As a football mad teenager growing up in early eighties Merseyside, education wasn’t anywhere near the top of my priorities list. Studying and doing my homework ranked ever so slightly above tidying my room, but well below my main priority of playing for the reds in front of a roaring Spion Kop.

I was the kind of kid who was more likely to have his head in Kevin Keegan’s book of soccer skills than Shakespeare’s Macbeth. There didn't seem to be much point in studying anyway, after all there were no jobs to be had no matter how clever you were. Rick from the BBC2’s ‘The Young Ones’ declared as much when he said Thatcher's Britain had turned him into “Homeless, cold, and prostitute! Destitute, Rick”. Despite being “pretty and having 5 O’ Levels.”

At the age of 25 I’d spent the 9 years since leaving school working in a printing factory. I had five mid-grade CSEs to my name and I wasn’t earning a great deal. I also had a wife and a young child to support. My ability to execute the Cruyff turn and my improved free-kick technique, were not really serving me well when it came to paying the mortgage and all the other bills. I asked myself “can I do better?”. It wasn’t really a question; I knew I could.

 It began to occur to me that maybe there was something to be said for this education lark after all. Maybe I'd got it horribly wrong. Maybe I should’ve listened to some of the teachers who took the time to stress the importance of education to me. A key indicator for me was the education needs of my young child. I wanted to be able to help him if he struggled with his homework. I wanted better for my kids. I wanted them to value their education and understand the benefits of learning. I started slowly, brushing up on my numeracy and I began reading literature that I felt would help me develop.

Although I was benefitting from this newfound desire to educate myself, I never really believed it could help me improve my lot too much or provide me with greater career opportunities. A few years later some of my colleagues suggested that I would make a good union rep and they asked if I might consider standing at the forthcoming union elections. Being a union rep is something I knew absolutely zilch about, and so I initially quashed any suggestions that I might be any good at representing my colleagues and making our case for a better deal to the bosses.

It was a bad idea, wasn’t it?

“No, it’s a great idea!” exclaimed Dean, who was our union learning representative (ULR). Dean felt I would have a good chance of being elected if I were to stand, and he said he would organise for some training that would help me in the role. It was at this point that my journey into adult learning and skills began, and for that I owe Dean a pint, his encouraging words set me on my way.

I took as many courses as I could. All the reps training Stages 1-4. Health & Safety courses, Dignity at Work, Redundancy, TUPE (Transfer of Undertakings Protection of Employment) Interview & Investigation and Mental Health Awareness, I also completed a diploma in employment law, in my own time. I thrived in the role and my appetite for learning increased, as did my self-confidence. I became more active and took on more TU roles within our branch. 

Ultimately, the conversation I had with Dean set me off on a path that has brought me to where I am today. One of the things I’ve learned over the past few years is learning and organising go hand in hand. Learning doesn’t just offer opportunities for individual members; it renews union activism and strengthens the voice of the trade union. There are so many potential benefits from providing learning opportunities, not only for the individuals, but also for unions and employers.

As individuals we can learn new things, make new friends, and gain transferable and specialist skills to boost our job prospects and our self-confidence. The wonderful thing about adult learning is we get to choose what we want to learn about, and we have much more experience to draw upon. There are lots of people who will have a wealth of knowledge and an abundance of skills, but they haven’t got the qualifications they need to secure the opportunities that will allow them to use their skills and knowledge. It is vitally important that the opportunities for learning are available and accessible to all.

Trade unions can play a key role in providing learning opportunities. There’s also a wide range of incentives for unions to be leading the way when it comes to getting people into learning and developing skills. By advocating for quality education, building partnerships, and negotiating for skills development initiatives, trade unions can play a vital role in encouraging a skilled and adaptable workforce. Unions can continue to recognise that delivering learning opportunities helps in recruiting and retaining members, offers more visibility in the workplace, provides more opportunities to promote core values and champion the benefits of being a member. We can also highlight trade union achievements and increase activism.

At a recent learning workshop, a member raised concerns regarding the allowance of non-members to attend. I asked her if she thought growing the membership would make us stronger. She agreed that it would, and so she understood that our workshop was an ideal opportunity to demonstrate the benefits of being a union member. During the workshop we delivered sessions on understanding your payslip and your tax code. Budgeting your money, redundancy pay and understanding your energy bills. We also spoke about how being a member of a union gives you a voice and how we can find strength in unity.

Did we have fun and learn? Absolutely, we did. Did we recruit? Too right we did!

Participation in learning can also encourage members to become union learning representatives (ULRs). ULRs are vital in championing training, development and upskilling in the workplace. They help in widening the membership of underrepresented groups and add another strand to the value of the union movement. Union-led workplace learning increases positive outcomes in terms of workplace industrial relations. It offers us the opportunity to demonstrate the benefits of working co-operatively based on mutual gains.

We can articulate the benefits of employers investing in their staff and maybe even change some of the negative perceptions of unions. It can help us open doors in companies that are hostile to unions. In my experience, senior managers and directors are far more open to talking about things that they think will benefit the company, like developing the workforce and increasing productivity, than they are to discussing pay awards and staffing levels. Investing in a workforce does increase efficiency and productivity. It also demonstrates a willingness to support the development of skills and knowledge, which can be an attractive option for prospective employees and will help in recruiting new talent and retaining staff.

Upskilling and retraining people needs to become a key focus for employers. In a world where automation and artificial intelligence continue to develop at an incredible rate, we need to make the case for the employer to engage and embrace learning in the workplace and unlock the potential of the workforce. There is no doubt in my mind that continued learning can be good for us personally and professionally. It is also good for business and plays a key role in organising and growing the trade union movement.

For me personally I have learned a few things along my path of learning. I can do better when I put my mind to it. Improving your knowledge does improve your job prospects and your life skills. Learning to organise has helped me in organising to learn.

Nowadays, I walk into Jack Jones House of a morning, and I want to pinch myself, just to make sure I have ended up where I wanted to be. I have, and now realise I owe Dean far more than a pint!