Negotiating learning agreements
Negotiating learning agreements
While more and more people are gaining access to learning at the workplace, the only way we’re going to close the skills gap with our competitors is by putting training on the collective bargaining agenda.
Here is how maximizing union involvement in the skills agenda pays off economically and socially.
Greater investment in training benefits employers and employees
- Increasing training has an even greater impact on productivity than it does on wages in the private sector, according to industrial relations specialists Lorraine Dearden, Howard Reed and John Van Reenen.
- Their research found that an increase of one percentage point in the proportion of employees trained improved productivity by about 0.6 per cent for a 0.3 per cent increase in wages.
Unionised workplaces invest more in training
- Union recognition goes hand-in-hand with private sector training, according to an analysis of the Workplace Employee Relations Survey by Rene Boheim and Alison L Booth. It is associated with reduced labour turnover and reduced wage dispersal, which helps maximize the return on investment in training.
- Union members get more training than nonmembers: 39 per cent of workers with a union card had done some training over a sample three-month period, compared with just 26 per cent of non-members, according to the Labour Force Survey 2003.
- This “learning premium” attached to the union card has strengthened in recent years, with the “training gap” between unionised and nonunionised employees widening from 11 to 13 percentage points since 1998. Over 2.5 million union members have undergone training over a sample three-month period, compared to over 2.2 million in 1998, according to the latest figures.
- And workers get more training when the issue is put on the negotiating table, and not just consulted about. In workplaces where training is negotiated, almost 40 per cent organise an average of five or more training days a year, but when it’s only subject to consultation, less than 25 per cent match that figure.
Union involvement in training increases its impact on workforce development
- Moving training up the collective bargaining agenda can further boost the positive union effect, according to a study published by one of the leading economic research groups in Europe.
- The trade union movement could increasingly influence the ways in which people develop their productive capacity through education and training in the UK, forecast Francis Green, Stephen Machin and David Wilkinson in a discussion paper for the Centre for Economic Performance.
- And training is more likely to deliver benefits to members when unions not only secure recognition from the employer but also play an active role in decisions about what is provided, according to Jason Heyes and Mark Stuart in the British Journal of Industrial Relations.
Union involvement in training closes the gender gap
- Unionisation increases women’s access to training, mirroring the way unionized workplaces have done more to close the gender gap on pay than the national minimum wage, according to David Metcalf, Professor of Industrial Relations at the London School of Economics.
- And while more training tends to lead to increased wages, the pay-off for union members is far greater: male trade union members tend to get 21 per cent more in their pay packets after training, while non-members get just 4 per cent more, he points out.
Union involvement in training leads to high performance practices
- When unions are directly involved in training policy decision at company level, firms are more likely to adopt practices which contribute to high-trust, high-performance workplaces, according to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development’s 2001 Training and Development Survey.
These include:
- staff attitude surveys
- workplace consultative committees
- job rotation
- mentoring
- train-the-trainer programmes
- quality circles.
8 May 2008
Fire fighters in Gloucestershire are to sign a learning agreement with their employers.
In the run up to Adult Learners Week (May 19 - 24), officials from the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) will on May 15 meet senior managers from Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Service (GFRS) at Gloucester Community Fire & Rescue Station to sign a Learning Partnership Forum Agreement.
South West
8 April 2008
Unite and Barclaycard sign learning agreement
Once again, unions and employers are working together for the benefit of members and staff at Barclaycard in Stockton. For 18 months, the call centre has had a workplace-learning project named Insight, the last year of which has been funded by the region's Learning for All Fund. Insight has also secured a second year of funding having already engaged many learners, with the potential for many more.
Northern
29 October 2007
Unistar Learning – from Tees to Thames
North East company, Tristar Homes, are really proving that their workplace learning initiative, Unistar Learning, has legs as they take their project launch to unionlearn's HQ in London on Monday 29th October.
Northern
6 August 2007
Fujitsu focuses on lifelong learning
All employees at Fujitsu Services now have access to lifelong learning following the signing of a learning agreement. Unionlearn teamed up with Fujitsu and Unite (Amicus section) to sign the agreement, which will promote a culture of learning and development within the company's Manchester premises.
North West
20 July 2007
Dawn of a new learning era as Corus staff steel themselves for skills improvements
Today (Friday 20th July) Phil Hope, MP for Corby and East Northants and Minister for the Third Sector will visit Corus to witness the signing of a Learning Agreement between Corus and unions Community and Unite (Amicus section). This Learning Agreement is one of over 1,400 throughout the country, which have been drawn up between union learning reps and a variety of organisations in order to establish a framework for increasing skills levels through workplace learning.
Midlands
24 May 2007
Agreement brings learning home
Sunderland Housing Group (SHG) have recognised their continued commitment to promoting learning and development across their business and added another accreditation to their expanding portfolio by signing a learning agreement.
Northern
8 May 2007
How it all adds up for VT
Too many companies think of training as just another cost, but a recent study of workplace learning at VT Shipbuilding reveals it can generate substantial returns.
23 January 2007
Good News for Cosford
Signing of the learning agreement for SERCO workers based at RAF Cosford.
Wales
12 December 2006
Unison breaking new ground in the Learning and Skills area
UNISON the public sector union is once again breaking new ground in the Learning and Skills area. UNISON has been developing, promoting and delivering skills based courses to public sector workers over many years.
Southern and Eastern
11 December 2006
Positive messages from Get On North West
The North West Employers Organisation (NWEO) is working closely with the trade union movement to ensure the Get On (GO) Awards actually mean life long learning and progression is available to all staff in local authorities and related sectors.
North West
