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A first for Phil
12 October 2005
Phil Toon, TUC Nextstep Workplace Advisor
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Usdaw activist, Phil Toon has just landed the role of the country’s first ever TUC Nextstep Workplace Advisor.
Adults all need access to good advice and guidance about learning and work. Getting the right kind of information and advice can help you make the right decisions about what learning is best for you.
This is what Usdaw Union Learning Rep (ULR), Phil Toon, will be striving to achieve in his role as TUC Nextstep Workplace Advisor. He will be responsible for conducting interviews with trade unionists in the Northants area, who don’t have a Level 2 qualification. This way he will ensure they get quality advice and guidance.
In his time as an Usdaw member, Phil has been very active, both in his workplace, RS Components, Corby , where he is a Shop Steward, Deputy Convenor, ULR and Health & Safety Rep, as well as in the role of Northants Federation Secretary; a post he has held for the last two years.
Phil says “My introduction to the Lifelong Learning agenda came from Gary O’Donnell from the TUC, at one of our Federation weekend schools. Gary enthused us all to such a point that after the weekend we went back to work and spoke to Management about setting up an initiative at our site. Management were on side and the rest, as they say, is history…”
Since the project started at RS Components, courses have ranged from Basic IT (60 members of staff studied Computers Don’t Byte) through to Essential Skills, (11 members have passed their Literacy and Numeracy qualifications) with all the courses proving extremely popular – and with excellent feedback from the membership with regards to the tutoring.
Phil has nothing but praise for the Usdaw courses he himself has attended “I have found Usdaw courses paramount in helping me carry out my different union roles. The confidence and knowledge I have gained has been invaluable”. He will certainly be putting all the skills he has gained, in his many union positions, to good use.
We asked Phil how he was feeling about his new job…”Since I heard about getting the job, I have barely had time to catch my breath. Short term I want to help to deliver the targets specified in the project – by giving quality advice and guidance to adults in the Northants area. Longer term I hope to work full time for a trade union – preferably Usdaw! I am committed to the trade union movement and all it stands for, and see myself as a very small fish in a big pond”.
We all wish Phil Toon every success in this pioneering role. We are sure he will make a success of it.
* Nextstep is an IAG provider giving information, advice and guidance on learning and work to individuals in Northamptonshire. Nextstep can help with the following: IAG on Learning opportunities, IAG on CV creation and job search. Nextstep will help arm individuals with the knowledge and confidence so helping individuals achieve their potential.
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Ph: 0161 224 2804
Fax: 0161 257 2566
Email: lifelonglearning@usdaw.org.uk
Web: http://www.usdaw.org.uk/lifelong_learning
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