Going for gold

Unite knows the value of good apprenticeships – it has a long tradition of being involved in developing them.

As Unite delegate Thomas Butler, speaking in support of a motion on apprenticeships at the TUC conference today (September 12), pointed out, good apprenticeships play a key role in skills and career progression.

“They also ensure the long term sustainability of the UK economy and its skills base,” he said.

“Genuine, industry recognised apprenticeships are an excellent investment for UK industry and the public purse.

“They can create lifelong employment mobility, a firm foundation for an individual’s working life, and secure a sustainable skills base for the UK.”

But as Butler highlighted, the apprenticeship system is open to abuse.

In the government’s mad dash to achieve its goal of 3m apprenticeships by 2020, anything now counts as an apprenticeship to hit their targets.

Butler recounted what UNITElive reported last month — on the day school leavers were receiving their GSCE results, many young people were served a raw deal after finishing their education, forced into taking positions that pay very little or even nothing at all.

“Such roles often seek to compensate for the lack of pay by offering training that is supposed to help employees progress in their career,” he said. “This includes firms advertising for trainee positions that include periods of unpaid work.”

Butler stressed that Unite is “totally opposed to bogus apprenticeships in whatever form they take.

“We need gold standard apprenticeships that have proper structures, teach useful skills and come with a job at the end,” he said.

“We need to create apprenticeships in new technologies including cyber technology and in the supply chain.”

Butler noted that while the government’s target of 3m apprenticeships within the next three years sounds positive on the surface, “the danger is that anything that remotely looks like an apprenticeship is going to be counted as an apprenticeship.

“We must avoid creating low quality, cheap and cheerful apprenticeships,” he added. “Unite is working with the sector skills councils and other bodies to make sure that happens.”

Urging Congress to support the motion, Butler called on trade unions to ensure that there is a full range of high quality training, education and career opportunities for all our young people.

The motion was passed.