{"id":8943,"date":"2016-06-09T12:45:40","date_gmt":"2016-06-09T11:45:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=8943"},"modified":"2016-06-09T12:45:40","modified_gmt":"2016-06-09T11:45:40","slug":"learning-with-unite-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=8943","title":{"rendered":"Learning with Unite"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Union-organised learning is a great way to recruit new members and highlight the benefits of being in a union \u00e2\u20ac\u201c that was the message that came out of Community Learning Day in Bristol this week.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unite\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Tony Benn House in Bristol threw open its doors to host the day-long event organised by the local Unite Community branch. It gave members and the general public a chance to talk to learning providers such as N-Gaged Training, the National Careers Service, TUC\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s unionlearn and Unite learning reps. \u00c2\u00a0They also signed up for free online courses care of Learn with Unite.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Members of the Bristol area Unite Community branch, with support from Unite Community coordinator for the South West Brett Sparkes, were on hand to talk about the benefits of signing up to the union. They also used the day to premiere a new video about the work of Unite Community branches across the South West.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Learn with Unite\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Matt Gillett who signed up people to free online courses, also gave demonstrations of the IT Basics course and talked about how resources could be accessed through the Learn with Unite website.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWhen people find out the benefits of online learning and the support Unite learning reps can offer them they are very keen to sign up,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Matt said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bMost people start off with IT Basics to give them a grounding on using computers, and then they access other courses ranging from functional skills to family history.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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\"unite

Learning what the union is all about<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Increasingly important<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWith a third of workers at Bristol City Council without an email address, sessions like this are becoming increasingly important \u00e2\u20ac\u201c particularly given the drive to digital by default, when many services will only be available online,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he added.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bYou can also save a lot by managing utilities and buying online so Unite is really happy to support members\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 access to this training.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The day offered more than IT training, with attendees able to find out about other available courses, both online and classroom-based.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Assessments were carried out by Tomorrows People to identify skills gaps and transferable skills people may not realise they have.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unite regional chair Kevin Terry was impressed by what he saw.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe Unite community branches are doing some great work, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s good to see events like today happen so they can spread the word about the support that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s available,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Kevin said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Union for the community<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bCommunity Learning Days, like today in Bristol, support members and are an introduction to the union for many people \u00e2\u20ac\u201c showing that Unite is not just a union for industry, but also a union for the community,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he added.<\/p>\n

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This was a sentiment echoed by Bristol area branch secretary Steve Shepard.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe now have about 800 members across the area, and for them Unite has been very important,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Steve said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt has supported them through learning and skills, and inspired many to become engaged in trade unionism for the first time.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWhat is also important to understand is that our branch membership is very fluid \u00e2\u20ac\u201c people join a community branch, but when they find work they will leave the branch,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he added. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bHowever many will then join the union in their new workplace, and some will inspire others in that workplace to sign up.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The idea of using training and education to encourage people to join a union is nothing new, and in Bristol it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s working very well.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Nigel Donnelly is a Unite learning rep who sits on the Regional Executive and also on Bristol City Council\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s skills committee. Nigel dropped in to explain what has been achieved at the council and how he has found the learning and skills agenda an ideal way to recruit new members.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWhen I started in the call centre at Bristol City Council there were five Unite members; since I started organising training courses through the union, that number has risen to over 50 and is growing all the time,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"unite

Unite community empowering people to learn new skills<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Reaching out<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThis is something that is happening across Bristol,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Nigel added. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe have been working with the Council to offer functional skills and ESOL courses that support hard to reach workers – which the union is ideally positioned to help.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe Unite ICT learning platform has been really useful and we are working on progressing learners through English and maths to apprenticeships.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unite community coordinator Brett Sparkes hailed the day a success.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe have been able to show people the support they can receive by joining the union,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bLots of people have signed up for free online learning courses and had the opportunity to have a skills assessment.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bA number of people have asked if there will be more events like this as they want to tell friends about them \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m sure there will be. The day has shown that the Unite Community branches are ideally positioned to reach out and use learning and skills to place unions at the heart of their community.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Union-organised learning is a great way to recruit new members and highlight the benefits of being in a union \u00e2\u20ac\u201c that was the message that came out of Community Learning Day in Bristol this week.   Unite\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Tony Benn House in Bristol threw open its doors to host the day-long event organised by the local […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8945,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[34,232],"wps_subtitle":"Unite community in Bristol reaches out through education","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8943"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8943"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8943\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8948,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8943\/revisions\/8948"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8945"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8943"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8943"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8943"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}