Public and Commercial Services Union

Contents

• About this handbook
• PCS activity on learning
• The role of the union learning representative (ULR)
• What is good learning rep practice
• Support and training for union learning representatives
• Interviewing skills
• The climbing frame
• Supporting learners
• Supporting members at risk of redundancy or redeployment
• Apprenticeships
• Skills for Life
• Working with your branch
• Organising and communication
• Learning and organising: organising to learn
• Influencing the employer’s training agenda
• Working with providers

 

Download the handbook in full

  Union learning reps handbook

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1. About this handbook

Welcome to the new edition of the PCS learning rep handbook. We have been increasingly engaged in learning activity since the last edition.

The handbook reflects our activities and successes. To highlight some of these:

    • We now have over 1450 union learning reps (ULRs) – a large proportion of the 26,000 learning reps across all sectors in the whole country
    • We have signed learning agreements with 20 employers
    • Our close work with the Sector Skills Council for central government, (the Cabinet Office) has resulted in making Skills for Life a priority and recognising the importance of the ULR role.
    • Our ULRs have given structured information and advice to nearly 4,000 members.

This handbook is aimed at PCS union members who have taken the decision to become a ULR within their PCS branch or workplace. It is intended as a key resource during your initial training and as a guide to further development and consolidation of your role.

By working through this handbook, you will be able to:

    • Understand what PCS union reps do
    • Understand your rights and responsibilities as a ULR
    • Integrate your role within existing branch structures and recruit new members
    • Become familiar with the PCS’ organizing objectives
    • Support and advise members interested in learning
    • Utilise existing trade union education and further education (FE) structures
    • Consolidate and develop your role through training
    • Influence the employers training agenda
    • Understand where you can go for help and support.

2. PCS activity on learning

PCS activity around learning is growing and taking on a higher profile. This section summarises our achievements so far.

We now have over 1,450 ULRs - a high proportion of the 26,000 ULRs across all sectors in the UK. We have been successful in raising the profile of our work and have received significant financial support from the union learning funds (ULF) in England, Scotland and Wales. These funds have allowed us to employ a network of project workers to recruit and support ULRs.

The profile of this work is also being raised within the union. The activities of ULRs forms part of the national organising strategy and is recognised through motions to the national executive committee (NEC) and annual delegate conference (ADC).

There are active ULR networks in every region and many groups now support their own ULR networks. For example, leading ULRs in the justice sector now meet on a regular basis to develop policy on learning and to respond to initiatives from the sector skills council, Skills for Justice.

Some groups now have learning coordinators. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) groups have learning coordinators at group, regional and branch levels.

We have negotiated a model learning agreement with the Cabinet Office as a basis for agreements with departments and agencies.

We now have agreements with 20 including

    • HMRC,
    • The Prison Service,
    • DWP
    • Ministry of Justice

ULRs have a key role in maintaining these learning agreements and developing learning workplaces. There is more information on learning agreements on the PCS website and in Appendix 2.

We are increasingly seeking to influence government policy on education, skills and training, drawing on the interests, skills and expertise of our members who work in the sector as well as our ULRs.

As part of our work, supported by the various union learning funds, we collect data on the numbers of ULRs trained and learning activity among members. We ask all ULRs to collect data and evidence and inform their regional learning services officer (RLSO) of their activities and successes.

To make sure we are reaching people who will benefit most from learning opportunities we need your help to collect information on the learning activities in your workplace.  This is important, not only to show the funding bodies that we and our union learning reps are effective in engaging learners. If we don’t provide the information it will negatively impact on our ability to attract future funding.

This means that we will not be able to fund future events such as follow-on training for ULRs; regional ULR forums and ULR conferences.

Learning is now an important part of PCS’s organising and bargaining agenda. The data that is provided by ULRs can then be used by PCS to bargain and improve union influence. It also enables the wider union to see that learning activity can bring in new activists and engage new groups of members. As a ULR you are central to that

ULRs promote and deliver all kinds of learning which can be recorded on the ‘ULR activity form’. Each union has its own form and system for submitting this information. On this form you can record formal structured learning such as Skills for Life courses and qualifications, ICT and vocational qualifications. You can also report on ‘soft outcomes’ such as informal learning and learning events you have organised and how many people came.

Please give RLSO information about:

    • The number of members you have engaged in learning
    • The number of members who take an interest in union activity
    • The number of non-members who you persuade to join the union
    • Any courses or learning centres you set up
    • Any agreements you reach with management
    • Any other union activity you take on.

It is important that ULRs regularly submit information about their activities and successes to the RLSO. Further information on how to record your learning outcomes can be found at the recording learning activity pages.

3. The role of the ULR

This section summarises the main areas of activity you will be involved in as a PCS ULR, your responsibilities and the people you will be working with.

As ULR you have an important role to play in finding out what learning opportunities are available in your workplace and locally and helping members to develop new skills.

While the tasks you take on will reflect your interests - and perhaps other union roles you may have - the list below will give you an idea of the range of activities a ULR might be involved in. These fall under three main headings:

1. Promoting learning

    • Promote learning opportunities
    • Identify members’ learning needs
    • Talk to members about the union
    • Give support to members and help them overcome barriers to learning
    • Signpost members to other sources of advice and support
    • Help members deal with change in the workplace
    • Raising awareness of updating skills in order to deal with change in the workplace
    • Work with learning providers - eg. local further education colleges
    • Work with organisations such as Unionlearn.

2. Working with the union

    • Work closely with your branch learning coordinator (BLC)
    • Report to the branch committee
    • Work with other trade union reps and share best practices
    • Ensure that there is fair and equal access to learning for all
    • Encourage members to take a more pro-active role in the union
    • Build links with the wider union
    • Gather and record information
    • Submit information to your RLSO

3. Raising learning issues with the employer

    • Develop awareness of government policies and priorities
    • Find out about the skills needed within the local (or sector) labour market
    • Work with your employer to improve learning opportunities
    • Help create a bottom up demand for workplace learning
    • Negotiate on learning and skills as part of the bargaining process.

The role of the ULR can differ between branches and groups. If you hold another position in the branch (such as branch secretary or branch learning coordinator) you may also negotiate with your employer on learning issues. See the ‘working with your branch’ section below.

Who you will deal with as a local learning representative will depend on a number of factors but will include:

•     Union members
•     Other workers
•     Other ULRs
•     Other union reps
•     Trade union education centres (TUed)
•     Town committees and trades councils
•     RLSO
•     Managers / human resources staff
•     Unionlearn project/development workers.
•     Members in the commercial sector
•     Greenfield sites
•     Migrant workers

You will work closely with your RLSO who can provide support and help you get access to ULR training. Your RLSO can put you in touch with other ULRs and generally help you in your role.

As a ULR you are the public face of PCS in the workplace, so you have an important role to play not just in promoting learning but in promoting PCS in the workplace. As an elected ULR you are expected to support democratic decisions taken by union members and to adhere to union policies.

A ULR should ensure that they work towards recruiting more members into PCS, so hold a supply of application forms and signpost queries to the relevant PCS rep.

ULRs are sometimes approached by non-members asking for your help. This is an opportunity to discuss union membership with the non-member and to encourage them to join.

4. What is good learning rep practice?

This section sets out some basic ground rules for you to follow in your role as a ULR.

