Union Learning Representatives as a Tool for Workforce Development in the UK Public Services

Abstract

Learning and unions go hand in hand. The old slogan Educate, Agitate, Organise is as relevant today as it was when the Trades Union Congress (TUC) was founded in 1868. Unions have always sought better training for their members and better national education systems for working people and their families.In recent years there has been a major new development in UK trade unionism— the growth of “Union Learning Representatives” (ULRs). There are now 22,000 ULRs in the UK spread across all sectors of the economy. Their role is to help and encourage union members to find out about training and enroll in courses and to press employers to invest more (and more fairly) in training their workers. This paper is about trade unionism in the UK public sector and the ways ULRs are helping to upskill and thus improve public sector employment and revitalize public sector unions. The paper aims to help U.S. unions consider the value of the UK ULR model, building on the AFL-CIO 2008 resolution calling for government to “assist employers and unions in developing subsidized on-site learning representatives who can help employees with career counselling and access to training needs.”1First I look at the UK public sector and its pattern of trade union organization. Then I look at ULRs and in particular their development in the public sector—which reflects the pattern of union organization. Finally I conclude with some thoughts on how ULRs can improve public sector employment and the key issues—and possible actions—for U.S. unions.