Francis Maude’s talk of “money laundering” is just absurd and shows the Tory vendetta against the trade union movement is not only unchanged but irrational and raring to return if they regain power.
UnionLearn is one of the greatest innovations of New Labour. It has radically transformed learning in the workplace, has encouraged increased productivity and supported workers and employers to innovate.
The Telegraph’s piece tries to frame UnionLearn as some swing to the left that is taking place, but UnionLearn is as New Labour as they come – it’s a radically new way of working, has matched public funds often with third party funding from employers in a project that rigorously passes the test of “what works”. This simplistic attack reveals the Tories are out of touch not only with working people but also with business too.
Nationally 24,000 union learning reps have been trained since 1998 to assess the learning needs of their colleagues in the workplace. Three-quarters of a million have received training in 12 years – a truly unparalleled change.
In my union, Union Learning Reps have prepared members for the future world of work. Upskilling people in their jobs is good for their employer and transformative for the employee. For those on the brink of redundancy, having established qualifications in everything from basic literacy and numeracy to foundation degrees, makes the change less risky. Knowing the skillset of those leaving the workplace means unions are well-placed to take a leading role in returning people to work, meeting any skills gaps and lifting people’s horizons. No longer do working people leave work with no hope and no prospects – UnionLearn and a Labour government has changed all that.
For many with a lifetime in production jobs, leaving school without qualifications was considered the norm. UnionLearn has radically changed their fortunes and given unique opportunities to those adult learners who are invariably hard to reach.
One of our members spoke last week at TUC Women’s Conference about how UnionLearn had changed her life. Leaving school at 16 with no qualifications to her name – a life on the factory floor seemed her only option. Since 1998 she has attained qualifications in English and Maths, passed a NVQ in Manufacturing and is now studying for a management qualification with which she expects to graduate in two weeks. This training has expanded her opportunity and her elevation to become the first woman President of our new union, Community, was richly deserved and a proud moment for us all.
UnionLearn is one of the greatest achievements of the last 13 years, it has massive support from employers from the FTSE 100 down and should outlast me let alone any Tory government.
The reality of Francis Maude’s attack shows that David Cameron hasn’t changed the Tory agenda, he’s just air brushed it for the short term and already the cracks are starting to show through. The British public should not be fooled.
I have a part-time job with Communitas, the training arm of Commmunity and many of our students have no qualifications, but they do want to learn, and many do not want to become Union members, which is not satisfactory from our point of view. Nevertheless, they get the training and the skills.