You will get the most out of the role of learning rep – and members will get the most benefit - if you follow these guidelines:

    • Remember that you are a union representative
    • Put the individual’s learning and training needs at the centre of the process
    • Help create a culture of continuous learning
    • Ensure equal support and access to all members, regardless of gender, sexual orientation, religion, race, disability, age, status of employment and skills for life (basic skills) needs
    • Understand the needs of different sorts of people and how to work with them
    • Develop up-to-date knowledge of local learning provision, including key contact names and numbers
    • Build up a good knowledge of other specialist advice, guidance & assessment provision locally
    • Encourage members to engage with their appraisals and request in-house training opportunities to help improve their chances of career progression and personal development.
    • Have an up-to date knowledge about all available in-house learning opportunities and signposting when appropriate
    • Record your successes and report them to the PCS RLSO
    • Finally… remember that ULRs give initial information and advice. You won’t necessarily know all the answers but need to know someone who does.

5. Support and training for ULRs

There is a considerable amount of help and support that ULRs can call upon.

This section looks at the support that is available within PCS, the TUC’s Unionlearn and other organisations as well as suggesting further courses you may find useful.

Support within PCS

Your main support will come from:

    • Your branch (see the section working with your branch)
    • Your PCS full-time officers who can help with negotiating on learning, making contacts at employer and group level and with recruiting and organising activity
    • Your RLSO, based in your regional office, who can help you get the initial training you need as a union learning rep and signpost you to further training and development
    • The Legal, Education, Equality and Policy Support (LEEPS) department at HQ which can give you information and support.

You should contact the RLSO for your region soon after you have completed your training. You can find out who this is via your PCS regional Office.

Training and development for ULRs

All ULRs should take the five-day PCS Union learning rep course (or the TUC course if the PCS course is not available).

After that there is further training available - it is usually best to do further training after you have settled into your role (usually after six months of activity).

You may also find it useful to do some of the other PCS courses for reps- if you haven’t already done so - such as:

    • Introduction to PCS: This course is for any new union rep. You will benefit from gaining new skills, an understanding of how PCS works and the role of union reps in the workplace.
    • Negotiating Skills /Representing Members: This will be useful in helping you develop the specialist skills required if you are likely to be involved in negotiating or developing a learning agreement. The course can also help in building confidence for your role as a union learning rep.
    • Organising to Win course: If you want to develop a greater understanding of the organising approach and use it to develop learning strategies this course will be useful.
    • Public Speaking: This will help you improve confidence and develop your communication skills, whether talking to members about learning or speaking at a learning event.

Unionlearn

Unionlearn provides introductory and advanced training for ULRs and has a network of staff who provide help and support for ULRs. Unionlearn produces a regular magazine, ‘The learning rep’ and organises national, regional and local events for ULRs and other reps involved in learning.

Unionlearn can help you on specific initiatives such as skills for life or setting up workplace learning centres. They can also help you make contact with high quality providers. The Unionlearn website contains a wealth of information and resources for ULRs.

You can find out the contact details of your local unionlearn team on the unionlearn website or by contacting your TUC regional office.

Other organisations

You can also get information and support from some of the organisations that campaign on learning and skills:

    • NIACE, the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education, seeks to represent the views of adult learners. It organises Adult Learners’ Week (every year in May) and produces publications on learning and skills. See the NIACE website for more information.

    • The Campaign for Learning is a national charity which aims to create a passion for learning that sustains people for life. The Campaign for Learning can provide you with a range of resources to encourage learning and make it more effective. It organises Family Learning Week and Learning at Work Day. PCS also have a ‘Learning at Work Day’ Toolkit on the PCS website.

6. Interviewing skills

Your role as a ULR will involve interviewing members. This section provides tips and guidance on carrying out one-to-one interviews as well as suggesting specific techniques you can use.

Initial learning interviews

The purpose of an initial learning interview is to:

    • Explore someone’s interest and enthusiasm for learning
    • Identify any particular learning needs or goals they may have
    • Maintain confidentiality.

Initial interviews should not be long - they are not meant to be an in-depth assessment of need, or diagnosis of skills and competences. Where such a diagnosis is necessary, the person should be signposted or referred on.

An initial learning interview may take place because of:

    • Issues that crop up through distributing a learning questionnaire
    • An organisation-wide approach to workplace development involving the union
    • Discussions about a separate work-related issue, which the learning representative is already dealing with – or another union rep is dealing with - that relates to learning
    • A specific request for help from a member
    • Informal discussions with individual members.

At times things may be more complex for the learning representative:

    • When learning needs are the result of changes at work
    • Where a member asks for help because they have difficulty at work or problems at home

Interviewing skills

When interviewing members, ULRs need to use good listening skills.
It is important that the individual’s needs are at the centre of the process and they are given the chance to state their needs, receive an empathetic hearing and have their views valued.

In this way, members can expect to:

    • Have the chance to express their initial needs or worries
    • Receive clear information about the services and opportunities available to them
    • Be given the chance to access this information and ask further questions
    • Receive support and a positive response to their concerns
    • Receive accurate information on referrals to other services.

When interviewing members, as a rough guide, you should spend 70 per cent of your time listening and 30 per cent of your time asking questions and talking.

Trust and confidentiality are vital. Your role will involve:

    • Discussing interests and needs which may be personal
    • Touching on areas of weakness (including actual or perceived loss of status in the eyes of their colleagues or management).

There may be times when the information given could get the member into difficulties with their employer. ULRs need to deal with confidential information sensitively as they already do when helping with other problems.

Respecting diversity

The relationship between the union learning rep and the member is central to the success of the process. You need to respect and value the member and put yourself in his / her shoes.

ULRs need to be able to communicate effectively and be aware of:

    • The negative impact of inequality, discrimination and stereotyping
    • How these factors can reinforce previous negative experiences
    • How these factors can prevent people from benefiting from the advice & guidance process.

Recording the interview

ULRs in HMRC and DWP are required to record the outcomes of each learning interview on an interview report form. This is actually good practice so we encourages all learning reps to use the standard learner interview form in Appendix 3. ULRs in the HMRC and DWP should send these forms to their regional learning organisers as well as their RLSO. ULRs in other organisations should send copies of these forms to their branch learning co-ordinator, if there is one in your branch. Please bear in mind the requirements for data protection

Using workplace questionnaires

Using interviews and the interview report form are a very good way of getting an in-depth picture of a member’s learning interests and needs. However if you want to build a more general picture of what people in your workplace or branch want to learn, you can use the PCS workplace learning questionnaire which can be downloaded from the website , and can be amended to suit your needs. You can use either an electronic or a paper version of the questionnaire for your workplace.

You can use completed questionnaires as an opportunity to conduct interviews and make yourself known to your colleagues as well as giving you a feel for what people want to learn.

About ten per cent of distributed questionnaires are usually returned. There are many reasons for this and the low rate of return may give the impression that learning is not an issue for staff. However returns to most surveys are low and so you should not be discouraged by this.

Remember, the more you circulate, the more responses you will get, and the more courses you will have to find and advice you will need to give.

The questionnaire can be used strategically to help you plan courses, negotiate with providers and raise issues and demands with management.

The A-F of interview skills

a) Active listening

Active listening is an important skill. It is much more than just hearing. It involves:

    • Understanding
    • Checking
    • Memorising
    • Selecting relevant points
    • Verbal and non-verbal responses
    • Summarising.

