The Union Learning Fund: a genuine success story
Criticisms of the Union Learning Fund are ludicrously ill-informed. The fund has been a genuine success story, helping hundreds of thousands of workers access training and education, and contributing significantly to the country’s economic competitiveness, writes TOM WILSON
T
he Daily Telegraph recently carried an attack on the Union Learning Fund (ULF) as part of its ongoing criticism of unions following the industrial
action by cabin crew at British Airways. This included a quote from Conservative MP Francis Maude suggesting that the fund was a form of ‘money laundering’. The article, which was re-hashed a couple of days later by the Daily Express, tries to paint the ULF as vehicle for the Government to give taxpayers’ money to the unions without any return or monitoring of the consequences. The reality is that the ULF has been a genuine success, for trades unions, for businesses and the workforce combined. Over the last 12 years there’s been huge investment into learning in the workplace, bringing vital skills that business needs to remain competitive. Three quarters of a million employees have benefiting from training; bringing new skills to workers. Access is available to all levels of education from advanced skills and degrees as well as basic literacy, numeracy and IT skills to workers who have previously never had access to training or education. Over 2,000 learning agreements have been signed between unions and businesses to agree to provide time off for staff to train and more than 23,000 learning represent- atives trained to promote learning in the workplace. We have also worked with the Open University and negotiated a 10 per cent discount that has made 4,000 degree places available.
Companies involved cover the whole spectrum of the economy, from transport giants such as First Group and Stagecoach through to industrial heavyweights like BAE Systems and to such iconic British brands as Boots, Tesco and Rolls-Royce, as well as
public sector employers such as the Fire Brigade, Prison Service and local councils. Contracts agreed with the unions have clearly defined targets and outcomes and the work has been overseen by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, and the Learning and Skills Council, as well as being independently audited.
Wide support We have had wide support from the business community, including from the Confed- eration of British Industry, the British Chambers of Commerce, and Business in the Community. It is unlikely these bodies, nor the FTSE 100 companies working with unions, would be supporting the ULF and unionlearn if they didn’t see value for British companies and understand the need for a well-trained and motivated workforce. Studies have shown that firms that invest in training are more than twice as likely to succeed in an economic downturn and that investing in learners is worth billions to the UK economy.
The work funded by the ULF has been
delivered in colleges and in a network of over 400 learning centres based in the community and in workplaces. The range of locations for these centres is vast, from bus garages to the Olympic park; from prisons to a Sikh temple! What has been lost in the blinkered and two-dimensional thinking of the press is the understanding that if we are to have a competitive economy we need a well- educated, well-trained workforce. Improving the skills of people is good for their employers but also vital and transformative for the employee. It improves options on employment, leads to new career paths and transforms life chances.
Unionlearn has been gathering case
studies of hundreds of people who have benefited from training through the ULF. We have found that companies and unions have been keen to pass on the stories of successes and we have heard from people whose lives have been changed by the learning opportunities they have had. Hearing stories of workers with new job opportunities after being trained to use a computer, the woman in her 50s now able to read bedtime stories to her grandchildren for the first time, or the 60-year-old bus driver who had worked for the same company for 47 years crying with joy after receiving his first ever qualification is truly uplifting. Examples like these are available across the unions, across the different sectors of industry and in all age groups, and what is clear when we hear about them is that the union and the employer are as proud and as happy to see the success as the learner. The work of the Union Learning Fund reflects a true partnership approach. Other elements of the press have since followed the Daily Telegraph’s initial criticisms along with elements online. It’s clear that the ULF is being caught in the cross-fire of the general election campaign and the excitement that surrounds it. What remains certain though is that all political parties say they support investment in training and the Union Learning Fund remains a cost- effective way of delivering that training. So, despite the press spin and accusations, the case for, and the benefits of, union-led workplace learning are clear. The unions support it, the employers support it and the workforce supports it. We intend to get on with delivering it.
Tom Wilson is Director of unionlearn and a member of NIACE’s company board
APRIL 2010 ADULTS LEARNING 23
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