Co-investing in Learning - Collective Learning Fund Pilots in the North West

Co-investing in LearningCollective Learning Fund Pilots in the North West

June 2010

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Case Studies

3 Collective Learning Fund Pilots in the North West

Collective Learning Funds (CLFs) are union-led initiatives to stimulate co-investment in the personal development of the workforce to make suchlearning affordable. They have been piloted by unionlearn in the North West to test different models in different contexts. The pilots involve increasing fundingfrom employers, obtaining greater support from unions and enhancing employeecommitment. Such co-investment can help tackle skills shortages as well asproviding training to hard-to-reach groups within the region. Although they are intheir early stages, CLFs are establishing learning partnerships between employers,unions and providers, which are opening up learning opportunities in workplaces.

Most of the 15 pilots in the North West have been operating for two years and the evaluation of the project by the Centre for Employment Relations Innovationand Change (CERIC) at Leeds University found that CLFs have considerable value.That is why unionlearn is extending this project to support the existing pilots,integrate CLFs within other regional projects, promote sustainability anddisseminate the concept throughout the region.

Forewordby Dave Eva, Regional Manager, unionlearn

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4 Co-investing in Learning

Collective Learning Funds (CLF) are not just about those involved putting cash into an account to pay for learning. The concept is much wider, including in-kindcontributions such as time and learning facilities.

CLFs are arrangements where employers, employees, unions and colleges eachcontribute to a central fund in different ways. Employers might provide cash,loans, time off to study or in-kind provision such as a learning centre. Employeescould study in some of their own time or contribute to their course fees. Collegesmight subsidise courses and provide laptops. Unions can put in resources andtime, and union learning representatives can help support learners. Each pilot was given £4,000 by unionlearn to kick-start their fund. Cash contributions areheld either in the company or in the union account.

Fifteen new CLF pilots cover 15,000 union members in workplaces across theNorth West and have brought in a massive £170,000 investment in their skills and personal development. The CLF pilots cover both private and public sectororganisations, including local authorities, transport, logistics, retail, manufacturingand the Department for Work and Pensions.

More than £67,000 has been contributed by employers – external funding thatwould never have existed without the CLF. A further £86,000 has come fromcolleges, and £17,000 from trade unions themselves.

Almost 2,000 separate learning opportunities have already been created acrossthe region as a result and the pilots have been developing new and innovativeways to make learning more accessible to union members. These include:

❚ voucher or cash subsidies

❚ loans with a low interest or interest-free option

❚ grants to learners.

Co-investment also involves state contribution. The government Train to Gain scheme provides full funding for employees who don’t already have a full Level 2 qualification and who wish to improve their literacy, numeracy andEnglish language skills, plus take their first Level 2 qualification. It also part fundsNVQ training at higher levels. In some pilots, there was evidence that the presenceof a CLF helped to engage the employer to use Train to Gain to fund NVQs andSkills for Life courses. In other workplaces, NVQs and Skills for Life were in placebefore the pilot and the CLF served to extend provision.

Introduction

Jeff Latham, CLF project worker

“The CLF project isdelivering thousands of new learning opportunitiesto union members acrossthe North West. Despite the recession, we arecontinually developing new ways to help membersaccess new skills and todevelop themselves asindividuals. That can onlybe a good thing – for unionmembers and for the healthof the regional economy.”



Employers want their workforce trained to do their present job effectively. Thisincreases productivity and profitability. But employees need broader transferableskills for internal promotion and career progression. Many employees are willingto invest more in their personal development provided that the employers and the state also make a contribution.

In its publication Towards Ambition 2020, the UK Commission for Employmentand Skills stated: "we must leverage significantly more co-investment fromindividuals and employers, alongside public expenditure", while the EuropeanCommission’s Experts’ Report, New Skills for New Jobs, calls for “co-investment as part of collective agreements”.

