updateSPRING 2010

Southern and Eastern Region

Going for goldLondon 2012

Open to everyone

Everyone actively promotingworkplace learning knowsthere’s a huge gap betweenthe educational haves andhave-nots. In fact, it’sbecause of this very gapthat workplace learning hasassumed the importance ithas in recent years.

We’ve made considerable headway over thepast decade and more. When once workerswith Skills for Life issues were left to struggleby themselves, now we’re finding more andmore enlightened employers who are happy towork with us to give their staff the chance tochange all that. That’s one move that closes theeducational gap.

Another is the way union learning reps andproject workers act on the basis that aworkplace learning project isn’t necessarilygoing to take off simply because the coursesare available onsite. Good ULRs know that theyalso need to ensure they find times that willsuit part-time workers and give shiftworkersthe chance to participate. And they come upwith solutions to help workers without anobvious focus for learning, such as freelancers,drivers, many construction workers.

Of crucial importance is the way unionlearning projects open their doors to theeducational have-nots who’ve had a raw dealbeyond their lack of access to trainingopportunities – the women who are still poorlypaid compared to men; the minority ethnic anddisabled workers who are routinely denied thechance to improve their skills; as well asmigrant workers (and others) for whom help toimprove their English language skills meansinclusion both at work and in their localcommunities.

Unions and unionlearn have a proud recordof promoting equality and diversity inworkplace learning. That’s why we feel it’sespecially important, in the forthcoming localand general elections, that everyone uses theirvote to keep out the kind of far-right politicalparties who crave the electoral opportunity totry to undo everything we’ve achieved.

Barry Francis, Regional Manager

Three ULRs at the Enfield site of bakery firmWarburtonsorganised a two-day Festival of Healthy Living in the run-upto Christmas which attracted 140 co-workers to try outhealthy food and exotic fruits in the company canteen.

The ULR trio of Julie Knight, Roshni Naran and Jarek Belkapersuaded Hygiene & StoresManager James Ingold to cook twodifferent healthymeals to be given away over the two days (alongwith the recipes and a packet of pasta for everyone who attended).

In addition, a range of unusual fruits were offered in bite-sizedpieces to give people a chance to try something new.

The learning reps also persuaded Enfield health centre Aspire todonate a year’smembership and £100 of vouchers for the first andsecond prizes in a raffle people entered by participating in the event.

The ULRs worked very hard to make the event a success, saysBFAWU Region One Project Worker Carol Hillaby.

Roshni worked with Nicola Hammond from the humanresources department to get the festival up and running; Julietalked to people about the learning centre and the union,encouraging many non-members to take away information packs;and Jarek spent the two days helping James to dish up the food.

“The Warburtons ULRs rose to the challenge by taking part inthese two open days, promoting the BFAWU andWarburtonsthrough Healthy Living days – which they did outstandingly,” saysBFAWU Regional Officer Steve Finn, who attended and supportedthe event, which was organised with the help of Festival ofLearning money secured by unionlearn SERTUC.

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Bakery staff develop ataste for healthy eating

Counting down to WorldSkills in LondonWorldSkills London 2011 has launched two important groups tohelp promote the event itself and the longer term objectivesaround raising awareness and respect for vocational skills.

The Legacy Group and the London Group aim to help engageLondon and the UK and make WorldSkills London the success itdeserves to be.

The World Skills 2010 competitions represent the last chancefor those who take part to be considered for a place on the teamrepresenting the UK and competing against the best in theworld when WorldSkills comes to the capital in 2011.

The competition schedule is available online, and includesconfirmed dates and venues for all WorldSkills UK heats andUK finals. Visit: http://tinyurl.com/y8dtb7w

BFAWU ULR Julie Knightdisplays the fruit on offerat theWarburtonshealthy living event

The Community and Trade UnionLearning Centre, at Pudding Mill Lane,east London, has secured the InspireMark, which recognises innovative andexceptional projects inspired by the2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Open to workers on the site and members of the localcommunity, the centre runs free courses in literacy,numeracy and computer skills, offers lessons to help peoplewrite better reports and job applications/CVs and plans tooffer paid-for courses depending on demand.

