Memorandum 58
Submission from Unite the Union
Unite is the UK's largest trade union with 2
million members across the private and public sectors. The union's
members work in a range of industries including manufacturing,
financial services, print, media, construction, transport and
local government, education, health and not for profit sectors.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
—Skills and training must be enshrined
within collective agreements;
—Introduction of a training levy;
—Expansion of ULRs and increase in funding
to ULF;
—Trade union seats on delivery and funding
bodies;
—Paid time off for training;
—Increase in apprenticeship minimum wage
and encouragement of atypical recruits;
—Apprenticeship targets on all public procurement
projects.
COLLECTIVE BARGAINING
1. Unite has witnessed a lack of investment
in training by employers across a number of industrial sectors
and a lack of commitment to training, as identified by the limited
number of employers who have signed up to the Governments skills
"Pledge", first proposed by Lord Leitch. If we wait
until 2010 as Leitch recommends, or later as has been proposed
recently, and for a mere right to training to level 2, we are
in danger of doing too little too late.
2. Therefore, a fundamental issue for Unite
is the right to bargain with employers on learning and skills.
While the proposals put forward in the DCSF/DIUS Raising Expectations:
Enabling the System to Deliver consultation is for a more
strategic and coordinating role for local authorities, this may
prove ineffective if employers fail to engage with the learning
agenda with either the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) or as
is planned, Local Authorities.
3. Engaging employers in the skills agenda
may also prove difficult, particularly in times of economic downturn,
with some employers espousing rhetoric rather than action when
it comes to training their workforce.
4. That is why Unite is campaigning for
skills and training to be enshrined within collective agreements
in order that trade unions can negotiate with employers on this
key element which is vital for the success of the business.
FUNDING FOR
TRAINING
5. Despite CBI figures which indicate that
billions of pounds are spent every year on training at work, it
is recognised that a significant proportion of this is spent on
health and safety training or other statutorily or regulatory
required training. It is also evident that training is not evenly
distributed throughout the working population, with those already
with advanced skills and those in more senior positions, gaining
disproportionately more training than those on the lower rungs
of the career ladder with less skills.[140]
6. Therefore in order to ensure an even
distribution of funding and to ensure employer buy-in, Unite proposes
a statutory training levy is introduced. This will act to ensure
adequate funding; that training is made available to all and that
the current system is not overstretched. It will also ensure employers
take their responsibility to train seriously.
PAID TIME
OFF FOR
TRAINING
7. Unite is also campaigning for a statutory
right to paid time off for training.
8. It is evident from the skills gap between
the UK and our competitors that employers are failing to provide
an adequate level of training to compete with our economic partners.
Indeed Lord Leitch has identified this problem in his review of
skills.
9. Unite welcomes the proposals for the
right to request time off for training outlined in the Education
and Skills Bill however believes that this could be enhanced further
by providing paid time off for the training delivered.
10. It is vital that employers bear a significant
proportion of the costs associated with training people when in
work, given that it will be employers who have the most to gain
from an educated and skilled workforce. This is especially true
when the training involves sector specific training.
11. Given that the majority of employers
in the UK are SME's, Unite also accepts that some smaller employers
may have resource implications and find it more difficult financially
to provide training. Government funding should be made available
to assist SMEs in ensuring that SME's and their employees do not
lose out in the global skills race.
DEMAND-LED
TRAINING AND
THE ROLE
OF ULRS
12. Unite believes that the demand-side
approach put forward in the DCSF/DIUS[141]
consultation paper could be enhanced through recognition of the
role trade unions and specifically Union Learner Reps (ULRs) play
in working with employers to support and deliver learning in the
workplace. Employer/employee engagement works most effectively
in workplaces where there is recognised trade union involvement.
Unite therefore identifies a strong role for trade unions in a
demand-led training environment in articulating the needs of learners.
13. The positive impact of ULRs in encouraging
take-up of training opportunities is well documented, particularly
among under represented groups. Unite and the wider trade union
movement have been instrumental in driving a demand-led skills
agenda within the workplace, with over 18,000 ULRs in the UK engaging
with workers on both vocational and non vocational training everyday.
14. Unite will continue to actively recruit,
train and support ULRs. Whilst welcoming the additional £3
million of funding made available to the Union Learning Fund (ULF)
by the Government last year we would argue that this increase
in demand must be met by further such increases in funding in
the future.
STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT
15. It is vital that the voice of trade
unions and other stakeholders interested in the learning agenda
is heard. Unite would therefore wish to ensure that trade unions
are given a leading role in articulating and supporting employee
demand for learning by ensuring a trade union representative is
on the board of all skills delivery and funding bodies. This would
include the new arrangement which is put in place following the
abolition of the LSC in 2010, and that this is mirrored at a local
level where appropriate.
APPRENTICESHIPS
16. Lord Leitch's proposals, "for a
significant increase in apprenticeship places for every suitably
qualified young person by 2013", is welcomed. However, delivery
of this ambitious plan requires co-operation between a number
of groups, not least of all employers, with questions still unanswered
on responsibility for delivery, issues over quality of provision
and inevitably, over funding.
17. Unite is unsure that these questions
have been addressed and would wish to explore this issue further.
— Unite would propose high quality
employer places together with a firm commitment from Government
to guarantee the resources to provide an apprenticeship at the
appropriate level to those with appropriate qualifications.
— More must be done to encourage completion
rates, which in manufacturing stands at 63%. Unite needs to see
a clear and strategic programme of work, both inside the company
and at any centre of learning.
— Unite would also wish to see wages
for apprentices more closely linked to the minimum wage and a
real effort to acknowledge and address the current gender inequality
in apprenticeship pay. For example, the TUC has evidence of female
apprentices being paid £1.54 per hour[142].
— Wider equality and gender segregation
issues within the apprentice system must also be addressed to
encourage equity and diversity and create a more representative
labour market reflecting the communities where firms are located.
— Unite also believes that ULRs could
provide a mentoring role within the apprenticeship system to support
apprentices and is keen to work with the National Apprenticeship
Service (NAS) to encourage entry by under represented groups.
— Unite would also support a scheme
whereby financial support could be given to apprentices who have
to travel away from home to take up apprenticeships. Perhaps similar
to a student grant or travel bursary.
— Unite would also wish to see government
targets on apprentices involved in all public procurement projects
with the continual promotion of equality and diversity within
apprenticeship programmes.
EDUCATION AND
SKILLS BILL
18. Unite has concerns about the proposals
contained within the Education and Skills Bill regarding education
or training post-16 which emphasises a compulsion on young people
to participate or face penalties. Unite is not convinced that
the compulsory nature of the duty to participate will be successful.
19. The government seems intent on doing
everything other than compelling employers to train their workforce.
It would seem a perfectly reasonable request, if we are to ensure
all young people are given the right skills before adulthood,
to compel firms employing these young people, to train them.
20. It is also essential that adequate resources
are put in place in order to fully support this initiative. eg
if a young person "drops out" of the system—then
they are re-engaged as soon as possible. This may be a role for
the guidance function within the education system or when in employment,
a role for union workplace representatives, in particular ULRs.
ULRs can and do provide a supportive function for learners in
the workplace and this role could be expanded further looking
specifically at a "pastoral care" role.
June 2008
140 TUC Report: Training who gets it? November
2005 Back
141
DCSF/DIUS Raising Expectations: Enabling the System to Deliver Back
142
TUC Report: Decent Pay for Apprentices Back
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