All it requires is for employers and their employees to get together to assess whattraining is needed, what contributions they could make and what state funding isavailable. This is best done collectively and trade unions have taken the initiativethrough a union-led innovation – collective learning funds.

The 2006 Leitch Review of Skills commissioned by the previous governmentrecognised the potential of such arrangements:

Collective learning funds would encourage joint employer-union initiativesto increase the scope of training and development opportunities for theirworkforce and to commit new investment to this. In addition, these fundscould encourage employees to co-invest their time along with the employerin a wider range of non job-specific training and development.

The pooling of contributions maximises investment in broad workforcedevelopment – increasing the transferable skills and motivation of employees.The evaluation found that companies identified the most common benefits as‘soft’ outcomes such as ‘improved morale’ and ‘improved employee engagement’.The involvement of the union ensures that the learning opportunities areaccessible to the entire workforce including those with few or no qualifications.

Why co-investment in learning?

Question 1

Many people – bothemployers and employees – report positive benefits for staff and an improvedworking relationship between management and the union as a result of the CLF.



Early results show that employees have taken up 1,755 learning opportunities as a result of CLFs. These include 519 Skills for Life qualifications, 330 ICT coursesand 564 NVQ courses. Many people have also taken up informal adult learning for personal development: an additional 342 learning opportunities, includingBritish Sign Language and Spanish plus driving lessons and arts and craftsoptions. The number of learners will increase throughout the life of the project and also afterwards as the CLF sustains ongoing learning.

1

CLFs have given hundreds of employees the opportunity to developtheir professional skills aswell as promoting personaldevelopment throughlanguage courses and other learning.

“I think that the project has been a success for many reasons. If you get the right partnersand buy in from the organisation, this makes ahuge difference. We didn’t just approach localproviders, we wanted partners that could meetthe needs of our members.”

Michelle Doyle, PCS, Birkenhead Land Registry



The success of the CLF pilots should not just be judged in terms of learningoutputs alone. There are wider outcomes being derived from the sustaining CLFwork beyond the life of the project. CLFs played an important role in a number of workplaces in terms of initiating partnership working between unions andmanagement for the first time. Setting up learning committees and signinglearning agreements helped to embed a learning culture within the workplace. In some cases it took time for the employer to engage fully with the union, but this improved when management saw something tangible taking effect.

All players – employees, unions and managers – appeared to acknowledge theadded value of the CLF. Certainly, ULRs initiated and led the CLF work but, to beeffective, union branches and shop steward structures also needed to believe inits credibility and value. This was equally the case with employees and managers.There are good examples of co-funding that have developed from the initial CLFinvestment. There are also good examples where employees who were previouslyexcluded from government initiatives, such as Train to Gain, have benefited fromthe CLF offer.

What makes co-investmentwork well?

Question 2

“It’s not about the £4,000. It is about what this hastriggered. The learning delivered has given people greaterconfidence to apply for jobs that use their new skills. The fund has supported the partnership on site in buildingmorale and giving people a sense of ownership over thelearning they do.”

Andrew Collier, Planning Manager, Argos Distribution, HeywoodThe learning opportunitiescreated through CLFs have also given manyemployees greaterconfidence in their abilityto learn new skills and todevelop their own careers.



Collective Learning Funds were used for a variety of purposes:

Levering in more resources

Simply having a small pot of money has been enough to open doors to otherresources in cash or kind – such as a company agreeing to provide a learningcentre or a college helping make learning affordable, for example by offeringcourse discounts.

Pilot Argos, Heywood

The learning partnership at Argos Distribution centre supported by theUnion Learning Fund project has been enhanced by the CLF. More coursesare being offered as well as paid time to learn as a result of a three-waypartnership between Unite, Argos Distribution and Bury College. It hascreated an agreement which not only complements the learning agenda at the company but also puts in place a CLF model to enable the learning to continue beyond any ULF involvement.