“The Community and Trade Union Learning Centre isenabling people in the east of London and workers on theOlympic site to make positive changes: it’s well deserving ofan Inspire Mark award for the work it is doing now and itsrole as part of the Olympic legacy,” said Lord Coe, chair ofthe London Organising Committee of the Olympic Gamesand Paralympic Games.

Centre manager Phil Spry said that being awarded theInspire Mark was a wonderful boost. “It recognises the rolewe are playing in providing learning for union members andemployees on and surrounding the Olympic Park and itslocal communities,” he commented.

The centre has already opened its doors to constructionworkers on the site. “We are very enthusiastic aboutpersuading our members to make full use of the courses onoffer here,” says Unite National Secretary for ConstructionBob Blackman.

It’s also reaching out to local union members as well.Stratford Fire Brigades Union ULR Steve Fay has signed upcolleagues for computer courses after visiting the centre in afire engine. “The facilities are very good and we are lookingforward to training here,” he says.

The centre will also be working with the National Union ofTeachers to bring laptops to local schools so that parentscan improve their literacy, numeracy and computer skillsafter they have dropped off their children.

Olympics Minister Tessa Jowell dubbed the centre anextremely valuable community resource when she formallylaunched it in January.

“The centre adds to the range of training anddevelopment services made available to workers on theOlympic site and local communities surrounding it sinceconstruction started: together they are helping to create alegacy of skilled employees who are able to take on a varietyof roles and support the economy,” she said.

TUC General SecretaryBrendan Barber said theOlympics site was ashowcase for UK industryand workers. “TheCommunity and Trade UnionLearning Centre will play apart in this project byoffering great learningopportunities for employeesand providing a valuablecommunity resource forLondoners,” he commented.

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Olympics centre wins Inspire award

Phot

os©

Rod

LeonOlympicsMinister Tessa Jowell (second right) launches the

Community and Trade Union Learning Centre with (from left)unionlearn FieldWorker JaneWarwick, learner PamMasonand local Tesco Community Champion Lee Blake

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Feature interview

©London

2012

Leaving a jobsand skills legacy

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How important is training to the2012 legacy?Training is one of the key elements of thepriority themes I’m responsible for at theOlympic Delivery Authority (ODA). Part ofour legacy has to include giving people newexperiences and new skills, creatingsustainable jobs, ensuring we’re raising thestandards for the construction industry andmaking sure that local people in particularbenefit from the significant investment in anarea that has been historically on the wrongside of social deprivation and educationaland economic disadvantage.When it comes to training, we want to

skill up people so that they have betteropportunities for sustainable employment,particularly in construction.

How are you working with theNational Skills Academy forConstruction?One of the good things about this projectis that we have to work in partnershipwith a whole range of agencies, and we’reworking with Construction Skills, theSector Skills Council, to make sure that allthe training we provide is accredited, thatit’s demand-led (so we’re not justproviding training for the sake of it), andthat it anticipates the needs of futureemployees.We’ve been awarded National Skills

Academy for Construction (NSAfC) statusfor the training we’re providing, whichshows that we’re delivering the righttraining at the right time to the rightpeople at the facilities we have in ThamesHouse and the Royal Docks in Beckton.

How successful is the jobsbrokerage service?The jobs brokerage service has got over750 people who were previouslyunemployed into jobs on the Olympic Park.We set ourselves a target of ensuring 7 percent of the workforce was previouslyunemployed and we’re currently at 10 percent, so that’s an incredible success –we’ve set a standard for others to surpass,so that’s really very good.

What is the ODA doing topromote apprenticeships?We formally launched our apprenticeshipprogramme last May and we take it veryseriously. Our original target was toensure 2,250 people experienced trainingon the Olympic Park – including workplacements, pre-employment training,on-site training and apprenticeships.