Active listening is important in helping to:

    • Create a good atmosphere and helping the person feel at ease
    • Receive and check information
    • Work out appropriate responses to enquiries.

Five key steps to active listening:

    • Concentrate on what the other person is saying – avoid making assumptions
    • Recognise any positive or negative feelings you may have about the person and try to set these aside
    • Find ways of checking your own understanding directly with the person by summarising what has been said
    • Try to keep your own speaking to the minimum – do not monopolise the conversation
    • Learn to close down discussions satisfactorily.

There can be many barriers to active listening, for example:

    • Preconceived ideas about the person you are interviewing
    • Thinking of other things
    • Being distracted by emotive words
    • Disagreeing with a particular point of view or idea
    • Listening for flaws in the other person’s argument
    • Wanting to express your own thoughts and views
    • Prejudice
    • Lack of time.

b) Questioning

The member’s first question may not be the most important one. There are a number of questioning techniques that will help you to explore initial enquiries further.

Open questions

An open question does not presuppose a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer. Examples of open questions are:

    • “What else can you tell me that might help?”
    • “What other alternatives have you thought of?”

Questions like these enable you to obtain more information and assist the person in exploring and clarifying their ideas further.

Paraphrasing

Paraphrasing involves putting the persons’ question or statement into your own words. This helps to clarify what has been said and encourage the person to give you more information. It shows you have been listening carefully and have understood what the person has been saying.

Here’s an example of paraphrasing:

“So you’d like to do a City & Guilds qualification, but you are worried about whether you would fit in?”

When paraphrasing, care needs to be taken when dealing with issues that may be sensitive to the member. Paraphrasing can help focus on some of these, but they may need to be raised more directly.

Reflecting back

Reflecting is rephrasing a statement or question and sending it – or reflecting it – back to the other person. It is especially helpful in clarifying points, obtaining more information and checking mutual understanding.

For example:

“So you want to improve your IT skills, but you’re worried about whether the course will be too advanced?”

Closed questions

A closed question will most likely be answered by the individual with a ‘yes’ or a ‘no’. For example:

“Do you know how to get to the college?”

A closed question both summarises and helps to bring the conversation back on course if it has wandered. It can help you to close down one topic and move on to the next. It also helps to check mutual understanding quickly.

Specific questions

There is only one correct answer to a specific question, for example:

“Do you want to get a qualification at the end of the course?”

The use of specific questions can be a particularly useful approach when you have a talkative individual. In this situation the only way of being sure you get the facts you need is to ask directly.

Leading questions

When a leading question is asked the required answer is indicated by the question itself. For example:

“As you have young children, will you be looking for childcare?”

Leading questions should be used with considerable care, as there is a real danger of imposing your own ideas and not learning enough about the person’s needs.

The questions above all demonstrate specific questioning techniques you need to be aware of and use tactically as necessary. However, much of your questioning will come naturally and may well involve a combination of approaches.

c) Boundary setting

It is important to set very clear boundaries at the start of any discussion. The limitations of the discussion (ie what will not be discussed) should be made clear. Everything discussed during the interview is confidential.

Key principles when carrying out initial learning interviews:

    • Don’t be tempted to go outside your own skills and knowledge
    • Always refer members on for further guidance or assessment if this is needed
    • Be patient with ideas that seem unstructured or unclear
    • Recognise that members will sometimes present ideas which hide their real needs — learn to clarify and explore further ideas
    • Recognise that some members have low self-confidence (perhaps as a result of a bad experience of education when they were younger) and will need additional support
    • Conduct all interviews within an atmosphere of trust and confidentiality.

d) Clarifying and summarising

Clarifying and summarising means checking mutual understanding and agreement.

Effective clarifying and summarising can:

    • Help identify individual needs
    • Ensure mutual understanding about what has been said
    • Help members who are confused or unclear
    • Pull back a discussion that appears to be wandering
    • Reassure the person that their ideas have been understood
    • Provide an opportunity for them to check and correct any misunderstandings
    • Help to end a discussion by highlighting key points and confirming next steps.

To be able to clarify and summarise effectively it is important to:

    • Adopt questioning techniques that encourage and enable the person to share and further explore their ideas
    • Listen carefully to what the person is saying
    • Empathise with the person’s needs and reflect back sensitive issues carefully and discreetly.

e) Challenging

Challenging calls into question ideas, points of view or attitudes held by the individual. It will be an important part of many discussions with people about their learning choices.

Challenging, undertaken at the right time and in the right way, can:

    • Help you test the person’s responses ( to information, suggestions, ideas, next steps, options and alternative strategies if things do not work out)
    • Present the person with an issue that needs to be raised but is perhaps being avoided
    • Help in the exploration of complicated, unclear issues.

Challenging can call into question aspects of the person’s competence, self-image or confidence. It can give rise to negative feelings of discomfort, concern or even crises. Equally, it can have a more positive consequence of helping to promote constructive change in a person’s behaviour. Challenges should be positive and constructive at all times and the person should be able to see them as immediately relevant to the discussion.

f) Identifying next steps / setting targets

Identifying possible next steps is an essential part of the interview process – even if it only involves the member giving some more thought to what they want. Whatever the next steps are, the person must be clear at the end of the interview what happens next, and what he / she needs to do.

In some cases, the next steps will be clear and straightforward; in others they may be more difficult. Either way, some sort of goal or target needs to be set, no matter how small.
All targets should be:

    • Clear and specific
    • Realistic and attainable
    • In keeping with the person’s interests and concerns
    • Set to a reasonable timeframe
    • Based on up-to-date information.

If a next step involves a ‘phone call or a visit, full details of the person to be contacted, their address and ‘phone number should be provided.

7. The climbing frame

This section looks at the climbing frame, an electronic tool developed by unionlearn and the learndirect advice service, which you can access to support members in their learning needs and interests.

The new unionlearn Climbing Frame is a free website for ULRs to help them in their role of supporting learners in the workplace.

The Climbing Frame recognises that union learners have aspirations, experiences and skills which relate to all aspects of their lives: their current jobs, possible career routes and personal situations.  This website has been designed to help ULRs effectively carry out their role in supporting union learners and help bring learning into the workplace.

The Climbing Frame can help ULRs in a number of ways:

    • As a one-stop-shop of learning and skills resources and materials
    • Helps raise the ULRs ' profile
    • Helps stimulate and drive up the demand for learning
    • Can help recruit new members and ULRs
    • Helps ULRs map out learning progression routes for union learners
    • Can collate data on union learners
    • Can produce individual action plans for union learners
    • As a useful tool for monitoring and tracking learner progression
    • Provides an accurate, up-to-date and accessible database of learner records
    • Helps raise PCS's profile at the workplace
    • Adds value to being a member of PCS
    • Can be an aid to building workplace union organisation and growth
    • Can include information about bespoke union education courses and help promote these programmes
    • Provides PCS with information about union learners
    • Can identify workers' collective learning and skills needs so that unions can use this information for collective bargaining with employers

If you haven’t already registered, it only takes a couple of minutes. Go to the Climbing frame site and click on ‘sign up now’; complete the registration form and click ‘Register’.  Unionlearn will then contact the PCS climbing frame administrator who will confirm your ULR status. Once you have been approved you will receive an email from unionlearn and you will then be able to access the website.

8. Supporting learners: information and advice

Unionlearn

The TUC set up unionlearn in 2006, bringing together trade union education; information, advice and guidance (IAG) for learning; skills for life; and training for ULRs. Unionlearn’s role is to help unions develop and diversify their provision.

Information and advice

For learners wanting information and advice on learning or careers the first step might be unionlearn’s learning and careers advice service which is operated by learndirect. This provides a free, impartial and confidential service to help union reps and members to develop new skills, improve their job prospects or change jobs.

The learndirect advice service has information on over half a million courses. There is a dedicated telephone number - 08000 92 91 90 - for union reps and members and the service (available in a number of languages) can also be accessed from the Unionlearn website.

Advisers are impartial and can refer learners to a more detailed education or career guidance session.

All-age careers service

An all-age careers service for England has been announced by the government and learners will be able to begin accessing the new arrangements from September 2011. The service will be founded on the core principles of independence and professionalism and will be fully operational by April 2012

Learning centres

Unionlearn has set up a network of trade union learning centres across England in colleges, workplaces and union offices. These centres offer the full range of learndirect courses.

PCS is part of this ‘hub’ – we have our own learning centre in our offices in Victoria, central London. Open Monday to Friday, the centre is available for members and their colleagues to use on a drop-in basis.

Courses are fully supported by an online tutor and there is also backup from PCS learning support staff.

PCS members have access to the full range of unionlearn learning centres. Locations and further details can be found on the Unionlearn website.

Several PCS ULRs have set up learning centres in their workplaces; some are supported by unionlearn/learndirect and some are used to access a range of online and other learning.

Maths4us

Maths4us is a joint initiative between Unionlearn, NIACE and the National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics (NCETM) to encourage adults to think about numeracy and widen participation in numeracy learning. The website aims to help adults and give confidence to ULRs to support learners with numeracy problems. For more information go to the Maths4us website.

Myguide

Myguide is a website designed to help people take their first steps with computers and the internet. All a learner has to do is register to start using the website.

Registered users get access to a wide range of online courses. Once registered, the courses are designed to help the individual learn about computers and the internet.

The courses take learners on a journey from absolute beginner to confident IT user. Individuals can dip in and out according to what subjects they are interested in and how much experience they have. For more information on the types of courses available visit the Myguide site.

Livemocha

Livemocha is the world’s largest language learning community offering free and paid online language courses. It allows people to help each other learn a new language by practicing with native speakers.

Open University courses

Discounts for trade union members

The Open University works closely with trade unions and unionlearn. It offers a 10% discounts to union members doing certain courses – this applies to members studying a level 1 course worth 30 or 60 credit points with the Open University for the first time. And to members studying the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) courses which are flexible online courses aimed at developing specific career skills. In addition members may qualify for additional financial support depending on their annual household income.

Openings courses

These introductory-level courses have been specially designed to help you find out what it’s like to study with the OU, get a taste of a subject area, develop your learning skills, and build your confidence. They are perfect for new learners with little or no knowledge or experience of studying and use the same top-quality teaching materials and study support the OU is famous for. They’re also fascinating and fun to do.

Openlearn

The Openlearn website gives free access to Open University course materials. This is the learning-space where you'll find hundreds of free study units, each with a discussion forum. Study independently at your own pace or join a group and use the free learning tools to work with others.

Higher learning at work

Unionlearn and its partners, the Open University, Foundation Degree Forward, the Lifelong Learning Networks, AimHigher and the Sector Skills Councils have created a range of resources to help you to find out more about the different routes and pathways you can take through higher learning. The site gives access to information about funding available to make your learning more affordable and if you are a union member there may be special discounts and bursaries arranged through your union or unionlearn.

Move-on

Move-on offers a direct approach to promotion, engagement and delivery that highlights opportunity for all rather than need for some. It describes the benefits that learning and qualifications can bring, and encourages people to believe that they can progress.

There are free resources and materials for information, promotion and engagement.

9. Supporting members at risk of redeployment or redundancy

Background and context

PCS policy is ultimately opposed to job cuts, redundancy and outsourcing of work to the private and voluntary sectors. The campaigning and bargaining work of our reps should reflect this. ULRs will need to work closely with other reps to make sure this happens. They should also remember that every new learner in the workplace makes a contribution to the economy and the economic recovery during the recession.

It was felt that guidance and further definition of the role of ULRs was necessary in the context of the PCS’s national campaign against cuts in jobs and services.

The NEC on 11-12 January 2011 (NEC.07/14/11) agreed the following guidance – to be followed by ULRs and BLCs in dealing with redeployment and redundancy situations. 

The guidance was drawn up recognising that, alongside the top priority of the campaign, PCS has a role to play in providing advice and support for members at risk from redundancy. This includes helping members understand their rights in a redundancy situation and it also includes helping members understand what help they could expect from the employer in terms of training and development. 

PCS therefore has a role in putting demands to the employer to provide skills support. This is in line with the 2008 Protocol for Supporting Surplus Staff which states that (relevant wording underlined):

“Management should arrange for all affected staff to receive support. This will vary with Departments’ circumstances, but could include:

    • Information about the range of options available including those in other government departments
    • Support to staff to seek other local jobs if that is what they want, encouraging and assisting them to prepare for any career move
    • Help in CV writing and preparing for interviews, as appropriate;
    • Refresher skills training where necessary.”

PCS representatives may also wish to put demands on the employer to provide access to transferable training and qualifications (including paid time off and payment of fees).

Union reps and negotiators should be asking employers about training opportunities to help facilitate moves to different departments. These could include:

    • Training on job applications
    • Interviews and new skills e.g. communication and ICT, Job shadowing
    • Visits to other workplaces etc.

Within the NEC guidelines below ULRs may help identify and call on resources such as those provided by unionlearn. ULRs may also signpost members to relevant learning opportunities provided by the employer, by unionlearn or by local colleges or other providers.

Guidance

The following guidelines set out the role for ULRs (and BLCs) in all groups in supporting members facing redundancy and redeployment:

    • ULRs must ensure that their work complements local and national PCS campaigns.

    • ULRs to work with their BEC to ensure that surplus staff are given paid time off to undertake training and attend information sessions (which includes speaking to ULRs) to assist them with redeployment, and that a clear message is given that it is not acceptable for management within individual departments to continually quote ‘business needs’ as a reason to block this time off.

    • ULRs to work with their BEC to ensure surplus staff are encouraged and supported to actively seek alternative employment within their department or the wider civil service.

    • ULRs will not undertake any work that promotes redundancy.

    • ULRs will ensure that external providers do not use language that promotes or encourages redundancy

    • ULRs to work with their BEC to ensure that if members need CV, application form and interview skills training then the department will actively encourage this and provide the necessary time off to make this possible.

    • ULRs to work with their BEC to ensure that members receive other forms of support such, as job shadowing, visiting alternative workplaces etc and that these are supported by management and the necessary time off is provided.

    • ULRs should play a full role in the national campaign to protect jobs and services and should undertake the training provided on the PCS campaign.

10. Apprenticeships

Apprenticeships provide the opportunity to gain job-related skills and qualifications through on-the-job and off-the-job training. An apprentice learns by working alongside more experienced employees and by being shown how to do specific work tasks, with support from a workplace mentor; ULR or other union rep.

In light of governments pledges to increase the number of apprenticeships in the public sector at the same time as cutting jobs, the council of Civil Service Unions (CCSU) negotiated a framework agreement which regulated the roll-out of apprenticeships in the civil service.

The agreement seeks to ensure that apprenticeships will receive civil service terms and conditions including pay and high quality training and support. It also provides safeguards against apprenticeships being recruited to posts where there are surplus staff within reasonable travelling distance.

Key points in the agreement

The apprenticeships framework agreement covers the following main areas:

    • The relationship to the efficiency and relocation protocol
    • Recruitment of apprentices
    • Terms and conditions of apprentices
    • Quality of training, qualifications and support
    • Consultation and involvement of the trade unions

ULRs should:

    • Publicise agreed apprenticeship opportunities to members
    • Make contact with apprentices and to encourage them to join the union
    • Provide support to apprentices to help them get the best possible training and support from the provider and the employer.
    • Provide support for apprentices including making representations on their behalf to the employer to make sure they receive proper training and support. ULRs could help make sure that apprentices receive:

In addition ULRs can help apprenticeships access the learning opportunities that are in place for all members in workplace.

Further information

Branches and ULRs can get more information on unions and apprentices from the TUC apprenticeships project and see the framework agreement.  

11. Skills for life

This section explains what is meant by ‘skills for life’ and the differing skills for life needs that members may have and what you, as a ULR, can do to help.

In 2004 Lord Leitch was commissioned by the government to undertake an independent review of the UK’s long-term skills needs and wrote a full report.

The aim was to “examine the UK’s optimum skills mix to maximise economic growth, productivity by 2020”. Lord Leitch’s report reinforces the importance of raising standards of literacy and numeracy skills to at least NVQ Level 2 (equivalent to 5 GCSEs grade A-C). The Cabinet Office has estimated that 18% of central government employees do not currently have a Level 2 qualification.

Recommendations arising from this review include the requirement for government departments to have the plans in place on how they are going to address skills shortfalls by 2010/11.

Recommendations to be reached by 2020:

    • 95% of adults to have functional literacy and numeracy skills.
    • More than 90% of adults to be qualified to at least NVQ Level 2
    • Shift the balance to intermediate skills from Level 2 to Level 3 (2 A Levels)
    • More than 40% of the adult population qualified to Level 4 or above (degree of equivalent)

Skills Strategies/ Skills Pledge

Government departments have been tasked with producing skills strategies and most have a skills pledge that has been disseminated to staff. The first milestone for government departments is that they should have plans in place to progress the issue of 95% of employees achieving functional literacy and numeracy skills by 2010/11. All government departments should have adopted a skills plan based on the Leitch Review.

Roughly 5.2 million people have some problem with skills for life or basic skills. It’s not always clear, however, what is meant by ‘basic skills’.

Here are some examples to help you visualise the size and nature of the problem:

    • One in five adults can’t find the page reference for plumbers from the alphabetical index to the Yellow Pages
    • One in three adults can’t work out the area of a room that is 21 x 14 feet, even if they use a calculator
    • One in four adults can’t work out how much change they get from £2 when they buy a loaf of bread for 68p and two tins of baked beans at 45p each.

This causes serious disadvantages for workers both at work and in their lives in general. The fact that the problem is so widespread has encouraged unions to support their members and work with employers on programmes that will improve their skills.

ULRs are doing great things for themselves and fellow workers in Skills for Life. The key to success is working in practical partnerships with providers and pooling expertise amongst other ULRs to get the best deal for members.

ULRs need to raise awareness and explain the advantages of an improved skills base within the workforce. Compared to those with adequate skills, adults with poor literacy and numeracy skills are:

    • Up to five times more likely to be unemployed or out of the labour market
    • More likely to live in households where both partners are not in full time employment
    • More likely to have children who struggle with basic skills
    • Less likely to own their own home
    • Less likely to be in good health
    • Less likely to be involved in public life, a community organisation or to vote.

Skills for life: an equality issue

There is a feeling, among employers and often civil, public and commercial sector workers themselves that skills for life needs are not something we have to worry about. After all, everyone has their competences tested before they come to work here, don’t they?

It’s probably generally true that, as a sector, those workplaces where PCS organises suffer less from skills deficits than other groups of workers. But that doesn’t mean we can be complacent.

Many PCS members already have qualifications, but they may have got them many years ago and may not have used particular literacy and numeracy skills for years. How many people feel they can’t spell? And how many feel they can’t spell to the point where they won’t apply for a better paid job in case someone discovers they can’t spell?

What about adding and subtracting? And working out percentages? Not everyone needs to be able to do these things in their jobs.

However, if you want to move forward in your career, at some point you’re going to be dealing with money. Whether it’s a budget of £3 billion, or the tea money from the petty cash, you’ll need to know the basics of working with numbers. If you don’t have them, you won’t apply for jobs involving money.

How about dyslexia? This is a learning need that anyone can suffer from. It causes misery and frustration to many people who are perfectly capable of doing complex jobs and executing tasks with creativity and flair.

Their employers may not understand – those afflicted may only have the vaguest notion themselves about their condition. But dyslexia can be managed: there are experts who can help people make sense of the jumble of letters or figures they see in front of them. But first we have to acknowledge it, and then educate people about what it really means for people who are affected.

The challenge for us now - and for all our learning reps - is to make sure employers recognise the issue and work with us to find a sensitive and effective way of raising skills levels.

The ULR’s role in skills for life

ULRs have a key role in skills for life. Increasingly employers are, rightly, taking responsibility for improving the literacy and numeracy skills of their employees. The Cabinet Office’s strategy on skills for life is to push employers to do this, but also to work closely with PCS and our ULRs.

This is recognised in the recent guidance for employers from The Cabinet Office - the ‘Good Practice Guide’ and ‘Skills for Life Delivery Template’. These documents can be found in the Skills for Life Toolkit
As a ULR you are in a good position to encourage people to do screenings and go on to skills for life courses - your colleagues will trust you and you can give them friendly and confidential support. Members may be nervous about going through the process and they may be concerned that management will use their learning needs against them.

The union learning rep’s role in skills for life includes:

    • Raising the profile of skills for life
    • Encouraging members to do skills checks (or providing them if trained to do so)
    • Promoting screening opportunities for members
    • Helping to identify the most appropriate provider to conduct skills checks, screenings and diagnostics
    • Referring learners to providers for diagnostic assessment and learning
    • Making sure employers respect the confidentiality of the learner and their learning needs
    • Encouraging learners to take up national qualifications
    • Ensuring that learners get time off for screenings, tests and courses
    • Ensuring that the employer monitors and evaluates progress on its skills for life strategy.

Screening

Screening is used to find out whether or not a learner might have a literacy, language or numeracy need. If a need is identified, initial assessment can then provide a means of establishing the level(s) of the need. It should result in a reliable indication of a learner's general ability in basic skills.

Initial assessment

Where screening highlights a need to follow up with initial assessment, providers should use an appropriate system aligned to the National Standards for Adult Literacy and Numeracy (2000). This should provide a reliable assessment of a learner's level in relation to the national standards, so learning can be provided at a suitable level.

Diagnostics

Diagnostic assessment:

    • Evaluates a learner's skills, strengths and weaknesses
    • Indicates the level of each individual skill
    • Identifies the specific areas where improvement is needed.

This must always be conducted by a qualified Skills for Life tutor.

Is it dyslexia or dyscalculia?

Dyslexia is most commonly described as difficulty with processing written language. It affects at least 10 per cent of the population, 4% severely. Often, dyslexic adults weren’t spotted at school and so they may not know they are dyslexic.

Dyslexic people will probably have some - or several - of the following difficulties:

    • Discriminating or ‘holding sounds’
    • Recognising letters or familiar words
    • Poor short term memory
    • Motor skills such as holding a pen when writing
    • Poor sense of time
    • Problems with sequencing and organisation.

People who have not had their dyslexia identified may not have very much confidence in the education system - they have usually been labelled negatively at school. This can lead to feelings of low self-esteem or a lack of confidence in their ability to learn despite the fact that dyslexic people are often artistic and talented at creative thinking and problem solving.

Some of the indicators of dyslexia include:

    • A history of difficulties in learning to read and write
    • Misreading, missing out words or lines
    • difficulty with spelling
    • Problems with remembering instructions
    • Problems with putting things in sequence
    • The ability to give good oral explanations - yet inability to express the same on paper.

Once a person is identified as possibly having dyslexia it is important that they are encouraged to take part in a full diagnostic assessment. An assessment will be on a one-to-one basis and can take up to three hours to complete. The methods for diagnosing dyslexia can vary but will include a series of tasks. Only qualified people should carry out an assessment - e.g. a specialist in adult dyslexia at a local dyslexia organisation, or a specialist tutor within a college.

Dyscalculia belongs to the same group of difficulties as dyslexia. It causes difficulties in understanding calculations and dealing with numbers. Indications of dyscalculia include:

    • Getting ‘lost’ part way through a calculation
    • Difficulty with using a calculator
    • Reversing numbers
    • Confusing signs - e.g. adding instead of multiplying

What can you do to help?

People who have dyslexia / dyscalculia may fear management or colleagues’ reactions. You can offer support and reassurance. You can also suggest that they arrange an assessment - or you can arrange one for them. The addresses of organisations that can help are contained in the ‘useful contacts’ list at the end of this handbook.
Colleges should be able to provide assistance for learners with additional needs, often called additional learning support (ALS).

English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL)

Trade unions need to make sure that learning programmes meet the needs of people for whom English is a second language. People who have difficulty in communicating and understanding English will be held back at work and may not be able, or confident enough, to participate in learning without help. Providers should have specialist ESOL tutors who can assist.

In workplaces or areas where there is a high concentration of speakers of other languages, ULRs might look into organising ESOL courses. This has been done successfully when the employer has been involved and supportive, for example by contributing towards costs, providing a venue or giving staff time off to learn. However, where this has not been possible, PCS has organised ESOL courses centrally in the Victoria Learning Centre in London. These have benefited workers in some of the most vulnerable sectors of employment such as cleaning and security and has given them greater confidence in both their work and personal lives.

Please note

The government has announced the creation of a new industry sector-led pledge to replace the current Skills Pledge. This announcement was included in the government’s new strategy for skills, published by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS). At the time of publication it is not clear what the content of the pledge will be. However ULRs and union negotiators should seek to retain the original level of commitment to the pledge in their future negotiations.

12. Working with your branch

As a ULR you have an important role to play in encouraging members to take up learning and giving them information and advice on what learning is available.

To do this job properly you need to understand how your PCS branch works and make sure you work closely with it. This section outlines how the role of ULR fits into wider branch activity.

ULRs can also act as a focus on learning for branch reps, helping to identify training needs and signpost reps to trade union education courses – See the PCS reps training pathway flowchart at appendix 4.

The PCS branch

All PCS members belong to a branch made up of members who either work in the same locality or for the same employer, so members of your branch might not be just from your workplace.

Every PCS branch has a branch executive committee (BEC) elected annually by members of the branch.

The learning rep and the branch committee

Branches have the ability to create as many officers as they deem necessary; however there is a requirement to have a basic number of officers. We have listed these posts with a brief description of their main responsibility.

Branch secretary

The branch secretary performs the main administrative functions of the branch and is the main contact point for members, PCS group/headquarters, and the employer.

The branch secretary's main responsibilities include:

    • Dealing with correspondence from local management and PCS
    • Meeting with and responding to local management proposals
    • Consulting members about management proposals
    • Dealing with personal casework
    • Playing a major role in negotiations with management
    • Liaising with branch chair on agenda items
    • Preparing reports and up-dates for BEC, AGM and general members' meetings

Branch chair

The branch chair is responsible for:

    • The overall running of the branch (including finances)
    • Drawing up agendas for meetings (in conjunction with branch secretary)
    • Chairing BEC and general members' meetings
    • Taking the lead role in negotiations with management
    • Making sure branch rules/constitution are followed
    • Updating rules in line with decisions of the national president using a casting vote.

Branch treasurer

The branch treasurer is responsible for:

    • Day to day running of branch finances
    • Preparing updated accounts for BEC
    • Checking accuracy of payment of invoices and expenses claims
    • Producing audited accounts for the AGM
    • Ensuring end of year accounts are submitted to HQ.

Branch organiser

The branch organiser is responsible for:

    • Ensuring that there is a rep in every workplace
    • Encouraging underrepresented groups to become involved - women, black members, members with disabilities, young members, gay and lesbian members  
    • Ensures that workplace reps/distributors give out all members circulars 
    • Ensures that workplace meetings are taking place
    • Coordinates branch campaigns and recruitment
    • maintaining and updating a membership database for the branch.

Health and safety rep

The functions of trade union safety reps are laid down by the 1977 Safety Representatives and Safety Committees Regulations (SRSC Regs). The law also gives health and safety reps paid time off to fulfil their duties.

A properly appointed health and safety rep's functions among other things are:

    • Investigating potential hazards and dangerous occurrences
    • Investigating the causes of accidents
    • Inspecting the workplace
    • Inspecting documents relevant to safety in the workplace
    • Representing members' interests in meetings with enforcement inspectors
    • Being consulted by the employer about issues relating to health and safety in the workplace
    • Attending meetings of safety committees.

Equalities officer

Branch equalities officer’s duties include:

    • Keeping up to date with their awareness of equality legislation
    • Liaising with equality networks and the equality department
    • Working with the branch to ensure there is no discriminatory impact to new and existing policies/projects
    • Organising events to keep people informed of equality issues
    • Being available to speak to members on a confidential basis about equality issues
    • Producing branch equality bulletins.

Branch learning coordinator (BLC)

Branches are encouraged to elect a BLC. who is responsible for managing ULR activity across the branch. They are responsible for the induction and support of the newer ULRs and should attend the BEC as the link between the branch and the ULR network.

Their role is to:

    • Coordinate the work of local ULRs in the branch
    • Report to the branch executive committee on learning activity
    • Represent members to management on learning issues.

If your branch has a BLC you will work closely with them and they will act as a ‘channel’ between you and the BEC. You may wish to work with the BLC to set up a branch learning sub-committee.  All learning activity should be coordinated by the BLC.

If your branch does not have a branch learning co-ordinator it is important that you maintain your own links with the BEC or you might consider becoming a BLC yourself.

Other branch activity

As a union rep you have the chance to get involved in other union activity as well as helping members with their learning needs.

All union reps have a responsibility to help build the union – by persuading people to join as well as encouraging members to take on a more active role. You might want to get actively involved in campaigns that we are running.