John Lea, a project worker at Unite, says: “The CLF added to the fundingprovided through the company, and the college, and ensures that theprovision at Argos will continue to grow well into the future.”

Extending job training

In some workplaces the CLF was the stimulus for employers to provide affordabletraining leading to a recognised qualification such as an NVQ; sometimes fundingcame from the Train to Gain scheme.

2

Securing commitment andsupport from managementand union reps has beencrucial to the success of the North West pilots.



Pilot Land Registry, Birkenhead

The workplace has high union membership levels, good numbers of repsand a history of involvement in a range of learning. The site was goingthrough major change and potential redundancies. As a result of the CLF, asignificant number of staff received accreditation for skills they already hadby taking NVQs in Customer Service and Business Administration. Someemployees also took the Classroom Assistant NVQ. Management now havea better understanding of the role of trade unions in learning and arecommitted to supporting their work.

Initiating learning partnerships

Learning partnerships have been set up between unions and management for the first time in some workplaces as a result of CLFs. They took the form of learning agreements and joint learning committees that plan, organise and deliver learning at workplace learning centres.

Pilot USDAW Check Out Learning, Merseyside

The CLF is run in partnership with seven colleges and two learningproviders. Shop workers receive a £50 voucher to subsidise new learning in colleges on Merseyside. The vouchers are distributed by union learningreps to learners on-site or at their local learning venue. The union USDAWcontributed £10,000 to the CLF.

USDAW project worker Julia Baldwin says: “The voucher scheme has been a great success across Merseyside and is certainly an idea we would like to roll out in other areas if we can.”

Greater Merseyside Connexions is a key stakeholder in the project, whichaims to provide affordable and accessible learning to USDAW members.They receive a subsidy on their chosen course and can access the samefund for a new learning opportunity every year.

2

Both managers and unionreps have commented thatCLFs have enabled the twosides to work together onthe same agenda withpositive results.



Raising the profile of unions in learning

The obvious benefit for unions involved with a CLF is that it increases their visibilityand, potentially, membership in the workplace. In the vast majority of pilots, tradeunions have raised their workplace profiles, with both employers and providersstressing the importance of union involvement.

Pilot McVities, Manchester

The Learn 4U Centre at McVities has now been running for two years and isproving to be a huge success for staff on-site and the company. The centreis the key point of delivery for the NVQ courses, both at Levels 2 and 3. Ithas become an integral part of McVities’ training and development agenda.

The success of the centre has been driven by the CLF, eight ULRs and thelearning centre co-ordinator, Jonathan Waterhouse. As well as providinglearning opportunities, the centre has also promoted a wide range ofcompetitions. One example is the Six Book Challenge, where employees arechallenged to read six books of their choice within a certain time frame, andwhich has proved to be very successful.

Jonathan says that “the union is more now visible within the workplace withover 30 new members recruited. I recruit more people now than I ever didas a shop steward.”

Improving productivity

In a number of cases, managers claimed that the learning undertaken through the CLF had contributed to improvements in the quality of work, reduced levels of absence and improved customer service. The CLF also improved employmentrelations and helped to encourage constructive engagement betweenmanagement and unions.

2

Giving workers access to learning is essential in creating a happy andmotivated workforce.



✓ Set clear goals and achievable targets within a realistic timetable for establishing a CLF.

✓ Make sure you have an effective team of ULRs and involve the wider branch and representative structure.

✓ Run the CLF as a joint venture between managers and the union in an equal partnership.

✓ Include the CLF within an existing learning agreement withmanagement or negotiate an agreement if one does not exist.

✓ Establish a joint workplace learning committee to manage the CLF.

✓ Organise a learning needs analysis of the whole workforce to findout which courses, locations and study times are needed for bothpersonal development and job training

✓ Find out what contributions employees are able to make,particularly how much studying could be done in their own time.

✓ Demonstrate to the employer what the union and learner cancontribute (such as ULR support and study time) then negotiatewhat the employer might provide.

