What is the meaning of LIFE?

Staff at Morrisons RDC Stockton receiving their certificates

The 850 staff at Morrisons, Portrack Lane Regional Distribution Centre, Stockton-on-Tees certainly know the meaning of LIFE - Learning Is For Everyone! LIFE is the name of their new Learning Centre, which was officially launched on Tuesday 27th September 2005 by Gillian Miller, Regional Skills Director, Learning and Skills Council North East.

The on site Learning Centre is the result of over two years hard work from a joint union (Usdaw and TGWU) partnership, supported by Morrisons, Exel and the TUC.

As part of the new initiative a joint learning agreement has been created, that clearly lays out the roles and responsibilities of all parties involved in the project. The agreement includes terms of reference for a Learning Committee and guidelines for a site learning fund. It also covers paid time off for Skills for Life learning, as well as facilities time for Union Learning Reps (ULRs).

Mike Brewer, Usdaw’s Divisional Officer for the North East, who signed the agreement on behalf of Usdaw says: “The Portrack Learning Agreement is a model of how separate unions can work together to provide a first class Learning Centre for their members. The support given by the company should not be underestimated either. ULRs are actively encouraged by site management to organize courses and support members in company time, whilst members themselves get time off to study for Skills for Life Courses. This truly is a ‘win/win ‘situation, with our members enhancing their own quality of life through learning, and the company getting a higher skilled and more motivated workforce”.

The new centre is based in what used to be the old ‘smoking-room’ within the central canteen. The facilities have undergone a major overhaul thanks to resources from a regional bid put to the Union Learning Fund by the T&G, and supported by Usdaw. It’s now a state-of–the-art learning facility with eight workstations, all equipped with new hi-tech PCs courtesy of Durham Logistics College . The centre will be able to offer both on-line and tutor based courses for any member of staff who wants to get back into learning.

Sue Rosborough, HR Controller at Morrisons said, “Everyone at Stockton is delighted with our new Learning Centre. This achievement is a reflection of the commitment and enthusiasm of the Life Project Team. The Learning Centre gives us a great platform to build on our previous success and will help us develop and enhance a Lifelong Learning culture at Stockton Distribution Centre. It will also provide an ideal environment to encourage the workforce to participate in Lifelong Learning. It’s also a testament to our commitment to strengthen and develop our multi-union partnership within Stockton RDC.”

The LIFE project began with Usdaw Union Learning Representatives at the workplace wanting to help create a learning culture amongst their fellow members. Paul Smith one of the Usdaw Learning Reps, and the 1000^th rep to be trained by the Northern TUC, spoke to the T&G reps onsite and encouraged them to become part of the project. Paul said: “There are certain agendas that demand that we set our personal politics aside. The Lifelong Learning agenda to me is all about equality of opportunity – is there really anything more important to the trade union movement as a whole? Working together to secure this equality of opportunity just seems to make sense.” And that is just what the reps at the site have done.

"It is important to stress the partnership approach behind this initiative", agrees Martyn Warwick, Usdaw's Lifelong Learning Project Worker, "The newly signed site level agreement also recognises the importance of having a Learning Committee and having paid time off for Skills for Life training. The benefits of granting time off to learn are clearly shown by the large numbers taking part . Over the years the reps have made a massive commitment to drive this initiative forward, with the support of the company, and it's great to see that commitment finally rewarded".

At the site over 150 individuals have already undergone Skills for Life assessments and taken up Skills for Life learning – all in company time. As a result, over 130 people have completed the National Tests in Literacy or Numeracy at levels one or two. This fantastic achievement was celebrated at the opening of the Learning Centre when certificates were handed out. NVQ certificates in Business Admin and Customer Service at levels 2 or 3 were also presented to staff.

The new Learning Centre means that the range of IT courses that had previously been delivered on laptops at the site can now carry on in the centre. Also ongoing is a Spanish course for members to improve their conversational skills for when they go on holiday. Lots of other courses – such as digital photography and other languages are also in the pipeline for the very near future.

With such enthusiasm and commitment coming from the unions, the employer and most importantly the learners, it does indeed look like Learning is for Everyone at Morrisons Distribution Centre in Stockton .

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© 2003 (USDAW) Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers
This page: http://usdaw.org.uk/lifelong_learning/lifelong_learning_news/1131016962_6236.html
Last Modified: Wednesday, 09-Nov-2005 20:00:42 EST