You should also familiarise yourself with the range of trade union education courses that are run in your region so you can advise activists and members what is available.

13. Organising and communication

This section looks at what being an organising union means in the context of learning and what it means for the way you, as ULR, communicate with members and potential members.

What is an organising union?

The way we talk to members, potential members and activists has an impact on their understanding of why PCS exists and how we work. It is important that we are clear about the message that we send out.

PCS is an organising union. An organising union in a learning context means:

    • The members are the union
    • An organising union is member led - everyone plays their part in ensuring the union is active in every workplace
    • Members pay a subscription to become actively involved - they understand the importance of learning and working together
    • Members are trained and encouraged to work collectively to campaign for improved opportunities for lifelong learning and other issues
    • The union is proactive - it gives members the power to take up, challenge and resolve issues themselves; non-members are recruited around these issues and this philosophy
    • ULRs and union officials provide support and advice to help members win on learning in the workplace
    • The union cannot be separated from the workplace, as members and management understand that the workers are the union; the union is directly associated with learning and increasing skills of members.

Talking to colleagues about the union

Every PCS rep has a role to play in building the union locally. An essential part of this is communicating effectively with members and non-members alike. As a ULR you will have opportunities to talk to your colleagues about their learning needs.

You may talk to members who otherwise may not have very much contact with the union. This is a great opportunity to talk to them about their concerns at work, about the union and to get them to do something or (if they are not a member) to join the union.

Before talking to members or potential members, plan your approach taking into consideration the following:

    • How much time do you have?
    • What impression do you want to give potential members of PCS?
    • If you want them to join the union, how will they keep in touch with you or other activists?
    • What you want to achieve with them and what it is practical to achieve. Do you want them to join the union, do something like go to a meeting, distribute a leaflet, talk to their colleagues about something?
    • Do you know who they are and where they’re going to be working?
    • What about follow up? Who will do it and when?

Here are some helpful hints about communicating one-to-one with members and potential members:

Spend 70% listening and 30% talking and questioning.

When asking questions it’s best to use open questions (those that cannot be answered with ‘yes’ or ‘no’). Open questions are useful when you need to:

    • Gather information
    • Build the conversation
    • Explore issues.

Write down some open questions you can ask before you meet with people.

Closed questions (those that can only be answered with ‘yes’ or ‘no’) should only be used when you need to:

    • Confirm information you have been given
    • Gain commitment to join the union or participate in an activity
    • Bring the conversation to a close.

For more information about the use of open and closed questions see the section on interviewing skills

Finally, don’t forget to keep in touch with your BEC – tell them what you are doing - even if they don’t ask - and make sure you know what they are doing.

14. Learning and organising: organising to learn

This section is based on a unionlearn factsheet - organising to learn  that provides tips on how you can use learning to organise - and organising to learn.

Value learning for its own sake

Learning and organising are both important in their own right. If members feel that learning is simply being used as a recruitment tool, you will probably be less successful. Every workplace is different but when planning your learning activities, remember to value learning for its own sake.

Plan for growth

When planning your workplace learning activities, remember to think about how you can maximise their potential to strengthen workplace organisation or attract new members. So:

    • Identify sources of local or regional help such as training. Contact your branch or group organiser or regional TUC for information, help and advice
    • As you think about learning needs, also think about the key challenges to union organisation in your workplace. How can your learning project or activity help you meet those challenges?
    • Make sure you develop a learning plan or strategy which reflects what members want, not what management wants
    • On multi-union sites, try to have a learning strategy agreed with other unions.
    • Make your learning initiatives sustainable and involve members - this mean new members are more likely to stay in the union.

Map your membership

When developing your workplace learning activities you will need to find out the specific learning needs and issues of your members or potential members. Consider doing a learning needs survey. Think about the particular needs of new groups or members such as young, graduate, ethnic minority, casual or women workers.

Mapping these needs and issues - which will vary within and between workplaces - will give you a better understanding of the issues that really matter to your members. This process will raise the profile of the union.

Use your mapping exercise to identify areas of strength and weakness for union organisation in your workplace. For example: Where are your members/non-members?

Are men more likely to join the union than women (or vice versa)? Are some departments or sections better organised than others, and if so why? Remember to share this information with branch organisers, activists and your BEC.

Mainstream learning

ULRs can help ensure workplace learning is both union-led and sustainable - and they can also make a massive difference to union organisation in a workplace. Maximise your impact by thinking about how best you can work alongside existing reps, get involved in and support existing workplace or branch structures and contribute to the wider work of the union.

Negotiate a learning agreement

Negotiating a learning agreement helps embed learning in the workplace and secures the employer’s commitment to supporting lifelong learning and skills. Working together, with other reps, ULRs can ensure that workplace learning projects and initiatives support the wider work of the union in the workplace/ organisation.
Your BEC can help you negotiate a learning agreement and you can also get support from your regional office.

Publicise your successes

Union lead initiatives around learning and skills are a great showcase for the positive work that unions do. Make sure that members and non-members alike are aware of your successes, and the role the union has played in delivering your learning activity. So publicise what you do:

    • Give union learning a high profile – eg through posters, notice boards and newsletters
    • Use successful learners to recruit other new members and learners
    • Make sure you use the PCS logo on all learning materials.

Think about how you can include non-members in learning. There is evidence that non-members often join the union as a direct result of our positive work on learning - and enthusiastic learners can be great advocates for the union.

Encourage members to play an active role

Some 30 per cent of ULRs are brand new activists. Think about how you can use your workplace learning activities to encourage more members to play an active role in the union. Publicise and use the  ULR statutory rights to paid time off for training and work (see appendix 1). Encourage members to take on the ULR role - or simply ask people to help with the mapping exercise or distributing publicity or information about your activities in their work area.

The PCS professionals’ and managers’ association (PMA)

PCS has developed a PMA. It is free to join and is a network aimed at PCS members who are senior managers (SEO or equivalent and above), and those who have a professional qualification or who hold a post where a professional qualification is expected.

The PMA promotes the interests of senior and specialist grades among PCS members.  Regular newsbriefs and journals are produced which highlight items of interest for PMA members. There are also pages on the PCS website keeping members up to date with relevant information. The PMA provides information on issues specific to senior grades and professionals, promotes their interests and advises the NEC accordingly. It also works with and produces guidance for other PCS structures: groups, branches and equality forums.

The PMA and union learning

PCS was able to draw on support from the Union Learning Fund to build the PMA network.  The project recruited and provided support to ULRs who promote the learning and development that is available to their colleagues in senior or professional grades. The project also encouraged PMA ULRs to support the learning and development needs of all their colleagues.

The PMA addresses the professional skills for government agenda, examines links between pay and qualifications and discusses management training and career development issues.

Getting involved?

People can register with the PMA where there is more information as well as contact details for officers.

PCS wants all members to get involved in their union. Managers and professional grades have an important part to play in building a stronger union. ULRs should encourage the managers and professionals in their workplace to join the PMA and, where appropriate, to take on the role of ULR.

15. Influencing the employer’s training agenda

This section looks at the important role that ULRs play in helping to embed a culture of lifelong learning in the workplace.

Some employers are supportive of learning. However, if local management is slow to support learning activity, it is often helps to be able to tell them that senior management is backing the union.

