Unionlearn


Unionlearn is the TUC’s learning and skills organisation and was set up in 2006. It grew out of a recognition that it made sense to pull together all the TUC’s learning and education activities into one distinct organisation. It has three main purposes:


• to support learning in the workplace through managing the Union Learning Fund (ULF) — see page 16;


• to train union reps and officers through TUC Education; and


• to develop and argue for policy on all aspects of skills, training and education.


Unionlearn incorporates TUC Education which provides a broad range of training for trade union representatives and professionals, including:


• union reps;


• health and safety reps;


• union learning reps (ULRs);


• green reps; and


• equality reps.


The TUC has run successful education programmes for new union reps for the last 30 years. This has been funded by the government, first of all by direct grants and then through accreditation of courses, funding arrangements similar to further education provision. As it stands now, full funding for these courses will end in 2016 and the government will only pay up to 50%, with the reps or their unions expected to fund the rest. 


Courses are designed to achieve:


• improvements in the performance of union reps at the workplace and in the union;


• greater understanding of trade union policies and priorities;


• enhanced study skills and personal confidence;


• recognition of learning achievements through accreditation; and


• personal satisfaction and enrichment through learning.


Over the past 10 years, unionlearn has helped over two million learners and trained 34,000 ULRs (see page 19), while TUC Education has trained almost half a million reps, including safety reps, shop stewards, equality reps and green reps. Unionlearn has become an established part of the skills landscape but government funding cuts mean the organisation is facing increasing financial pressure. 


Challenges


Unionlearn director Liz Rees recently highlighted the pressures facing the organisation due to cuts the previous coalition government and current Conservative government to adult education and skills funding. “We know that this will be a year like no other in unionlearn’s life: funding is tighter than it has ever been and we are looking at a bigger cut than we expected”. This, she said, is going to mean changes: “What I would like to do is restructure unionlearn around the new realities, when belts are being tightened and money is hard to come by”.


The withdrawal of public funding will affect the provision of rep training provided by trade union tutors at FE colleges. Rees says: “We want to keep as much of the classroom offer as we can, but we are also developing a really leading edge e-learning offer as well, so over the next period we will be putting trade union education on a new footing as well.”


There are major changes and challenges ahead for unionlearn and Rees does not underestimate the scale of what lies ahead. However, she remains positive: “We in unionlearn have a great story to tell and in our 10th birthday year, we are going to sing the song of ULRs who have done a wonderful job for the movement — and my message would be that we are still here and we are not going anywhere.”