Five in-depth case studies illustrating collective learning fund development projects sponsored by the TUC unionlearn South West ‘Call to Learn’ project: 2012-2014.
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‘Call to Learn’ Case Studies Five in depth case studies illustrating collective learning fund development projects sponsored by the TUC unionlearn South West ‘Call to Learn’ project: 2012-2014 This booklet accompanies the publication ‘Call to Learn - Collective Action for Lifelong Learning’ which provides an introduction to the Call to Learn project, an overview of its achievements and summaries of these case studies and of the benefits of establishing collective learning funds to both management and unions. www.unionlearn.org.uk/southwest
Transcript
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‘Call to Learn’ Case Studies
Five in depth case studies illustrating collective learning fund development projects sponsored by the TUC unionlearn South West ‘Call to Learn’ project: 2012-2014
This booklet accompanies the publication ‘Call to Learn - Collective Action for Lifelong Learning’ which provides an introduction to the Call to Learn project, an overview of its achievements and summaries of these case studies and of the benefits of establishing collective learning funds to both management and unions.
www.unionlearn.org.uk/southwest
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PCS DWP Avon CLF Case Study
Based on interviews with Phil Britton (lead Union Learning Rep, PCS DWP Avon Branch Coordinator and PCS DWP Regional Learning Coordinator) and Jack Davies (PCS Regional Learning Organiser) – January 2014.
Background
Most of the staff in the branch work in call centres in the Bristol Contact Centre office and also in other job centres in the West of England area which act as satellites. Staff handle claims for social security benefits for people of working age and provide advice and information about benefits and benefits entitlement. PCS DWP Avon branch has 1054 members (a high union density of 78 percent). There are 8 union learning representatives (ULRs) distributed throughout the region with two based at the Bristol benefit delivery centre. There are also Union Equality Reps. The management/union relations at the workplace are quite good on a daily basis but industrial relations in the Civil Service is very much a top down model with pay and conditions of service including learning opportunities determined nationally by the Cabinet Office. There had been little learning opportunity for such staff although there were in- house management courses for senior staff and some IT upskilling courses. Non-work related learning opportunities were not provided although the ULRs had facilitated “learning lunches” whereby staff had been given taster sessions by public and private providers to encourage them to pursue their own learning outside the workplace, similar to taster courses organised at ‘Learning at Work Day’. This union-led initiative had been supported by management.
Reasons for applying to be collective learning fund project
The DWP annual staff survey demonstrated that staff were not being engaged with management across the board and the PCS DWP Avon Branch saw the concept of a collective learning fund (CLF) as an opportunity to improve staff engagement in learning and to further promote learning within the union. The CLF could help the union to establish a “learning zone” (as opposed to a stand-alone learning centre) where non- work related courses could be taken.
Engaging management and members
The lead ULR and other reps had a meeting with a senior manager at the contact centre where there is a learning facility. They also had a meeting with the South West Business Partner (i.e. the DWP Human Resources regional manager) to get him on board and explain how the CLF could help improve the outcomes of the DWP staff survey. This meeting was followed by management signing a statement of intent to supporting the setting up of a CLF. A questionnaire was then emailed to staff to find out what courses they might be interested in taking. To make the CLF sustainable staff from the satellite centres were included. There was a 25% response rate. This identified a strong demand for foreign language and IT courses.
Learning Agreement
There was no branch learning agreement as there had been a new national learning agreement between PCS and the DWP signed in May 2010. It aimed to “develop a culture of lifelong learning throughout the DWP” and set out the roles of ULRs and regional learning coordinators. A key provision of the agreement was the establishment of maximum union facility time for learning activity e.g. 20 per cent of available time for ULRs (44 days/or equivalent a year). This agreement was not renewed by the Cabinet Office in 2012 which has now issued guidelines on how facility time will be reduced as part of cuts in the Civil Service.
CLF Constitution
A constitution was adapted from the model provided with the Unionlearn application. The purpose of the CLF is to provide funding to the membership and staff to finance their personal development
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and learning and to purchase other services that will support the membership and staff during their learning. It would be open to all PCS members and DWP staff in the PCS Avon branch area.
Steering Committee
There is provision in the constitution for a steering committee to manage the fund, monitor its performance to ensure that it is meeting member needs and be accountable to the Branch Executive Committee for its sound operation. There is a minimum of three individuals on the committee representing the following groups: PCS regional staff, PCS Learning Organiser, Unions/ULRs and DWP management. The CLF account is held by the lead ULR as a part of the branch account with four signatories of branch officers. Expenditure would thus require the authorisation of a branch officer in addition to the lead ULR.
Contributions
The concept behind CLFs is making learning affordable and more accessible through co-investment in such provision. This means drawing in money and in-kind resources to help pay for the learning. As can be seen in the table below there has been cash contribution from the union side but none from the DWP side whose contributions have been in-kind; this because Government departments cannot use public monies to subsidise such activities. A contribution from the learner has thus been necessary to pay part of the course fees and they also have no paid study leave. Management has however been flexible in allowing learners to work around study times.
time PCS £ 4,000 from region ULR and regional learning
officer time Unionlearn £6,000 start up costs Regional team support Learners Part payment of course fees Studying in non-work time
CLF Expenditure
The CLF constitution stipulates that the fund must be used on non-work related learning (see below) which involves providing courses at reduced rates for all learners. There is a further reduction for union members in recognition that the regional PCS had made a cash contribution to the fund and which is an incentive for staff to join the union. The fund can also be used to pay learner support such as childcare, transport, learning material, professional services, learning centre and equipment costs. The union is considering purchasing laptops from a company which offers discounted prices to ULRs since it is not possible to use DWP laptops which contain personal data on clients. They will use a WIFI connection for future IT courses and laptops can be used by learners at the satellite centres as well as the contact centre.
Courses Funded
As a result of the learning needs survey the ULR approached a number of providers – colleges and private tutors – to run foreign language courses. A private tutor was chosen because of his competitive cost and because the local colleges did not have foreign language tutors in the city and the cost of paying them to travel to the workplace would make the cost of provision prohibitive. There was negotiation with the provider as to the cost which resulted in a fee of £1,000 for 10 x 2 hour sessions. A service agreement was then drafted with the provider tailoring the Unionlearn model agreement. Twelve learners were enrolled on an Introductory Spanish course in 2013. The tutor was prepared to run more advanced Spanish classes in 2014 but such courses would have be arranged by the learners and not supported by the CLF as the ULR did not have the time to administer them. A sign language course was being run in April 2014 for which there was considerable demand. The lead ULR is also considering the running a Tablet IT training course in 2014 and is seeking advice from the South Wales PCS region which has run the course.
