONDON RMT rep Wendy Dale reports from the second Union Learning Conference last month. RMT union learning rep, Mike Sargeant addresses conference