✓ Make sure employers use state funding for eligible courses such as those covered by Train to Gain.

✓ Negotiate subsidised courses with local colleges.

✓ Choose providers who give maximum support to union learners,particularly those with the unionlearn Quality Award.

Top tips

Top tips



CLF Pilots

Argos Distribution Centre (Heywood)Gary Unsworth Unite [email protected]

Argos Call Centre ( Widnes)Paul Edge Usdaw [email protected]

New Charter Housing Trust (Ashton-Under-Lyne)Hannah Grantham Unison [email protected]

CWU Learning Centre (Crewe )Ray Atkinson CWU [email protected]

First Bus Manchester (Dukinfield/Oldham)Stuart Smith Unite [email protected]

First Bus Manchester (Ince/Wigan)Stuart Smith Unite [email protected]

Identity and Passport Service/NHS (Southport)Fran Mellor PCS [email protected]

Land Registry (Birkenhead)Michelle Doyle PCS [email protected]

Liverpool Taxi Project (Liverpool)Tommy McIntyre Unite [email protected]

Merseytravel (Liverpool)Andy Thornton Unison [email protected]

Contact details

Contact details



McVities (Manchester)Jonathan Waterhouse Usdaw [email protected]

Pensions Service (Cheshire) Gemma Kettlewell [email protected]

Stagecoach (North Lancs/Cumbria)Ken Gillespie RMT [email protected]

Tameside Council (Tameside)Beryl Mulroy GMB [email protected]

Usdaw Check Out Learning (Merseyside)Julia Baldwin Usdaw [email protected]

CLF Regional Project ManagerDave Eva unionlearn regional manager [email protected]

Contact details


BackgroundThe union’s Check Out Learning project focused on the major national food retailers. Shop workers have little access to training that leads torecognised qualifications. The training that doestake place tends to be centrally driven and veryjob/company specific. As the major retailers workwith the National Employer Service, Train to Gainfunding for NVQs is unavailable for many workerssince it cannot be accessed at local level other thanfor very limited numbers of staff. The projectcovered 25 stores spread across the Merseysidearea. These stores employ about 3,500 staff –many of whom work part-time on a wide variety of shifts. There are about 40 union reps spreadacross the stores. Some of these are mobile union learning reps (ULRs) with responsibility forsupporting learners in a number of workplaces.Trade union membership varies from store to store,ranging from about 80 per cent to as low as 30 percent. At the start of the project, there was verylimited recognition of ULRs by employers.

Engaging with the employerUSDAW recognised that it was difficult to makelearning affordable and accessible for shopworkers. So the union set up a partnership with twocolleges to address these problems. Eventually thistook the form of a Collective Learning Fund (CLF),which received a £4,000 grant from unionlearnplus funding from USDAW. During the period of thepilot, the number of providers in the partnershipincreased to seven – each with an agreed servicelevel agreement.

Learning was promoted through in-storepromotions that were sometimes planned tocoincide with national initiatives, such as AdultLearners’ Week, jointly organised by a mobile ULRand the store reps/ULRs. The learning usually tookplace in or near stores – local store managementoften gave support by providing rooms andflexibility of shifts.

The fund was managed by a steering group madeup of the union project worker, the mobile ULR,representatives from the partner colleges and Adult Learner Services, nextstep and the Learningand Skills Council. Originally there was a rep fromthe sector skills council but this contact moved on. The steering group planned promotional andlearning activity based on the needs identified intraining/learning questionnaires and the resourcesin cash or kind that were available.

Co-investmentThe CLF gave learners a voucher worth up to £50 to cover half the cost of learning, where a fee was involved. The fund received a grant from unionlearn and £10,000 in total from USDAW.Colleges have now begun to agree to ‘ring fence’further funding – initially £1,000. Individuals alsoco-fund their learning if a fee is involved. Full statefunding is available for some learning through Trainto Gain (e.g. Skills for Life). In-kind contributionscome from the colleges in promotions and intracking systems, from the individual (their studytime) and from the employer (meeting rooms,flexibility, some release for promotion days).