If there is a learning agreement between the employer and PCS you can use this to gain support. You can also refer to the government‘s commitment to the skills agenda and the need for its own departments to reflect this commitment.

Individual line managers may be supportive - you can use support from one line manager when dealing with those who are slower to come on board. Sometimes managers don’t want to be the first to do things in case they’re brought to task for it later. If you can point out to them that other people in their position are taking the initiative on learning they may be reassured.

Managers may sometimes be responsible for training and development or this may be a human resources function. It is important to identify who is responsible for these issues within the management structure.

Learning as an industrial process

Making learning part of the ‘industrial process’ means making it a common bargaining area in the workplace as, for example, health and safety has become. In particular, the TUC want specific policy proposals to ensure that unions and workers have an equal voice in workplace skills bargaining:

    • Employers and unions should be incentivised to negotiate on training by including it as a collective bargaining issue in the statutory union recognition procedure
    • The government should examine options to enable trade unions to negotiate more collective arrangements involving the activities of ULRs - such as learning agreements and workplace learning committees.

ULRs are crucial to the process of persuading more employers to work with unions to develop a genuine culture of lifelong learning in unionised workplaces. Once this becomes the norm, rather than the exception, PCS and other unions will be in a stronger position to fulfil the mandate of improving the working lives of our members and helping them to realise their potential.

Negotiating on learning

If you have another position on the branch, you may already have responsibility for negotiating on learning issues. If not, you will need to liaise with another member of the branch committee to get learning issues raised. Some issues will be raised by individuals (eg being refused access to a particular training course); other issues will be collective – eg negotiating to introduce skills for life screening. ULRs and other union reps should provide information to the negotiating team regarding any training issues that are raised.

If there is a learning agreement, you should make full use of it. If it is proving unsatisfactory, raise this with the branch and group.

In February 2006 the union’s personnel policy forum identified some key objectives for PCS in the area of learning and skills. These can serve as a guide for negotiations. Key points include:

    • Providing fair and equal access to learning for all and targeted intervention for those who need it most
    • Learning opportunities should be of the highest quality and be accredited/lead to qualifications
    • Learning opportunities should provide transferable skills that assist with personal career development
    • Employers should help staff achieve a core set of skills which will help with their current job but which will also equip them for work elsewhere - eg literacy, numeracy, communication and ICT skills
    • Support for learning that goes wider than the needs of the job – including time, money and on-site facilities
    • A proper learning needs analysis for staff that takes account not only of the organisation’s needs, but the staff member’s needs as well
    • Identification of gaps in learning provision
    • Career development structures that are fair, open and transparent
    • Involvement, through the union learning rep structure, in learning and skill policies.

Professional skills for government and the government’s skills pledge

Learning and development in the civil service

From April 2011, a new organisation – 'Civil Service Learning' – will come into operation. It will manage the supply of generic learning and development and learning services to government departments, using a common curriculum based on the Professional Skills for Government (PSG) competency framework. An implementation team is now working closely with departments, The Cabinet Office and the National School of Government to work through the details of the transition to the new arrangements, which are part of the Next Generation HR (NGHR) programme to simplify and reduce duplication in Civil Service HR. 

PCS has concerns about these changes as they involve transfer of  much responsibility for training from departments to Civil Service Learning, a reduction of learning and development staff in departments, and the privatisation of much learning provision. PCS is concerned that this will involve a reduction in the volume and breadth of training and development available to members.

What is the PSG competency framework?

The PSG competency framework is used for jobs and careers in the civil service. It sets out the skills that staff in the civil service need to do their job well, at all levels and no matter where they work.

In January 2010, permanent secretaries decided that PSG needed to be renewed to make clearer links between the competencies individuals need to do their jobs and its aim. In addition, NGHR also identified that a single competency framework was needed to maximise the benefits of common HR services, such as recruitment and learning and development.

The renewed PSG framework 2011 will apply to all civil servants in all departments at all grades from Administrative Assistant to Director General. The framework is being introduced in a phased roll-out, from 2011–12 to 2013–14 This model was used by Civil Service Learning to develop professional operational delivery (POD).

The framework emphasises that people at all levels in the civil service should think about the competencies they need for their current role and their development in a structured way, using the common language that the framework provides. The core competencies aim to cover all the different types of roles within the civil service.

The Cabinet Office’s skills pledge

All permanent secretaries signed a ‘skills pledge’ in 2007. This commits their department/agency to improve the literacy and numeracy skills of their staff and to help all staff reach a level 2 qualification (roughly equivalent to 5 GCSEs or an NVQ/SNVQ level 2).

Every department and agency has produced a ‘Leitch action plan’. By 2010/11 every government department should have signed up to a Skills Pledge and have an action plan in place on how they are going to address any skills shortfalls in their departments

16. Working with providers

This section aims to help you get the most from your local education providers by taking you through the process of setting up learning programmes with them.

For many of your members, the local further education (FE) college will be the most convenient and appropriate place to learn, or the Workers’ Educational Association (WEA) offers workplace or community based opportunities. Often you will refer members to the FE college.

However it may be that groups of members identify collective learning needs that the college might be able to meet - for example by providing discounts or even running courses especially for members in your workplace.

Be clear about your aims

The key to success is to make sure that you and your provider have identified clearly what you want to achieve. First of all you may need to identify your members’ particular learning and skill needs. If you decide a course or other learning programme is needed, make sure it’s tailored for your members. Sometimes existing FE programmes need to be modified or adapted for your workplace. It may also be worthwhile considering developing a Service Level Agreement with providers before the start of a course. This can help to manage the expectations of the provider; the learner and the ULR.

You will also need to consider the qualification that is offered – is it suitable and manageable? Changes in the system of work-related qualifications are going to make them much more flexible in future, allowing people to build up units of credit.

How long?

The length of the programme will depend on the aims of your learners, the qualification offered and when and where the course takes place. You will know the times that members find most convenient and how long the sessions could be. You will also know whether any of it can take place during work time. The course might be supported by online learning with access to discussion forums and materials through the internet – ask if this is available or planned. Make sure you discuss all these issues with the college.

What about the venue?

Discuss the venue with the college. Don’t assume that courses must always take place on the main college site. Outreach work is now common and it may be possible for courses to be run at the workplace or in a community-based or learndirect centre. However, you may still wish to access facilities on the main college sites - such as libraries or IT facilities.

Tutors

Ask about the proposed tutors for the courses and their experience of working with unions. Make sure you have a chance to meet and discuss the courses with them. Discuss any extra specialist support you need. You need to help them understand the best way of meeting your members’ learning needs.

Other support for learners

The tutor will give you advice about additional learner support (ALS) that may be available. This could be one-to-one support for maths or English or language support.

TUC learndirect centres

The TUC and unions have set up a network of new learning centres in:

    • Trade union studies centres in colleges
    • Union offices
    • Workplaces.

These centres offer hundreds of courses - mostly on-line - for union learners. Whether people want to get web-wise and use the internet for information, improve their skills to get a better job or promotion, or learn purely for enjoyment, the centres have something to offer everyone.

To find your nearest centre see the Unionlearn website.

Moving on

After each course, you will want to talk to members about further opportunities. Arrange for everyone to have advice on their next steps. This may be another union course, a further education course, an employer-provided course, or access to Learndirect.

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Please note from October 2011 the myguide website will close. However a new website will replace it: go-on.co.uk