Being in trade union education right now is tough but it is also really exciting. We have a long history of educating union reps and the changes we have seen in the past few years mean we need to make sure we keep up. We’ve got to make sure reps are able to get the training they need wherever they are and whatever their work patterns. Classroom courses are an important way for reps to meet other reps and to work together face-to-face to get the skills they need to represent their members. The challenges we are facing in TUC Education include a cut in the money available for our courses, an ongoing funding problem in colleges, less demand for classroom courses and the changing ways we all learn and can be supported in our learning.

We’ve got a new website which means you can look up our courses online and apply there and then for any course in the country. We’ve tried to make the site a one-stop shop for all the courses, resources and tools a rep might need. We want to offer supported courses for union reps that are freely available online, something that reaches out to new reps and to younger workers, crucial to keeping the union movement alive, and a classroom/online mixed offer which doesn’t cost the earth. The new Union Reps Stage 1 online is already available and our other courses (Health and Safety Stage 1 and Union Learning Reps 1 and 2) will be ready by the summer. 

We’ve run some focus groups to get reps’ views on the new course and we’re going to be out and about letting people know about what we’re doing over the coming months. We want reps to sign up and make sure we are getting to as many reps as possible. 

We’ve already got over 30 eNotes on our site and reps can look at them at their own pace. We have run webinars to keep them updated and we’re going to be running regional briefings and seminars.

I’m excited about all the new things we’re doing as it means more reps will be able to do more training and much more flexibly but still able to come together to share what is going on for them in their workplaces. We’ll also going to be able to reach out to younger workers and potential new reps.

Marie recently spoke to Union Learning Reps and Officers about the new TUC Education at a London event, and will be updating delegates at a Plymouth event on Tuesday 31st January.

More details are available at: www.unionlearn.org.uk/events