Outputs and outcomes During this period of the project, learners achievedthe following:

❚ 45 people gained Skills for Life qualificationsranging from Entry Level to Level 2

❚ 49 people received ICT qualifications at various levels

❚ 63 people opted for other career or personaldevelopment programmes, including the Child Care NVQ, “Web Weaver” course, Turkish,Spanish and sign language.

USDAW Check Out Learning Merseyside

collective learning fund case study 1

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BenefitsAs well as the results above, the CLF project hashad some broader effects. Promotions and theavailability of onsite learning raise the union’sprofile as well as the concept of learning within thestore. Gradually the various partners and potentialpartners have also become more positive tosupporting this kind of informal learning.

Equally, the learning providers had become moreaware of the value of a co-funding approach. Bypooling resources – in cash or in kind – a moreattractive and affordable set of learning offerscould be made. These allow potential learners tomove between different kinds of learning as theybuild up their confidence.

Challenges The biggest difficulty remains engaging theemployers of these major companies. It is thenature of the retail food sector that the majorretailers’ training policies are centrally driven and leave little space for local initiative. While the project demonstrated some progress withengaging employers, this is an ongoing challenge.

A further problem is that companies tend to their Train to Gain contracts centrally

without consulting staff or union reps about thecontent of those contracts – with the result that it is very difficult or impossible to negotiate. Thus,Train to Gain funded NVQs or ITQs cannot beaccessed at local level other than for very limitednumbers of staff. Nor will the companies allowcollege and other assessors into stores to assessfor an NVQ. Accessing affordable learning remainsa challenge.


USDAW Check Out Learning (Merseyside)Julia Baldwin, [email protected]

CLF Regional Project Manager Dave Eva, unionlearn regional [email protected]

May 2010


“There is quite a buzz on the days we do a learning promotion. People know it is the union that is pushing this. Full-timeofficers have noticed this. It is taking a long time but gradually the companies are also becoming more positive aboutsupporting Check Out Learning. I have been invited to talk to a Regional PersonalManagers meeting. This would never have happened before.” Josie Cahill, mobile ULR


arrange

BackgroundArgos Distribution is a large distribution centre inHeywood Distribution Park. It handles a wide rangeof stock for Argos Retail stores across the north ofEngland. The number of staff fluctuates but, at anyone time, there are over 400 permanent staff and a further 200-plus temporary agency staff.

Unite has about 96 per cent membership amongpermanent staff and a fluctuating level of about 20 per cent membership among temporary staff.The site has a good team of reps – seven shopstewards and five health and safety reps.

Engaging with the employerBefore the introduction of the Collective LearningFund, the union had not much involvement inlearning and skills issues. A new site manager was appointed and he proposed a joint learninginitiative to the stewards. He had seen aworkplace learning centre in action at a previoussite. The stewards turned him down. Learning andskills was “not what a union did”.

When the CLF was launched, a union project worker approached the stewards and encouragedthe reps to think again. They agreed to apply for the small pot of funding available to help them setup a CLF. This time the stewards agreed and withmanagement on board, they applied for – and received – the funding from unionlearn.

During the first phase, both reps and managementfound that networking with other sites wasextremely valuable. A broad understanding wasdeveloped about the aims of what was going tohappen and this was ultimately formalised into alearning agreement. ULRs were appointed andtrained and a workplace learning centre wasestablished.

A steering committee was set up with theinvolvement of the general manager, the planningmanager, the learning and development manager,the Unite convenor, the ULRs and the Unite project

worker. Eventually the main learning provider, BuryCollege/Business Solutions, joined the committee.

The committee plans the learning that takes placeacross the site – based on the available externalfunding, funding provided by the company, andeventually the funding and resources from thecollege. