Negotiator’s guide for

Bargainingfor skills

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ContentsIntroduction 4 Who this guide is for How to use this guide

What is bargaining for skills all about? 4 Why the sudden need to address skills? The union negotiator’s role Training – a management prerogative?

Negotiating on skills 5 A joint agenda Productivity Retention Change management and improved industrial relations

Securing support 7

Outputs 7 Learning agreements Time off Funding and support Equality of access Employability and transferability of skills Access to support, information, careers advice and guidance English and maths Apprenticeships Infrastructure

Going forward 9

Conclusions 10

Further reading, information and assistance 11

ForewordPromoting learning to working people has been at the heart of the trade union movement from its early pioneering days. Today, through the work of union learning reps and education officers, learning is increasingly a core part of what we do. Vitally, it is becoming part and parcel of the deal that union negotiators can offer to their members.

ULRs act as evangelists for learning and training among their colleagues and workmates. Research from London Metropolitan University shows that union learning is a useful tool to attract “new members, reinforce union identity and can lead to wider democratic engagement and participation”. However, it is the job of all reps to negotiate with their employers to improve the acquisition of skills for their members.

Higher skills and training mean improved productivity and job performance, better morale and a workforce that can adapt to new work processes. This is good news for the employers; and it leads to increased job security for union members. It is the job of reps to ensure access to training opportunities is available for all – shift workers, BME communities and older workers who too often lose out – and that fair reward is given for skills acquired.

Workplace learning agreements are one of the best ways to establish equitable training policies and practice. This document shows you how to set one up and arms you with the economic, social and practical arguments needed to persuade your employer that money spent on training is money well spent.

It will help you make skills part of the union bargain.

Tom Wilson Director of unionlearn

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IntroductionWho this guide is for

This guide aims to promote and assist trade union participation in collective bargaining around skills development. It is targeted at mainstream union negotiators.

Although unions have undertaken lots of fantastic learning activity, much of this has happened with limited direct involvement from full-time industrial officers or traditional workplace representatives. However, union members’ skills should be a prime concern of trade unions and properly a part of core trade union business.

How to use this guide

»» The following section clarifies what is meant by ‘bargaining for skills’ and discusses how it sits within the industrial relations context. It argues that the skills issue should be a major concern for union negotiators.

»» A range of key arguments is provided next for negotiators to use in order to get skills firmly positioned as a regular agenda item for negotiations and a part of collective bargaining process. Tactical considerations and strategic gains are explored.

»» Finally, there is a discussion around what a trade union agenda on skills should look like. Throughout the guide you will find signposting to further information and ideas for action.

What is bargaining for skills all about?The last 15 or so years have seen an explosion in trade union activity around learning. This has been accompanied by developments in infrastructure to support learning and the statutory footing for union learning reps (ULRs).

There are differing views as to what the learning agenda should encompass. Learning of any kind is fundamentally positive, but the focus of this guide is work-related or vocational learning, often referred to simply as ‘training’. This could include skills needed by workers to do their jobs, meet future job requirements or career progression, and skills for employability.

This skills development issue needs to become an integral part of the mainstream trade union agenda and the term ‘bargaining for skills’ refers primarily to skills development as a collective issue – a matter for negotiation and joint regulation between employers and trade unions.

Why the sudden need to address skills?

Trade union interest in workers’ skills is not new. Among the original goals of the trade union movement pioneers were rights to education as a means to improving working lives.

More recently, in the 1960s and 70s, unions, employers and education providers came together at the Industrial Training Boards that developed and regulated training on a sectoral basis. The 1980s saw this infrastructure dismantled and training left to employers.

The Leitch review, published in 2006, identified serious deficiencies in the UK’s intermediate and technical skills, placing the economy at a competitive disadvantage. As an example, recent research reveals that 21 per cent of the manufacturing workforce lack the skills required for their current job, let alone the job requirements needed for the future.

Today Sector Skills Councils (SSCs) created by the last Labour government, plan and help develop qualifications and apprenticeships based on labour market intelligence, and have a major influence on the funding and provision of training for their sector.

ACTION: Contact unionlearn (mcreagh@tuc.org.uk) to find out the appropriate SSC for your sector and who represents unions on their boards. Contact them and discuss the following questions: What are the key training priorities and how is the SSC planning to deliver on them? What mandate is the trade union representative getting to represent their members on the SSC board? Is the employer affiliated to the SSC and how active are they participating in its activities?

However, SSCs are employer-led and skills development remains an essentially voluntary issue. Inevitably this means that some employers do invest in skills development while others do not.

The union negotiator’s role

We know that the UK’s economic performance is serious cause for concern. Fundamentally, higher skills mean improved productivity and higher value of work which, together, mean increased job security for union members. So skills should be an issue that employers and unions have a common interest in but, even where employers are investing in training, unions still need to ensure that members’ interests are safeguarded.

Training – a management prerogative?

Some employers argue that training is an operational issue, not part of the remit of trade unions. But unions can claim a legitimate interest in skills, because of the impact that skills levels have on pay, job security and career progression. Learning and training are also vital extension of bargaining agenda during times when wages are frozen and jobs are under threat.

There is no specific statutory requirement for employers to consult recognised trade unions about training (except where recognition has been gained through the statutory recognition process).

Negotiators’ success in extending the scope of collective bargaining depends on a range of factors, including management’s attitude, the strength of the case we can make and union members’ strength of feeling on the issue.

Under section 181 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations Act 1992, unions have the right to receive information which relates to the matters and the descriptions of workers for which the union is recognised. The Acas Code of Practice lists examples of information which may be relevant on the collective bargaining situation. These include conditions of service that incorporate policies on recruitment, redeployment, redundancy, training, equal opportunity, and promotion; appraisal systems; health, welfare and safety matters.

Negotiating on skillsThis guide cannot substitute for negotiating skills training or negotiators’ hard-earned experience. However, this section examines some of the arguments that negotiators can deploy in arguing the case for greater training investment and for union involvement in the whole training process.

A joint agenda

According to one full-time officer a key step is pointing out to employers that there is a shared agenda of keeping people in jobs and being better in them. If there are training people on the other side of the table it can be useful to acknowledge the value of their work and discuss ways that the union can help engage their employees with the opportunities available.

Union learning reps (ULRs) can break down barriers to workers engaging with learning opportunities. They can help workers understand the benefits of taking up training opportunities, overcome fears and be aware of what training is available. ULRs can also help articulate problems with training, and resolve issues around training provision and access in ways that management are not always able to.

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The Centre for Economic Performance says that trade unions could increasingly influence the ways in which people develop their productive capacity through training in the UK. In other words, unions can help make training more effective and have a greater impact, improving employers’ return on training investment.

Productivity

Research by the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development shows that an overall 10 per cent increase on investment in skills (including recruitment, training and other issues) yields, on average:

»» an increase in gross profits per employee of between £1,083 and £1,568.

»» an increase in operating profit per employee of between £1,139 and £1,284.

»» an increase in profit margins per employee of between 1.19 per cent and 3.66 per cent.

Across the UK market-leading firms are recognising that increased training investment can lead to:

»» improved job performance and reduced incidence of mistakes

»» reduced wastage

»» less need for supervision and double-checking

»» improved morale and lower absenteeism

»» greater flexibility in the work that employees can undertake

»» increased capacity of workers to get to grips with new work processes.

ACTION: What sort of data does the employer gather about these issues? Has the employer measured the impact of past training activity? How did they do this and what were the outcomes? Negotiators could ask for regular access to these data as part of ongoing bargaining.

Retention

In most industries there is little evidence that workers change job for marginal pay increases alone, especially during a time of economic uncertainty. So despite what management may claim, training staff and having them leave for more money is not that common. Indeed, feedback from union members participating in a union-led learning project at a major multinational finance sector employer indicated that lack of training opportunities was a key reason why people left to go elsewhere.

ACTION: Is high staff turnover an issue? What are the costs associated with recruiting new employees and bringing them up to competence? What analysis has management done on the reasons workers leave their employment? How does this accord with reps’ views of the reasons people leave?

Change management and improved industrial relations

Improved training, and proper negotiation around it, can help workers to understand and participate in initiatives that can make genuine improvements. Management have more chance of introducing new practices with unions on board and proper training in place. Again, union learning reps can help identify disconnection between the intended outcomes of the training and the way it is received.

According to the CIPD’s 2001 Training and Development Survey, when unions are directly involved in training policy decision at company level, firms are more likely to adopt practices which contribute to high-trust, high-performance workplaces.

Working with unions can also help employers achieve and retain quality marks like Investors in People. Experience also suggests that the process of working jointly around the skills agenda can have a knock-on effect on industrial relations generally, improving the morale of the workforce and the quality of service provided to customers.

Securing supportSkills are unlikely to displace pay, or terms and conditions in the hierarchy of members’ demands. In some sectors members may not even associate unions with skills development at all. But union members’ clear and overt support may be necessary to convince employers of the seriousness of the union’s intentions.

Union reps need to be equipped for informed discussions with their members around the skills issue. Some key points are tackled below:

Equality – training spend is often skewed towards those who are, for whatever reason, favoured by management. This frequently works against specific groups of workers, especially women and part-timers. Trade unionism stands directly opposed to this kind of inequality.

Unionised workplaces have done more to close the gender gap on pay than the national minimum wage, according to David Metcalf, Professor of Industrial Relations at the London School of Economics.

Access to training – in workplaces where training is negotiated, almost 40 per cent of workers get an average of five or more training days a year, compared to less than 25 per cent where training is not negotiated.

The value of training – training is more likely to deliver benefits to members when unions not only secure recognition from the employer but also play an active role in decisions about what is provided, according to Jason Heyes and Mark Stuart writing in the British Journal of Industrial Relations.

Good work – raising skills can improve work in other ways than the purely financial reward. It should also mean that their work is seen as being of greater value, meaning workers collectively have greater bargaining power to secure other improvements to working life.

OutputsThe skills agenda is not about a cosy or passive relationship with employers, where unions are simply consulted or informed about actions that management are taking. On the contrary, unions need to take the lead on skills development. So, what would we expect to see on a union agenda for skills?

Learning agreements

Learning agreements sit alongside other collective agreements and should not be seen as an alternative to existing structures. However, they can be important in clarifying agreed policy and practice on skills development. Research by the University of Leeds shows that workplaces with formal learning agreements are strongly associated with increased demand for learning, particularly amongst non-traditional or under-represented groups of learners. Below are some suggested issues that negotiators might want to include in a learning agreement.

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Time off

Typically, training that is required for the current job could reasonably be expected to be taken as paid time. Matched schemes, where the employee matches their own time with paid time off, have proved successful for aspirational skills development. In some workplaces, a minimum number of training days per year can be a useful item to specify in a learning agreement.

Funding and support

Some options to think about are employer bursaries or scholarships for learning, or collective learning funds set up in conjunction with learning providers. These can take many forms, with contributions to the cost of learning coming from a variety of stakeholders including employers, providers, Sector Skills Councils, unions and the workers themselves. Contributions need not always be in the form of hard cash – time, facilities and resources can be equally valuable. Collective Learning Funds have been widely successful in England and Scotland. www.unionlearn.org.uk/press-releases/2012/making-learning-affordable-setting-collective-learning-funds-toolkit-trade

Equality of access

Learning agreements need to ensure that all workers are provided for and barriers to learning that prevent certain groups participating are addressed. This needs to be more than just statements of good intent though. Learning agreements should make clear provision for monitoring participation in training and acting on the monitoring data (see Infrastructure section on page 7).

Some learning agreements explicitly state how under-represented sections of the workforce or non-traditional learners will be encouraged. ULRs have a key role to play in engaging these learners and their role in this should be recognised in the learning agreement.

Employability and transferability of skills

Negotiators might want to encourage workers to attain specific qualifications – it is worth checking out the applicable Sector Skills Agreement for information on this. It might also be worth considering support for all workers to achieve a minimum level of qualifications.

A commitment to helping workers develop jobseeking and interview skills, along with minimum qualifications, could be included in the learning agreement, or even in job security agreements.

Access to support, information, careers advice and guidance

ULRs have a front line role to play as far as support for workers accessing training and information about the opportunities available are concerned, but negotiators might also want to include reference to external experts, such as the government’s National Careers Service.

English and maths

Most colleges are well set up to deal with English and maths skills questions (see section on Infrastructure, below) but, where the workforce has or might have English and maths learning needs, learning agreements should recognise this and make clear provisions to address the issues. This might mean bespoke training for ULRs, firm commitments to support workers (perhaps to gain a specified level of literacy and numeracy skills), confidentiality assurances and guarantees that workers addressing their English and maths skills needs will not suffer discrimination of any kind. Time off to address these essential skills would also be a useful inclusion in any learning agreement.

Apprenticeships

Learning agreements might usefully specify the number of apprentices to be taken on and that jobs will be available for all those who successfully complete their apprenticeship. ULRs could play a role in supporting or, given appropriate training, mentoring apprentices. Also, it might be worth making the schemes available to existing workers who lack appropriate qualifications, provided employment and rates of pay are safeguarded.

Infrastructure

The learning agreement should also specify the role of ULRs and their facilities. The ACAS Code of Practice on Time off for Trade Union Duties and Activities sets minimum thresholds for ULR activity. It makes sense for the learning agreement to establish a joint learning committee to deal with training policy, evaluation of practice, monitoring of participation and quality standards. It can also be useful to include formal liaison with external stakeholders like learning providers and Sector Skills Councils.

Going forwardWorking on the skills agenda is no soft option and will require a lot of work at workplace level. This is one of the reasons why it is imperative to call on the experience of learning organisers and ULRs. Whatever area of the skills agenda negotiators decide to prioritise, building the union’s workplace infrastructure, i.e. ULRs, learning committees etc., will be a vital element.

A potentially useful approach could be to pilot a project in the workplace and evaluate it after a given period of time. The key here is to focus on a small number of priority issues, rather than embarking on a huge and wide-ranging project. Projects like this can deliver some demonstrable gains and engender ongoing joint working around the skills agenda.

Workplace learning centres can provide invaluable resources for learning. They need not be large facilities with state-of-the-art technology – sometimes just a place to get information with a library of useful books can be just as effective. ULRs can play a central role here, provided that they are allowed sufficient facility time to make the learning centre work.

Another option might be to get skills development on the agenda as part of wage negotiations. Clearly this needs to be carefully positioned but, particularly where management are pressing for wage restraint, securing commitments to enhance training and development opportunities might be a way to deliver gains for union members.

Finally, many trade union learning projects have addressed redundancy support with great success, but it is important that negotiators raise the skills issue at an early stage of any consultation. Although employers have a duty to consult about mitigating the impact of redundancy, this rarely translates into the kind of structured retraining for employability that takes place in some other EU countries. Crucially, unions need to ensure that any proposed outplacement support meets the needs of members. Negotiators might wish to include access to career advice and guidance, CV-building support and interview skills training in their discussions.

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Conclusions»» Bargaining for skills should be seen

by all as core trade union business. Skills levels and access to training have a significant impact on workers’ job security, employability and earning potential, so are properly within the legitimate remit of trade unions. Equality of access to training should also be a fundamental demand of all trade unionists.

»» Learning agreements represent an excellent way to establish joint working around learning, as well as defining training policy and practice.

»» Infrastructure to support training at the workplace is essential. ULRs have a central role to play here, but must be integrated into mainstream industrial relations mechanisms.

»» Negotiators should make use of available expertise and resources, especially unions’ own internal specialists like learning organisers and ULRs. Sector Skills Councils are a good starting point to help negotiators establish a structured agenda.

Further reading, information and assistance Unionlearn has a library of research papers on learning and skills, including those referred to in this publication. These papers can be found at: www.unionlearn.org.uk/about/research-into-union-learning

The Leitch Review report can be found at: www.unionlearn.org.uk/leith-report

The Centre for Economic Performance report on trade unions and workplace training can be found at: www.unionlearn.org.uk/economic-performance-report

More information on Sector Skills Councils (SSCs) and unionlearn involvement with them at: www.unionlearn.org.uk/sector-skills-councils

Unionlearn’s apprenticeship toolkit can be found at: www.unionlearn.org.uk/apprenticeships

Unionlearn’s model learning agreement and templates for agreements on issues such as English and maths, ESOL, learning centres etc can be found in Delivering Better Learning Agreements – A guide for union reps and officers at: www.unionlearn.org.uk/files/bla.pdf

Unionlearn regions can be found at: www.unionlearn.org.uk/regions

Unionlearn’s Bargaining for Skills Officer is Kirsi Kekki email: kkekki@tuc.org.uk tel: 020 7079 6953

Photography by:

© Jess Hurd/reportdigital.co.uk (9, 12); © Chris Schmidt/iStockphoto.com (11); © Mark Thompson (1, 5, 8, 10); © Simon Weller (6, 7, 12).

Published by unionlearn Congress House Great Russell Street London WC1B 3LS

Tel: 020 7079 6920 Fax: 020 7079 6921 www.unionlearn.org.uk

October 2012

Design: TUC Print: Wyndeham Gait

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