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Role of ULRs
ULRs carry out learning needs surveys, broker courses with providers and promote the courses in the workplace. When members of staff apply to enroll on a course the applications are considered on a case-by-case basis by the ULR. If the ULR recommends the application as meeting the CLF rules then it would be accepted. If there was any concern that it might not be in line with the rules then the application would be considered by the steering committee. There is a problem in ULRs having insufficient time to carry out their roles
“In general the ULR facility time has been cut as part of the overall cut in union facility time made by the Cabinet Office. It has been cut so much now that ULRs have found it difficult to devote sufficient time to delivering the CLF because unfortunately an awful lot of this work has to be done in work time such as talking to the membership and contacting them and providers which cannot really be done from home.” Phil Britton (lead ULR and Branch Coordinator)
Promoting equality and diversity
The lead ULR identified all potential learning locations for easy access for staff with disabilities. He had requested from management equality data on the workforce from the biennial staff survey in 2013 as well as obtaining the PCS branch equality report. This data would be compared with the demographics of those who responded to the learning survey and those who were taking the courses in order to identify any underrepresented groups of potential learners. The equality reps were involved in discussions on the CLF though their attendance at the branch meeting.
Benefits to the union
The union feels that overall management have gradually seen the benefits of ULRs at the workplace.
“The CLF has shown that the union is about things other than industrial relations or industrial action and about improving the members’ opportunities…..It gives management the opportunity to work with ULRs which is a positive thing and opens the door for engagement in the future.” Phil Britton (lead ULR and Branch Coordinator)
Benefits to management
DWP management has seen tangible benefits from the project:
“The project demonstrated my commitment to staff development in Bristol Contact Centre and provided an opportunity for collaborative working with trade union colleagues. I wanted to improve staff engagement across the centre and the Spanish class provided an opportunity for staff at all grades to come together. We were all learning something new and the level playing field helped break down barriers. We opened the opportunity up to colleagues in other local DWP sites, which provided an opportunity to network and find out what was going on in other departments. The benefits, whilst not directly related to telephone work, were tangible in the improved culture and working relations.” Mandy Howell (DWP Contact Centre Manager, Bristol)
Challenges
The main obstacles to CLFs are the reduction in facility time for ULRs and the termination of the national learning agreement which very much limits what PCS can negotiate at branch level.
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The turnover of senior management which may have made local agreements with the branch necessitates the need to persuade the new management to honour previous agreement and ensure that such they are well documented.
Sustainability
There was a strong feeling from the branch that the CLF would continue to fund learning after the end of the Unionlearn startup funding as long as there was continued funding from the PCS region.
“Great though it would be to set up such CLFs in every branch across the nation we can at least use these models of co-operation in terms of trying to set up new ULRs in the workplace and getting them the time. We could cite these projects as positive models and hopefully get management to understand the potential benefits they could bring to their particular workforce.” Jack Davies (PCS Regional Learning Organiser)
Support for the project
There was strong support from the union region in terms of cash and expertise.
“We were keen to invest regional money for learning in a project like this that is based on a sustainable model and of obvious benefit to members”. Jack Davies (PCS Regional Learning Organiser)
There was also support from the regional Unionlearn Call to Learn project team. It was felt that the Unionlearn background material such as the toolkit and templates were very useful in understanding the concept and procedures especially in the application process for the project funding.
Conclusions
There had been little work-related training and no learning for personal development at the workplace and the CLF had been useful in providing a structure to draw down funding to subsidise non- vocational courses.
The ULRs had been very pro-active in carrying out learning needs surveys, brokering courses with providers and promoting the courses in the workplace.
The ULRs had used learning surveys and equality data to try to ensure that the learning opportunities funded met the principles of equality and diversity and were available to staff in the satellite workplaces not just the contact centre.
There were however external limitations on the capacity to support the CLF through the termination of the national learning agreement, the reduction in union facility time including that of ULRs and the lack of paid study leave. This limited the range of courses to be provided. Nevertheless it is evident that there is management commitment to the CLF who recognise the benefits of collaborating with ULRs to increase the demand for and open access to learning.
There had been very tangible support for the CLF from the PCS region which is likely to be a key factor in sustaining the CLF in the future.
The ULRs had made full use of the Unionlearn project resources including the templates which ensured the effective planning, delivery and transparency of the project.
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GMB / Nicholas and Harris CLF Case Study
Based on interviews with Paul Simmonds and Peter Synowiec (GMB Project Workers); Maciej Kasperek and Daniel Zelazny (Union Learning Reps) and Frances Brayford (HR Manager) - February 2014.
Background
Nicholas and Harris is a speciality high-end bakery business based in Salisbury which produces pre-packed breads, rolls and buns for the UK supermarkets. The company employs 275 employees most of whom are in operative jobs with the vast majority being of Polish nationality. Most of the employees work in the production process but some have jobs in dispatch, warehousing and maintenance. The union density is about a third.
The major learning need for the majority of the employees was identified as English as a Second Language (ESOL) courses. This triggered off a proactive involvement between the GMB union and management to deliver the provision. The resulting improvement in the communication skills and confidence of the Polish workforce helped them being able to take work-related courses (see below).
There had been a learning partnership agreement between the union and management in 2009 on delivering learning provision. The ‘Call to Learn’ project collective learning fund (CLF) established in 2012 however formalised the funding of the learning delivered by the partnership. The learning partnership had been very much supported by the GMB Southern Regional Learning Project which had been funded through the TUC Union Learning Fund (ULF). This has taken the form of two project workers who had been very proactive in delivering the partnership. One of the project workers who is Polish had been an ULR at the company.
Learning Agreement
The learning partnership agreement between the company and GMB Southern Region was to encourage staff within the company to participate in lifelong learning. The agreement was expansive with the company making a commitment that all members of staff would be given reasonable covered time off for training; retraining should they find themselves in a redundancy situation; establishing a learning centre within the workplace in addition to facilitating the statutory rights for union learning reps (ULRs) to support the learners. The agreement covered all employees with consideration given at times to staff employed through employment agencies. The employer undertook to ensure that the agreement would not be used as an alternative to collective bargaining with the union. The GMB commitment was for its ULRs to encourage and support potential learners with its regional project workers and officers providing additional support. The union would also work with high quality learning providers to broker and deliver training that meets the needs of both the company and individual employees.
The agreement established a joint union/employer learning partnership committee comprising of equal number of employer and GMB reps. Its main responsibilities included identifying and prioritising the learning needs of both the staff and the employer; producing a learning plan setting goals including establishing a learning centre; monitoring the provisions available; and ensuring that the plan was effectively implemented.
Reasons for applying to be collective learning fund project
A statement of intent was signed off by the HR Manager and the GMB project worker in December 2012. The GMB’s rationale for engaging with the CLF was to build on previous success and joint recognition in the value of working in partnership and to set up a sustainable partnership within
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the company. A major problem in the past had been to get the right provider and a private provider had not quite delivered all the outcomes that were required by the company. Management recognised that closer engagement with the union through a CLF model could help identify good providers.
“The CLF will help put an organisation and structured processes for learning in place … this will help further strengthen the links with the union in deciding on training providers, collaboration which has been very effective in the past.” Frances Brayford (HR Manager)
CLF Constitution
The constitution provided that the fund would be used to finance or contribute to the direct cost of personal development and learning for all staff that was not fundable through any other means. In addition it may also be used to pay for additional goods and services, as long as they support a learning activity (e.g. learning centre set up and equipment costs; learning support materials or professional services that support learning).
The GMB Nicholas and Harris CLF would be held in a GMB bank account with Unity Trust Bank with the fund having two signatories, one appointed by the union and the other appointed by the company.
Learning Committee
The joint union/employer learning partnership committee established by the original learning agreement extended its remit to the planning and monitoring of the CLF.
Engaging members and providers
A learning survey was sent out to all employees in 2013 asking what skills training/courses they had completed in the last 5 years and what courses they might be interested in and whether they would like to have information and advice on courses through an interview with an ULR or project worker. 69 out of 275 (25 %) questionnaires were returned with the highest requests being for courses in ESOL, literacy, numeracy, CV writing and communication skills.
“We have shared this information with Yeovil College which has a Unionlearn Quality Award. As a result it has been agreed to organise an information, advice and guidance day at the company where potential learners can have one-to-one meetings with the college staff. This in turn will lead to formalising future learning.” Paul Simmonds (GMB Union Project Worker)
These arrangements have taken the form of a service level agreement between GMB/Nicholas and Harris CLF and Yeovil College which was signed in January 2014. Under the agreement both parties agree to work together to deliver learning programmes at the company according to the need identified through the Learning Partnership Committee. Areas covered by the agreement include quality assurance, learner support and information, monitoring and reporting of achievement, safeguarding and equality and diversity procedures.
Contributions
Under the constitution the GMB will endeavour to make a contribution when funding is available and had already purchased 4 laptops for the learning centre. The GMB project workers would like the union to put cash in the account although this had not yet been decided. Under the constitution Nicholas and Harris will contribute to the fund where possible and learners may contribute to course fees where appropriate. The CLF is only just being set up (with £5,000 of the £6,000 of the start-up money already in the account) so it is not possible as yet to detail the level
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of contributions although the table below provides an estimate of the type of future contributions. It would be the Learning Committee which would determine the contributions and the expenditure.
Contributor Cash contribution In-kind contribution Company Where possible Learning centre
ULR facility time Some off-the-job training Payment of overtime for those studying non-vocational courses (ESOL) outside working hours
GMB When available ULRs and regional project workers time (through ULF Regional project) Laptops for the learning centre
Unionlearn £6,000 start up costs Regional team support Learners May contribute to fee costs Studying some non-vocational
courses (ESOL) outside working hours but paid as overtime
Courses Funded
Three years ago ESOL courses had been provided on site during working time but since many more wanted to do such courses this would have meant management having to employ agency workers to cover the work so as to retain production levels. An alternative would be to allow the workers to study outside their working hours. So the union arranged free courses run by a tutor from Eastleigh College at the GMB learning centre in Southampton where most of the Polish workers reside. The company pays them overtime for the two hours of study after or before their normal shift working. This arrangement also ensured that all the staff going on the course at the learning centre outside the workplace was fully committed. The company saw these courses as improving the everyday communication within the workforce.
Once confidence in English had been reached those Polish workers who had relatively high qualifications in their home country wanted their vocational skills to be recognised. Courses under the learning partnership that had been undertaken by 70 employees not just included ESOL and numeracy but work-related NVQ courses such as Proficiency in Manufacturing, apprenticeships in Food Manufacturing, Warehousing, Diploma in Business Improvement Techniques (BIT), and Driving Goods Vehicles, and Management. The company is also a registered Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH) training centre which has delivered training in the Principles of Risk Assessment.
No courses have yet been funded through the CLF since there have been delays with the bank in setting up the account. According to management some of the funding for work-related training may be transferred from the company training account to the CLF but some of the statutory training will not be transferred. For example, CIEH courses on health and safety and risk management which will be run in house. It has not yet been agreed how the £6,000 start up cash is to be used.
The GMB project workers are engaging with a social enterprise organisation in Portsmouth to provide employability skills such as CV writing and developing courses that had been run previously at the learning centre.
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Role of ULRs
The two ULRs who are both Polish are relatively new to the role and are soon to begin their ULR training. One is also a shop steward. They have facility time of one and a half hours a week and hold “surgeries” with potential learners before or after shifts. They were involved with the project workers with the learning needs survey which was in Polish, in explaining the course provision to the potential learners and in helping to get the best providers. They play a key role in assessing the needs of the Polish workers and explaining the provision.
“Staff were asking us about when they could start an ESOL course not us having to ask them….Not so many asked about other courses such as IT because they felt that they first need to get a certain level of English language skills before they could benefit from such courses.” Maciej Kasperek (ULR)
Promoting equality and diversity
The learning agreement recognised the importance of equal opportunities and equal access to enhance skill levels and stated that the Learning Partnership Committee would make every effort to ensure that the learning needs of specific individual employees are taken into account. Previous collection of equality and diversity data had been inadequate and the union felt it did not address the importance of wider participation and individual needs. An equality workplace survey was thus carried out by the union and the results provided the right set of data to assess the needs of all employees effectively.
“Previous work done did not necessarily address the diversity of the company and through the learning committee we discussed how we would move forward. We had a couple of very useful training sessions on equality run by the Unionlearn Call to Learn project manager. There were also discussions involving the GMB project workers, the ULRs and the HR Manager on how to ensure that the terminology used in the survey did not offend anyone as well as doing what we wanted it to do. We ran the equality survey parallel with the learning survey which was useful in identifying what we need to do.” Paul Simmonds (GMB Union Project Worker)
There were no equality reps at the workplace but this is one of the areas that the GMB wanted to develop in the future. There will be discussions with management through the Learning Committee on how to ensure that there will be equality in the take up of both workplace training and learning for personal development.
Benefits to the union
The learning partnership established through the ULF regional project had led to union recognition by the company and this in turn led to the statutory recognition of the ULRs. Some of the learning activities such as a learning day at the learning centre at which a union regional organiser as well as the ULRs and project workers were present had led to the recruitment of union members. The partnership also had a positive effect on industrial relations.
“This workplace is kind of unique. Management sees a value in learning and that it is an investment rather than a cost to them. In general the union relationship with management has thus been good. There have been challenges in the past but this project has helped in improving the relationship. I wish I had more workplaces like this one.” Peter Synowiec (GMB Union Project Worker)
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“People recognise the added value of learning with the union, not only does it provide opportunity for everyone to improve their skills and knowledge, to build confidence and competency but assists the union in creating an environment for discussion and debate which enables people to fully participate in the workplace, the union and in society.” Paul Simmonds (GMB Union Project Worker)
Benefits to management
Management identified the main benefits as the union providing valuable advice about providers and brokering provision; the strong communications between the ULRs and the Polish workforce on identifying learning needs and the proactive work of the union in organising the surveys and setting up the CLF.
Challenges
Due to the company no longer having a dedicated training post the responsibility for training had been shared between the HR and Health and Safety managers which limited the capacity of the company to have given as much time to it as the company would have liked. A major challenge will be how the union will continue to support the CLF once the regional project is completed. This will require even more support from the ULRs.
Sustainability
It is too early a stage in the project to assess how sustainable the CLF will be but there is clearly support from the union and positive messages from management.
“I would like to hope that the CLF would be sustainable. As far as the amount of training we are putting in some of that would depend on the funding available elsewhere. As a business I have not got an endless budget for personal development which is quite small compared to the number of people we employ. The CLF structure however will help us take us forward.” Frances Brayford (HR Manager)
Support for the project
There had however been very proactive support from the GMB region through the work of the two project workers who had given the project much administrative support. This capacity had been funded through the union’s regional ULF project. The project workers had taken the lead in driving the partnership and the CLF and had engaged and worked with management in a supportive and co-operative way. The ULRs had also played an important role, particularly in engaging with the Polish workers. There had also been good support from the Unionlearn project in the provision of materials and advice, particularly in respect to helping the project addressing equality and diversity issues effectively.
Conclusions
The CLF has been a natural development from the effective learning partnership that had been established by the GMB through its regional ULF project.
The support by the union project workers had been pivotal to making the partnership an exemplar in terms of establishing processes, collaborating with the managers, engaging with learners, brokering provision and promoting and disseminating the project’s outcomes.
The ULRs had played a proactive role in engaging with the potential learners and motivating to begin courses particularly ESOL.
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There had been a very effective strategy in addressing equality and diversity issues in a workplace where most of the employees were not from the UK.
Benefits to the union included a union recognition agreement and recruitment of members. There had been strong recognition by the company of the benefits of the partnership in
terms of better communications with the workforce through the take up of ESOL and good co-operative relations with the unions.
Although the CLF had only just been established there were positive indications from the union and the company that it would build on the learning partnership and help meet the learning needs of the workforce as resources allow.
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RCM St Mary’s Maternity Hospital Poole CLF Case Study
Based on interviews with Jillian Ireland and Sara Fripp (Union Learning Reps), Belinda Doe (Midwifery Matron), Marjo Aldgate (learner) and Keith Hatch (Unionlearn Union Support Officer)- February 2014
Background
St Mary's Maternity Hospital is the centre for all high risk care in East Dorset and meets the needs of women and babies with complications, as well as women with normal pregnancies and births. Around 5,000 babies are delivered by the maternity staff each year, either at home or within the hospital. Care is shared between midwifery and medical staff, and is undertaken in community settings and within the maternity hospital. The 250 staff at the maternity hospital are mainly midwives and maternity support workers (represented by the Royal College of Midwives which is both a trade union and professional body). There are also clerical staff, housekeepers, contracted cleaners and porters (some of whom are members of Unison and Unite). There is a lot of mandatory training and continuing professional development as required by the Nursing and Midwifery Council. Such learning is the responsibility of the Trust and as such would not be covered by the collective learning fund (CLF). The relationship between the RCM branch and management at the hospital is a co-operative and supportive one which has underpinned the success of the project. There are two union learning reps (ULRs) in the hospital who report to the branch. One is a midwife who was appointed in 2010 and the other is a maternity support worker who was appointed in 2012. The ULRs felt that greater communication was needed between the branch and staff given shift patterns and a Facebook group was set up which includes over 100 members of the Poole Maternity Hospital branch. A Union Learning Fund (ULF) project had been run by the RCM nationally (2012-2014). Its key aims were to develop the RCM union learning reps (ULRs) network by increasing their number and supporting them to deliver information, advice and guidance (IAG) and organise workplace learning events. Other aims were to raise awareness of the benefits of midwife support worker apprenticeships, to develop the e-learning offer and to raise awareness of the need to maintain functional skills competencies (level 2 in numeracy was now a requirement for midwives) and to develop resources to support members who are being made redundant. This national project helped to raise awareness of learning opportunities and understand the role of ULRs at the hospital. In 2011 the ULR approached the new Head of Midwifery and informed her of what was needed to develop learning opportunities, what she could contribute and what had been agreed by the Trust. When she was on the ULR training she had heard that there should be as many ULRs as shop stewards and thus the second ULR was appointed in 2012. The Head of Midwifery had been very supportive of the ULR during these developments.
Learning Agreement
The branch had not previously pressed the Trust for a learning agreement as they had thought that this would involve granting study leave which management was unlikely to agree to. Once learning activity began and discussions on CLF had been held then the ULRs realised that a learning agreement need not include study leave and a learning agreement was to be signed with the management in February 2014.
Reasons for applying to be collective learning fund project
The need to fund learning activity for all staff that supports their health and wellbeing was identified; this kind of educational support is not normally provided by the employer. The ULRs found out about the ‘Call to Learn’ project when visiting the Unionlearn tent at the Tolpuddle Martyrs’ Festival. This led to contact with the Unionlearn union support officer. There were some concerns at first that it would involve burdensome procedures but these were overcome after discussion with the Unionlearn team. The CLF was launched at the first “Time4You” maternity
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conference held at Poole in October 2013 which was attended by midwives from the Poole Hospital Trust and other trusts.
CLF Constitution
The constitution provides that the fund will be used to finance or contribute to learning that supports employee health and wellbeing which would be available to non-union as well as union members. It would be used to purchase materials and services such as transport, books and other learning support material and equipment costs. It also funds the work of the ULRs. The aim of improving health and wellbeing was interpreted widely and included supporting the RCM Community Choir since such choral activities could benefit staff physically and mentally.
Learning Committee
A RCM (Poole Branch) Learning Committee was set up by the CLF constitution to monitor and manage the fund. The composition includes the ULRs, the branch treasurer, the head of midwifery and her PA, and Unison and Unite had been invited to join. The committee decides on applications for funding of learning activities from individuals or groups of employees and reserves the right to limit the number of times funding is given to any one individual or group.
Engaging members and providers
Individual learning needs were ascertained through surveys at learning events and an overall survey of staff needs was undertaken online through Survey Monkey which had a high response rate (60 out of 130). The results indicated interest in the following learning activities: therapy training, fitness/dance, foreign languages, craft, writing for publications and music. The ULRs however felt that surveys could not identify all the learning needs and these could only be fully ascertained by potential learners actually having hands on experience of learning activities. The RCM has thus been involved in a number of awareness events to help stimulate interest in learning for leisure activities. A ‘Celebration of Learning’ day event organised by the union in 2012 and supported by Unionlearn in the South West, was attended by thirteen staff. It included taster activities such as web design, digital photography and a singing workshop which very soon led to establishing the RCM Bournemouth and Poole Community Choir. A coach load of RCM staff attended an activity day at Miles Cross Farm (an education and enterprise centre with strong links with Yeovil College) that was organised by Unionlearn in the South West. It involved staff in a wide range of learning activities such as clay pigeon shooting, blacksmithing, horticulture, bricklaying and jewelry making. It was also an opportunity for RCM members to network with other union members in the locality. The local college had not responded to the ULRs’ approaches to deliver provision and Yeovil College which had a Unionlearn Quality Award is now going to be a key provider.
Contributions
Although the branch had not been asked for contributions in the early stages the next committee meeting would be discussing what contributions the branch could make in the future. The project’s £6,000 startup money was being used to subsidise the choir whose membership fee was £20 for 6 week sessions to help cover the choirmaster’s fee; a craft group which charged £1 per session; attending RCM events to promote the project’s learning activity and paying presenters’ expenses and purchasing equipment such as tablet computers and bean bags. The Trust had provided facilities and incidental expenses to support the learning activities.
Contributor Cash contribution In-kind contribution Hospital Trust On a ‘when needed’ basis Use of classroom at weekends
ULR facility time RCM branch Income through fund raising
such as a craft fayre ULR time
RCM national Paying some of the ULRs incidental expenses
Initial support from RCM Learning Officer
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Courses Funded
There were no formerly brokered courses and providers were engaged on an ad hoc basis e.g. the choirmaster and the person who organised a cupcake workshop. It was done on what a ULR described as a “you ask: we give” basis. One of the ULRs who had expertise in IT had held workshops to improve staff computer skills. A hypnotherapist that a ULR met through an independent midwife had put on a workshop on alternative therapy at the RCM conference and the ULRs negotiated with her to put on a similar workshop at the hospital. 17 people had enrolled and there is a waiting list. This level of interest means that the ULRs will run a workshop with a training provider at the RCM annual conference. She will be able to offer ‘on site’ training to a group of 20 midwives (she may recruit them at the conference). The discount will be passed on to the Trust’s own staff with the normal fee charged to staff from other Trusts thus supporting the CLF fund. Individuals are welcome to decide what learning they would like to do and arrange it with providers independently. For example, three individuals had applied to the Learning Committee for support for courses of study and were asked in the application form how the proposed course would help their health and wellbeing. These were applications to study an Open University module and take up Reiki animal healing. A senior midwife who was due to retire was applying to do a course on iridology as a diagnostic tool to reduce stress and anxiety. Another member of staff had expressed interest in Pilates classes. The amount that the CLF decides to subsidise an individual on a course will depend on the merits of the application and also on the balance in the CLF.
‘We have learned through experience and have become a bit more ‘savvy’. We want people to have access to learning and to enjoy the experiences without us having to be like a business. At the same time, we want to keep the fund ‘topped up’. We have made losses in the past by not insisting on payment in advance or deposits to secure places. Now we realise that we do need a financial commitment from learners. We can help with costs if requested but we need to be realistic about the financial risks. For example, the hypnobirth session charge has been set at £20.00. In the past it would have thought that was too much but the course is full and there is a waiting list for cancellations. We don’t regret the losses though – they were part of the building of our reputation as being very much ‘for’ our members; potential members and the whole staff team.” Jillian Ireland (ULR)
Role of ULRs
The ULRs were carrying their duties on average for at least one hour a day. One of the ULRs had done one day of her two day ULR training in her own time even though she was entitled to have facility time to train for the role. She had not demanded the time off because she wanted to initially “tread softly” with management as she wanted to get their agreement to recognise a second ULR. Now however they felt that they had facilitated so much learning activity that they were now going to insist of their full training entitlement. The ULRs were nominated by the RCM nationally as the “members’ champions” – the first ULRs ever to have been awarded this honour at the union’s annual awards ceremony. They won the category and the publicity generated as a result had hugely increased the profile of the work of the ULRs within the hospital as well as a great amount of interest from the workforce.
Promoting equality and diversity
There was a strong commitment from the ULRs to equality and diversity and one of the ULRs had attended a Unionlearn equality training course which she had found very useful. The ULRs felt that
Unionlearn £6,000 startup costs Support for learning events such as free learning day
Regional team support
Learners Fee contribution Taking part in non-vocational learning in own time
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there had been a good mix of people attending the activities allowing for the fact that all but one of the midwives are female. Under the constitution the Learning Committee will obtain and review equality data on an annual basis in conjunction with the employer. Data on age, disability and highest level of qualification is collected during learning activities and from successful applicants and is compared with the employer’s baseline data. The Learning Committee would then decide what actions would be taken such as targeting under-represented groups, should this data review demonstrate any inequities in access to funding.
Benefits to the union
The dedication and enthusiasm of the ULRs had significantly raised the profile of the union leading to positive outcomes:
“We have certainly increased union membership particularly through recruiting maternity support workers- a category of staff that have only relatively recently been admitted into RCM membership. We have raised the awareness of this group of workers to the fact that they can join the union….Some staff who had been reluctant to join the union because they were worried what their manager might think were joining the learning activities. That concern about getting involved in the union was not there anymore and it has changed staff’s perspective about what the union is there to do.” Sara Fripp (Union Learning Rep)
“At every learning event we organise we share information about union activity with staff so that they are better informed about what the union is for. The Tolpuddle Martyrs’ Festival is brilliant since it is just on our doorstep. I have written several a blogs for the RCM communities’ national website tracking our progress as ULRs and about the reason why unions were first started and the importance of union solidarity.” Jillian Ireland (Union Learning Rep)
The CLF project had strengthened relations with other branches and increased networking with other ULRs. Learning opportunities at the same discount are also available to members of the Bournemouth RCM branch and this has strengthened the working relationship between the two branches. For example, members of the Bournemouth branch had joined the choir.
Benefits to management
Management had been clearly supportive to the CLF and recognised its value:
“The learning activity has improved morale amongst the staff. We have a good relationship with the ULRs who have done a fantastic job in a short period of time.” Belinda Doe (Midwifery Matron)
Challenges
Time was identified as the biggest challenge. It has taken about two years for staff to become aware of the role of the ULRs. It was more difficult for the ULR who was a midwife working by herself in the community and having to rely a lot on email communication than her colleague who was a maternity support worker based in a ward and who had a lot of support from her team.
Sustainability
There are positive signs that the CLF will be sustainable. The ULRs felt that the fact that some of the courses were making small profits ensured that the CLF would break even on funding activities overall. This message was endorsed by management:
“The activities are generating money from courses which has led the CLF to be self-sufficient” Belinda Doe (Midwifery Matron)
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The ULRs were hoping to identify other sources of funding which could be used for learning in the future. They also recognised the need to ensure that such support is maintained in the future through succession planning.
Support for the project
The ULRs supported by the branch had taken the lead in driving the partnership and running the CLF and had gained much support and goodwill from management. The ULRs had felt that the Unionlearn support had been “fantastic”; particularly from the union support officer who had signposted them to opportunities such as Learning at Work Day and the RCM learning officers who provided training and support. This had led to the ULRs nominating learners for the national Adult Learners Award. The other resources provided by Unionlearn were also seen as useful to get the project started without having to reinvent the wheel.
Conclusions
The project has very successfully focused on learning activities which improve staff wellbeing and health and the take up had been high.
The ULRs have been very proactive in organising learning events to ascertain the interests of staff and the result has been very innovative in the leisure activities that have been organised, particularly the choir.
The success of the project has been very much the result of the energy and dedication of the ULRs who have successfully engaged both management and staff and promoted its success very effectively. This has led to the ULRs being given the RCM national members champion award.
The CLF has been inclusive by providing opportunities to all staff not just RCM members. The union had benefitted from the CLF by recruiting members; having closer relations with
another RCM branch whose members also join the activities and from more involvement with the South West TUC.
A major challenge had been the lack of time for the ULRs and much of their duties and even some of their training had been done in their own time.
There has been a very limited amount of cash contributions to the CLF, with learners having to pay part of the fees, but imaginative ways of fund raising from activities has made the CLF self-funding.
Both management and the branch were very supportive of the CLF which was important to its sustainability.
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GMB Daido Industrial Bearings Europe Ltd CLF Case Study
Based on interviews with Matthew Monk (Union Learning Rep), Agnieszka Zamonski (GMB Project Worker) and Jacquie Mahoney (HR / Training Officer) - February 2014.
Background
Daido Industrial Bearings Europe Ltd is a manufacturing business based in Ilminster, Somerset. It produces plain bearings, bushes and thrust washers for medium speed diesel engines, turbochargers, and a range of other rotating and reciprocating machines. The business has been acquired by Daido Metal, a Japanese company with facilities in Asia, India, Russia, Europe and the USA supplying plain bearings for automotive, marine, rail traction and industrial engines. The company’s business in Ilminster employs 200 staff of a range of nationalities since the site also acts as the location for its European headquarters. Due to the complexities of the business staff cover a large range of engineering tasks such as CNC machinery as well as technical, quality and logistics. The company is committed to supporting the development of its workforce and has been focusing on the provision of NVQs and apprenticeships as well as health and safety and leadership training within the workplace. The company employs some of its workers as unskilled operatives from the local labour market and they are trained up to the skills required to perform their job tasks. There has been a trial for workers to have their skills assessed and accredited as NVQs in engineering manufacturing. Almost half of the workforce are union members and belong to GMB or Unite. Both unions work harmoniously together in a Joint Shop Stewards Committee and have a recognition agreement with Daido. The agreement was recently revised to include facility time which recognised time off for ULR duties. This was followed by a Learning Agreement in 2012 and the establishment of a Learning Partnership Committee. The GMB has a ULR who is a shop steward as well as being secretary of the Somerset branch. The industrial relations culture has continuously been developed:
“Relationships between companies and unions had been a bit old school - “them and us”- but with current union training it is becoming more about working with companies. This approach has really improved relations in here and the company now sees having unions here as a benefit and we do work together very well and co-operatively.” Matthew Monk (Union Learning Rep)
Reasons for having a Collective Learning Fund
An important catalyst for establishing the learning partnership at the company was the GMB Southern Regional Learning Project which had been funded through the TUC Union Learning Fund (ULF).There had not been a strong learning culture within the workforce as a whole and the aim of the regional project was to promote a lifelong learning culture to engage all the workforce at workplaces and to strengthen the relationship between unions, employers, learning provider and the workforce. A learning partnership committee had been set up by the unions and management in November 2012 before the CLF had been established. It was the GMB ULR with the support of the union’s regional project worker who was funded by the ULF project who spearheaded the CLF. The project worker brought the Call to Learn project to the ULR’s attention which was then considered by the Learning Committee. The GMB successfully applied to have a CLF. A statement of intent concerning the partnership was signed by the GMB project worker and the HR director.
“The CLF has helped us to create a structure for what we have been doing. Even though we had a learning agreement already in place the Learning Committee began to meet more frequently and to be more focussed once we began to set up the Fund.” Agnieszka Zamonski (GMB Project Worker)
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CLF Constitution
The constitution and core structures had been agreed by the learning committee and adopted in October 2013. It states that the CLF is to provide funding not just for union members but for the workforce as a whole in order to finance their personal development and learning, and to purchase other services that will support the employees during their learning. The Learning Committee comprises of representatives from the GMB project team, Unite, Daido and ULRs from both unions. It would manage and monitor the performance of the fund and ensure that it would respond to the needs of learners and provide them access to learning needs analysis and advice, guidance and support from ULRs. The committee would also liaise with learning providers and negotiate with learning providers on behalf of the fund members. The fund is held in a Unity Trust Bank custom account.
Demand for learning
A joint union/Daido learning needs questionnaire was sent out to every employee with their wage slip. It resulted in a response rate of about 40 percent which was significantly higher than a previous survey that was sent out before the project was set up. The greatest demand for non-work-related courses was IT for those whose jobs did not involve computers. These courses included IT for beginners such as using the Internet and email, as well as Excel for more advanced learners. There was also a demand for numeracy and literacy courses. The survey also revealed a need for vocational courses like Understanding Engineering Drawing and NVQs related to employees’ various job roles. These needs would however be met by the company through its work-related training along with the Excel training for employees who were to use it at the workplace and as such this provision would not be funded through the CLF. The HR and training officer was very much involved with the project through the learning needs analysis, identifying and engaging with individuals who required IT skills training. She also liaised with the college to organise the tutors and the assessment around the shifts and attended the Learning Committee.