We set ourselves a target of training350 apprentices by 2012 and we’recurrently at 150. Because of the successof the programme which is ahead ofschedule and on budget, we’re bringingforward apprenticeship opportunities withthe commitment of the contractors to getas many of the 350 training by the end ofthis calendar year.

We also introduced a requirementthrough the procurement process in Maylast year that any new contractors thatcome onto the park will ensure 3 per centof their workforce are apprentices.

Have you been able to makeprogress on breaking downapprenticeship genderstereotyping?We are making headway. About 6 per centof the workforce are women and giventhat women tend to be about 2 per centof the manual workforce we think we’vedone a pretty good job, although we thinkthere’s more to do so we’re notcomplacent.

Overall, we set ourselves a target of 11per cent women working on the Park, sowhile we’ve exceeded the nationalaverage we’ve still got a way to go tomeet the objectives we set ourselves.

We also have a Women IntoConstruction project that has beenincredibly successfully in getting womeninto the Park – we’ve got something like350 women working on the Park, about3.1 per cent of them are in manual labourtrades, and they range from architectureundergraduates on work placements totraffic marshals, bricklayers, plumbers– the whole gamut of trades within theindustry.

What will happen to apprenticeswho don’t complete their trainingbefore the end of construction?We will be collaborating with otherinitiatives such as Crossrail (the east-westLondon rail infrastructure project) and theThames Gateway Development to ensureour apprentices are given everyopportunity to complete their training onother initiatives.

We’ve got the support of the NationalApprenticeship Service to develop someprotocols between ourselves and otheragencies to ensure all the apprenticeshave the chance to make a transitiononto other initiatives and complete theirtraining on them.

How can unionlearn contribute tothe jobs and skills legacy of2012?The ODA has made a significantinvestment in the onsite Community &Trade Union Learning Centre so we’rekeen to make sure that it does benefitlocal communities and people workingon the park.

By promoting continual learning,helping people to raise their aspirationsfor personal and career development,unionlearn can make a significant impactin terms of its encouragement of unionmembers and the local community totake up those opportunities as andwhen they can.

Creating employment and skills opportunities in London’sEast End will ensure the London Olympics in 2012genuinely transforms an area of enormous deprivation,explains Loraine Martins, Head of Equality, Inclusion,Employment and Skills at the Olympic Delivery Authority.

Loraine Martins is Head of Equality,Inclusion, Employment and Skills atthe Olympic Delivery Authority(ODA). Equality and Inclusion is apriority theme for the Olympic &Paralympic Games in London 2012.

Prior to joining ODA, Loraine wasthe first Head of Diversity at theAudit Commission where sheworked for six years.

Loraine has been a managementconsultant and worked at a local,regional and national level and is aTrustee of the City ParochialFoundation (CPF).

Loraine Martins CV

“We were won over by Anton’senthusiasm, ingenuity, problem-solvingability and thirst for improving efficiency– and, quite simply, by the pleasure hetakes in his work!” the judgescommented.

The 21-year-old maintenancetechnician at Perkins Engines haswanted to be an engineer since he wasa boy, and has been fixing things andfinding out how they work for as long ashe can remember.

“I plan to progress through the part-time academic route through college touniversity and to achieve a degreethat’s recognised by the Institution ofMechanical Engineers; then I’ll work to

become a fully chartered engineer,”he says.

EEF South East Region Director DavidSeall called Anton “a credit to hiscompany and a great role model foryoung people embarking on a careerin industry.”

Unionlearn Regional Manager BarryFrancis said the award underlined theeffectiveness of apprenticeship model.“Employers throughout the regionshould follow the example of PerkinsEngines in Peterborough and invest inyoung people who can add value totheir company in much the same way asthis young Unite member has at hisworkplace,” he said.

After winning the SouthEast final year apprenticeaward at the EngineeringEmployers’ Federation(EEF) Future ManufacturingAwards last autumn, Unitemember Anton Barrickwent on to scoop thenational prize in February.

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Anton scoops national engineering award

A unionlearn SERTUC seminar during Apprenticeships Weekin February showcased a wide range of initiatives underwayto promote quality workplace-based training for youngpeople, from the Civil Service to the 2012 Olympic Park.

Making the casefor apprentices

©The

Learningand

SkillsCouncil

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Anton Barrick receives his award from sponsorAllison Riley of the Institution of Engineering andTechnology and Declan Curry, presenter of BBCTwo’sWorking Lunch

ApprenticesA framework agreement for the rollout of apprenticeships acrossthe Civil Service was set to be signed during ApprenticeshipsWeek, Prospect Deputy General Secretary Dai Hudd told aunionlearn SERTUC seminar at Congress House duringApprenticeships Week.

The Council of Civil Service Unions (CCSU) and GovernmentSkills, the Sector Skills Council (SSC) for Civil Servicedepartments and agencies, had drawn up the agreementtogether with the Cabinet Office, he explained (it was indeedsigned later in the week).

The new agreement built on the successful pathfinderprogramme which had led to nearly 1,400 people startingapprenticeships in the Civil Service, which had been the biggestemployer of apprentices in the UK 25 years ago.

Dai said the agreement ensured apprentices were employedon standard Civil Service terms and conditions and receivedhigh quality training and support; it also provided safeguardsfor surplus staff and ensured that equality and diversityunderpinned apprentice recruitment.

UK Skills Chief Executive Simon Bartley said that World SkillsLondon 2011 represented another opportunity to raise theprofile of apprenticeships.

Of the 846 UK competitors who had taken part in 40competitions to date, over 820 had trained as apprentices, hepointed out. “The best people at skills in this country are takingapprenticeships,” he said.

Team UK at WorldSkills 2011 would be drawn from theapproximately 8,000 individuals who would enter skillscompetitions over the two-year cycle, most of them apprentices.

The event offered an opportunity to showcase howdeveloping high skills could lead young people into fulfillingcareers, would promote excellence not competence and providea new generation of role models.

Cogent’s apprenticeship expansion programme had proved abig success, with 46 new places across the industries coveredby the SSC, explained Cogent’s Apprenticeships Manager Ian

Lockhart, who started his working life as an apprentice himself.Apprenticeships and advanced apprenticeships would

provide the solution to the sector’s problem of having too fewtechnicians, just as Cogent Career Pathways would encouragemore young people to choose the sector for their careers,he said.

The London Olympics site was set to have started 350apprentices by the end of the current calendar year, explainedthe Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) Head of Equality,Inclusion, Employment and Skills Loraine Martins.

In addition, new ODA contractors were committed toensuring at least 3 per cent of their Olympic Park workers wereapprentices, she pointed out.

Congress House is hosting aconference showcasing the unionrole in promoting successful andrewarding apprenticeships thatgive young people a fair deal atwork as well as a fine start totheir working life.

Advocating for Apprentices, onFriday 16 April, is aimed at unionofficers and reps who are alreadyworking with apprentices, or likely tobe doing so in the future, as well asemployers, education providers andpolicy partners.

Speakers include TUC GeneralSecretary Brendan Barber and DeputyGeneral Secretary Frances O’Grady,

National Apprenticeship ServiceDeputy Chief Executive David Way,unionlearn Board Chair MaryBousted, Unite Assistant GeneralSecretary Tony Burke, plus anemployers’ representative.

The TUC’s Apprenticeship Projectwill be launching its apprenticeshipstoolkit for reps at the conference, andthere will be a chance to hear fromsome newly-created UnionApprenticeship Advocates, whoserole is to promote schemes to unionsand employers.

Places are free so please registeronline at: http://tinyurl.com/yjbzhya

Conference set to showapprenticeships are union business

ApprenticeshipsWeek successfullyraised the profile on workplacetraining in February

Contacts

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Unionlearn Southern and Eastern Region

Congress HouseGreat Russell StreetLondon WC1B 3LS 020 7467 1251

Regional education office 020 7467 1284

Outreach offices

Haywards Heath 014444 59733Harlow 01279 408188London 020 7467 1342Community and TradeUnion Learning Centre 020 3288 5520

Regional manager

Barry Francis bfrancis@tuc.org.uk

Regional union development coordinator

Jon Tennison jtennison@tuc.org.uk

Community and Trade UnionLearning Centre Manager

Phil Spry pspry@tuc.org.uk

Regional development workers

Mick Hadgraft mhadgraft@tuc.org.ukAdrian Ryan aryan@tuc.org.ukTrish Raftery praftery@tuc.org.uk

Recession and Recovery Development Workers

Katie Curtis kcurtis@tuc.org.ukFred Grindrod fgrindrod@tuc.org.ukColin Lloyd clloyd@tuc.org.uk

Field workers

Stuart Barber sbarber@tuc.org.ukRickey Denton rdenton@tuc.org.ukJaspal Ghtoray jghtoray@tuc.org.ukKelly Hillock khillock@tuc.org.ukSean Ruddy sruddy@tuc.org.ukGabi Upton gupton@tuc.org.ukJane Warwick jwarwick@tuc.org.uk

U-Net support worker

Sarah-Louise Lacey slacey@tuc.org.uk

Regional education officers

Rob Hancock rhancock@tuc.org.ukAngela Perry aperry@tuc.org.uk

Administration

Michelle Baker mbaker@tuc.org.ukSonia Dawson sdawson@tuc.org.ukJohanna Garcia jgarcia@tuc.org.ukLucy Haire lhaire@tuc.org.ukTanya Nelson tnelson@tuc.org.ukMark Sadler msadler@tuc.org.uk

Cover photo of London 2012 worker Curdy Nelson at the Plant Training Centre by Philip Wolmuth

Equipping union members with the skills to avoidredundancy or find new work as the recovery advancesis the aim of the new unionlearn Skills: Recession andRecovery (SSR) Project, launched at the beginning ofthe year.

The project is working in partnership with unions, ULF projects anda wide range of stakeholders to share best practice and practicaladvice and highlight effective initiatives, funding opportunities andjoint working.

“Unionlearn is working with a range of partners to help unions withtheir negotiations and to provide their members with the professionaland personal skills to weather the economic downturn and beprepared for economic recovery,” explains SRR Project National Co-ordinator Kirsi Kekki.

The SRR project has already staged various events in the region toexplain how it can help union officers broker learning opportunities,improve members’ job-seeking skills and access regional fundingsources to combat closures.

To find out more about the SRR project n the South and EasternRegion, contact your Regional Development Worker:

� London: Fred Grindrod fgrindrod@tuc.org.uk� South East: Colin Lloyd clloyd@tuc.org.uk� Eastern: Katie Curtis kcurtis@tuc.org.uk

It’s the coming of the LAWD

The skilled road to recovery

Union learning reps throughout the region will be usingthis year’s Learning At Work Day (LAWD) to promotingworkplace learning in all sorts of imaginative ways,including launching and advertising workplace learningcentres, laying on taster sessions, and organisingawards.

This year, LAWD falls on Thursday 20 May 2010, and once againunionlearn SERTUC is offering funding to union projects to help themrun LAWD events in London and in the South-East.

ULRs and project workers can get a whole range of free materialsand advice from organisations to help them run their LAWD events,including the Campaign for Learning, which has overall responsibilityfor LAWD:

� Campaign for Learning: www.campaign-for-learning.org.uk� The National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (NIACE):

www.niace.org.uk/alw� BBC Read &Write (RaW) campaign: www.bbc.co.uk/raw� Six Book Challenge: www.sixbookchallenge.org.uk� Chatabout: www.chatabout.org.uk

Get yourself an awardYou’ve still got time to enter the National Training Awards, whichcelebrate organisations and individuals that have achieved reallyoutstanding business and personal success through investmentin training.

“Entering the Awards provides a real opportunity tobenchmark your training against the rest of the UK, so step upnow and be recognised for your hard work,” says Simon Bartley,Chief Executive of UK Skills, which runs the annual awards onbehalf of the Government.

The closing date for this year's Awards is Friday 23 April 2010.Find out more at: www.nationaltrainingawards.com