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Liz Smith , Director of unionlearn (speech)
I’m the last speaker of the morning, and so you’ll be glad to know I’ve left my 22 slide PowerPoint presentation behind. This morning has been both a celebration of union success and it’s also been a very serious affair, because as speaker after speaker have said this is very much about the future of the trade union movement. It’s about how we contribute to the futures of generations of workers. Unashamedly, of course, we are there for those workers who have the worst deal in society – we’re here to stick up for them. The work that unions have done on behalf of those groups across the workforce has been second to none. It’s got to be realised that all workers need to have skills at the cutting edge if we’re to achieve the kind of society that Gordon Brown set out. So we’re here for the trade union movement and that’s our job. Now, I’m the director of unionlearn* and that’s a bit of a daunting task. I wondered for a minute if I’d had more daunting tasks in my long career, and I was immediately reminded of teaching my first shop steward’s course in Liverpool. It started when I walked into a room as a young enthusiastic activist, and was confronted by six shop stewards from Ford, waving their blue book at me – and many of you will know of the blue book. There were half a dozen shop stewards from the direct works department in Liverpool and – thank you God – a handful of shop stewards who had just been elected to represent their cleaner colleagues in bars. I thought if I survive this I’ll survive anything – and I feel a bit like that today. I’ve got three things to say this morning. The first is to unions. And I want to say that unionlearn is what it says on the tin – it is about unions. It’s about working with unions to help to remove barriers, to increase opportunities, and to have a louder voice for the work that we do. And it’s my job to make sure that it’s shaped by unions. Unionlearn exists to help unions achieve our key objectives. Secondly, I want to speak to employers. We are very keen to work with employers, and I want to hear lots more examples like the terrific one from Arriva Busses this morning. I want to reach out to employers to persuade them to work with us across the economy. And thirdly, I’d like to say thanks to all the tutors, college managers and principals who run our trade union studies centres. They’ve worked with us for a long time and have stuck with us through what I will call the wilderness years. Now I hope you will stick with us into the future to help our trade union studies programme to flourish in every area. And we particularly want union learning reps to get the benefits that shop stewards and health and safety reps have had for generations. So we want to work with providers across the piece, and for those of you we don’t work with, particularly colleagues from the HE* sector, we’re looking to get a working relationship. This is important because we are committed to making sure that wherever people are now on the learning climbing frame that they go as far as they want to and as far as we can assist them. Those are the three key audiences for us today. So colleagues, in conclusion there’s nothing that we can’t achieve if we put our heads together and work for it. Nobody can tell the trade union movement that we got a poverty of aspiration. The fact that we’re here today, the fact that our ancestors took us through all those struggles, particularly for all those who put education on the map for working people, give me every confidence that we can achieve our objectives. And as Ruth Kelly said in her conclusion it’s a prize worth fighting for, it’s a prize worth collaborating for as unions. Because the prize is the society we want to live in: one of equality, fairness and justice. I believe that education and learning is a pre-condition for that sort of society. We couldn’t be engaged in anything more important, wherever we are and whatever we do, so particularly to the union learning reps, shop stewards and health and safety reps in the audience toady, I hope we do a very good job, with you and for you. Thanks very much. Briefing document (900 words) issued 3 May 2006  Vacancy: Train to Gain Development Worker (FBU) John Denham hails major union boost to workplace learning Unionlearn Live |
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