Contributions
There had been considerable in- kind contributions from both the union and the company. The company provided a training room and HR and ULR time but not cash although it might possibly consider such a contribution in the future provided a business need was identified and internal funding was available. Although the company had not as yet provided paid educational leave for the learners the ULR felt that the company might possibly consider this for the future if they felt that the courses were benefitting the workforce.
Provision to be funded
The CLF had not yet funded any learning and the Learning Committee would decide which courses should be financed. It was likely that these would be IT courses for employees who do not require these skills in their job. Some of these courses had been fully funded in the past by Bridgwater College which had run work-related training for Daido and which could possibly be funded at source once again without the use of the CLF. It was planned to set up a free “IT club” run by the
Contributor Cash contribution In-kind contribution Company none ULR facility time
ULR time in running IT club HR department time Training room
GMB branch Likely in the future ULR time GMB regional none Project worker support funded
by regional Union Learning Fund project Desk top computers
Unionlearn £6,000 startup costs Regional team support Learners None Taking part in non-vocational
learning in own time
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ULRs in the company training room outside the normal hours. The fund could also be used to help pay for learners to complete accredited courses which are not always fully funded. Initially the CLF was most likely to fund groups of learners to facilitate others to take up learning although individual applications could be considered in the future:
“ The Learning Committee could consider applications from individuals to get funding for a course that they have identified but it would have to be very very carefully managed because you could be seen as showing favouritism and then finding that there would be little or no money left to fund other people’s learning. So perhaps there would have to be an agreed subsidised amount for individuals.” Matthew Monk (ULR)
Role of ULR
The lead ULR had been very proactive in driving the project with strong support from the union project worker. He had first worked on the shop floor for many years and had put himself on a considerable number of courses to develop himself. The staff had seen him progress through the company and thus had begun to understand the value of self-development through learning. He felt that he had been very active in the Learning Committee particularly in problem solving as well as engaging with potential learners and promoting the CLF.
Promoting equality and diversity
The constitution set out the company’s commitment to be an equal opportunity employer. Its intention is to work with the unions to gather relevant equalities data through an annual survey to get an overview of the demography of the workforce. This would help identify and overcome any barriers or close any gaps that exist. The content was agreed by the Learning Committee and informed by the equality training attended by the GMB project worker and the ULR which was organised by Unionlearn in the South West and run by Equality South West. The HR department will publish the outcome of the survey and discuss ideas for actions that improve access to learning and other opportunities. The Learning Committee would gather equalities data for all course enrolments, completions and learning progression which will be reviewed annually to identify access issues and necessary actions. There were no equality reps but equalities had formed part of the shop stewards’ training.
Benefits to the union
There were many perceived benefits to the unions including recruitment. Several employees had been recruited as a result of its learning and training activities.
“Union learning is a good engagement tool for the union” Agnieszka Zamonski (GMB Project Worker)
There was a desire to disseminate such partnership work to other branches:
“Daido is the first workplace within the Somerset branch which has a project of this kind. As branch secretary I want to use this as a guinea pig almost and use its success as a case study to get similar projects running in Somerset.” Matthew Monk (ULR)
Benefits to management
The company felt that the learning was a “catalyst” for opening up different types of learning other than engineering manufacturing to the employees.
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“The IT training arising out of the project improved the employee’s confidence in using these skills, such as email and spreadsheets and Word, in work as well as outside work and this could possibly aid their progression to team leader roles.” Jacquie Mahoney (HR/Training Officer)
Challenges
The ULR felt that a possible obstacle to the project was lack of learner time:
“Although many people might identify training need and have a desire to learn due to their busy lives they may be unwilling to study in their own personal time. So if training is not offered in work time that might be an obstacle to them.” Matthew Monk (ULR)
Another obstacle was the fact that many of the workers had been in the same jobs for a long period of time without being engaged in learning and there had been low morale in the workforce for various reasons. This could result in them having little motivation to take up courses. Another challenge which the training manager had first identified was how to arrange the training around the shifts although the company in the end was able to accommodate everyone on the courses.
Sustainability
The successful completion of the NVQ training and the positive feedback from the learners meant that the project might continue but the ULR recognised that longer term sustainability was dependant on supply and demand. Only six employees had applied to go on the NVQ training but once they had successfully completed it then this increased the confidence of their colleagues and as many as twenty applied in the second tranche. This “multiplier effect” was likely to occur in other forms of learning offered in the future. There was likely to be succession planning with the other GMB shop steward likely to be mentored to prepare him for taking up the ULR role in the future. The GMB project worker felt that now that the organisation was in place it was possible to have fund-raising activities at the workplace or the branch and possibly negotiate subsidies with providers.
Support for project
The Unionlearn resources such as CLF templates had been very useful on what was expected from the project and in its development as well as providing information for the Learning Committee.
Conclusions
The CLF has been a natural development from the effective learning partnership that had been established by the GMB through its regional ULF project and was open to the entire workforce regardless of union membership.
The ULR who had a long history of self-development through learning played a pivotal role in driving the learning partnership and the CLF forward and had had strong support from the union project worker.
There had been strong support from management in terms of providing facility time for the ULR to carry out his role including running an IT club.
Benefits for the union included recruiting more members. There had been recognition by the company of the benefits of the partnership in terms of
training operatives in IT skills allowing possible progression routes within the company. There was clear company commitment to promoting equality and diversity within the
workforce and the learning committee had set up procedures to identify and action any issues arising out of the take up of learning opportunities.
A major challenge had been trying to get employees to have the confidence and give up their own time to take up learning although this had been largely overcome.
Although the CLF had only just been established there were positive indications from both the union and the company that it would be sustained and help meet the future learning needs of the workforce.
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GMB ULN (UK) Ltd CLF Case Study
Based on interviews with Robert Jones (Training Officer) Martin Pritchard (Union Learning Rep/Shop Steward), Debbie Cooper (Shop Steward), Agnieszka Zamonski and Peter Synowiec (GMB Project Workers) - February 2014.
Background
ULN (UK) Ltd. is a wholesale dairy products company located in Westbury Wiltshire. It was established in 1958 as a British subsidiary of a world leader in the dairy industry, the French company Bongrain. The company employs about 100 full-time staff, 60% work in production and 40 % are office based. Seventeen of the production workers are Polish. There is only one shift and the majority of employees work from 8am to 4pm. The operatives mainly work in cheese production and cold storage with office based staff working in sales and distribution. The operatives are recruited on the basis of their experience in food manufacturing, reliability, hygiene cleanliness and being able to stand for long periods of time. Their training has been related to food manufacturing such as food handling hygiene stages 1 and 2 , health and safety including Hazards training and first aid, as well as warehouse skills such as forklift truck training. About 50 staff are members of the GMB which has union recognition. The shop steward described the industrial relations in the company as “quite good”. The employees were represented by two GMB shop stewards (one of which was also a ULR) who worked co-operatively with management.
