Union Learning Reps Hayley and Simon lobby MPs

Usdaw Union Learning Reps Hayley Pickles and Simon Mahoney have lobbied MPs about the central role Union Learning Reps (ULRs) play in delivering Lifelong Learning and English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) courses.

Both Union Learning Reps were keen to impress on MPs the benefits of continuing learning to Usdaw members which has seen more than 20,000 union members access a wide variety of courses and hundreds of migrant workers take up places on free ESOL courses,

Hayley Pickles works as a chef in a Tesco in Scarborough but she is also seconded for two days a week to the town’s SAIL Centre where she offers Lifelong Learning courses to staff from 16 supermarkets.

As an active ULR Hayley was invited to give evidence to the Education Select Committee who were considering the effectiveness of post-16 skills provision.

“It was nerve wracking giving evidence to such a high powered committee but I wanted to remind them of the clear benefits to retail workers many of whom had struggled at school,” says Hayley. I also told the committee that the average income in retail is just over £10,000 a year so our members often had no spare money available to spend on training.

“I wanted to impress on the committee the importance of free or cheap courses for low-paid workers and the importance of accessing courses with work colleagues especially when many retail staff are initially sceptical of the need for gaining additional life skills through Life-long Learning,

“I outlined how we offer taster courses so Usdaw members get the confidence to do to do basic skills courses like literacy and numeracy. I really enjoyed giving evidence and I felt that the MPs were engaged with what I was saying and that I got a fair hearing that will hopefully influence future post-16 skills policy.”

Simon Mahoney is ULR at the Christian Salvesen site in Lutterworth with a high percentage of migrant workers in the team and was part of an Usdaw delegation to lobby MPs to save free ESOL classes.

More that 70% of staff at the vehicle servicing facility identified better communication as a key issue in developing a fully integrated workforce and since ESOL classes have been on offer the turnover of new staff leaving has been slashed from 180% to 16%.

“I wanted to tell MPs that the message from our site is that communication is the key to us all doing our jobs well,” says Simon. “The difference free ESOL courses have made to our site has been absolutely amazing and I’ve seen colleagues from different countries sitting together laughing and joking as their language skills have improved.

“The reality is that when you train somebody or offer them an opportunity to learn something new, they will feel more valued, socially included and see a long-term future with the company.

“I also wanted to remind MPs that a good employer like Christian Salvesen has been totally committed to this project from the start and they have proved to be incredibly supportive of learning by making sure that everyone taking an ESOL course gets paid time to learn. Migrant workers only qualify for free state learning if they’ve been resident in an EU country for three years so the company has even put their hand in their pocket to pay for courses for those who don’t qualify.”

Simon urged lobbyists from other unions to sign the University and College Union’s online petition to save ESOL at www.ucu.org.uk/index.cfm?articleid=2014

Notes to Editors:

• Contacts for newsdesks: Usdaw’s Media Officer, Paul Clarke, can be contacted on 0161 249 2469 or e-mail paul.clarke@usdaw.org.uk.
• Usdaw (the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers) is the UK’s fifth biggest trade union, with over 340,000 members. Most Usdaw members work in the retail sector, but the union also has many members in transport, distribution, food manufacturing, chemicals and other trades.
• More information and news releases are available at our online Newsroom.
• Journalists can subscribe to receive Usdaw news releases via our online e-news service.

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