Reasons for having a Collective Learning Fund
An important catalyst in establishing the learning partnership at the company was the GMB Southern Regional Learning Project which had been funded through the TUC Union Learning Fund (ULF). The aim of the project was to promote a lifelong learning culture within the entire workforce at workplaces in the region and to strengthen the relationship between unions, employers, learning providers and the workforce. A learning agreement had been signed with the company in 2009 and a learning partnership committee had been set up by the unions and management before the Collective Learning Fund (CLF) had been established. Over the years the union had been involved with the company over NVQ training (including food manufacturing and forklift truck training), English for Speakers of a Second Language (ESOL) and English and numeracy. These courses were run by the local FE college and were free under the last Labour Government’s Train to Gain scheme.
“When the Train to Gain funding had ended then problems started and we had to find an alternative way to fund the training which was required by the workforce. That was one of the reasons why we decided to set up a collective learning fund.” Peter Synowiec (GMB Project Worker)
The union discussed the ‘Call to Learn’ project with the company’s training officer in the Learning Partnership Committee and then presented the workforce and company benefits of a CLF to both the operations and the factory manager. When the application for Call to Learn sponsorship was successful, the Learning Committee signed a Statement of Intent to set up the CLF. The committee running the CLF comprises of representatives from the union (ULR and/or shop steward) and the GMB project team as well as the training officer and the factory manager.
Demand for learning
A learning needs survey was carried out. It indicated interest in IT courses for those who did not use computers in their job and more advanced courses such as Excel for those who were already using computers in the job. Other learning needs identified were English and maths and leisure courses such as photography. The survey was followed by an Information, Advice and Guidance (IAG) day which was held in November 2013 to identify learning needs before any courses were funded through the CLF. A new provider, Yeovil College, had been agreed by the Learning Committee and it held IAG sessions to explain what courses were available and also ran maths and English online assessments on the day. Eighteen people had expressed an interest in taking on an
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IT course and the Learning Committee was discussing this with management. According to the shop steward staff were increasingly confident and excited to take up the learning and looking forward it getting started. One employee had actually bought a computer in the expectation of going on the IT course. The CLF had been established with a Unity Trust account but no provision had yet been funded and the prioritising of courses would be agreed by the Learning Committee. A successful health and safety day had been held last year and management had given employees time off to take part in the activities. Another was being planned for this year which would involve masseuse by a “stress angel”, walks, possible swimming and sessions provided by police, fire fighters and a nurse.
Contributions
The company saw no need as yet to put cash into the CLF but it had made a significant contribution in the form of refurbishing and providing a dedicated training room with both laptops and desk computers. It was also possible that the company would consider providing some time off to take courses that they might find advantageous to the company in the future. These could include IT for those employees who do not use these skills in their current job. The college would provide the IT courses free at no cost to the learner of the company provided that the training was done outside company time.
Role of ULRs
The ULRs were the link between the employees and the Learning Committee as well as with the training officer and had supported the learning events that had taken place. One of the shop stewards had been a ULR for a number of years. He had been involved in the learning survey and in encouraging colleagues to become aware of the learning opportunities, particularly ESOL in the last few years.
Promoting equality and diversity
Equality data gathered by the company had been regarded by the learning committee as insufficient and a new equality survey was carried out by the ULRs.
Benefits to the union
The ULR/shop steward indicated that membership had grown since the learning partnership had been established:
Contributor Cash contribution In-kind contribution Company where possible ULR facility time
Training Officer time Training room equipped with Laptops and desk top computers Part paid time off for certain courses
GMB branch where possible ULR time GMB regional when available Project workers support funded
by regional Union Learn Fund Project Laptops
Unionlearn £6,000 startup costs Regional team support Learners may contribute Taking part in non-vocational
learning in own time Provider where possible Free IT courses that were taken
in learners’ time
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“The learning activities in the past such as ESOL for migrant workers had gained the union a lot of members because the workers felt that the union was doing something for them by negotiating such opportunities with the company.” Martin Pritchard (ULR/Shop Steward)
The union saw great benefits to the workforce of the way the learning was organised:
“The main advantages of the CLF are that you are learning at the workplace without having to spend time and money travelling to the local college; you also avoid cumbersome enrolment; and you are learning with colleagues who you know. Everything is provided on a plate”. Peter Synowiec (GMB Project Worker)
Benefits to management
Management felt that although there could possibly be some long term productivity benefits the social benefits were more important:
“Providing operatives with IT skills could benefit the company in the future. As time progresses more and more machines will be operated by computers with operatives performing a quality standards role by entering data into the computers….Our main objective in supporting the CLF however is to try and make the company a better and more fulfilling place to work through activities at the lunchtime or after working hours… staff learning together could be fulfilling for them socially”. Robert Jones (Training Officer)
Challenges
According to the management the biggest challenge was to get management’s time and commitment to allow the union to set up learning which was not necessary to drive production forward. A big advantage was that the training would be done at the workplace not at Yeovil College but clocking off at 4pm and staying on to do the training was a new concept for the company which could initially be a challenge to some employees.
Sustainability
There was considerable optimism from the union and management that the CLF would be sustainable:
“Personally at first I was sceptical that the project would fly and that it would continue but speaking to the GMB project workers and colleagues I am really hoping that even if we only get two people doing a course at the start after work that others will see the benefits and the take up will grow…..Once we have got the CLF started regardless of the £6,000 startup contribution it will continue in the long term”. Robert Jones (Training Officer)
Support for the project
Both the shop steward and training manager felt that the project could not have developed without the support of the GMB project workers:
“The project workers were the drivers; we were the anchors” Robert Jones Training Officer
The project workers had found the CLF resources provided by the Unionlearn team had been invaluable to the process.
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Conclusions
The CLF has been a natural development from the effective learning partnership that had been established by the GMB through its regional ULF project and was open to the entire workforce regardless of union membership.
The GMB project workers had played a pivotal role in driving the learning partnership and the CLF forward and had strong support from the ULRs.
There had also been strong support from management in terms of providing a training room equipped with computers and the training manager was taking a pro-active role in the project.
The company did not provide any paid time off to train for courses that were not job related and employees would have to find personal time for this but this had not dampened demand.
Benefits for the union included recruiting more members. There had been strong recognition by the company of the social benefits of establishing a
learning culture at the workplace as opposed to any effect on production. The ULRs had organised an equalities survey. There had been good engagement with the local college who would offer free IT courses. A major challenge according to management had been trying to get management to allow
time to get involved in a project which was to deliver learning not directly relating to the production process.
There was a strong management commitment to sustain the CLF and its learning activity. The resources provided by the Unionlearn team had been seen as invaluable by the project
workers.
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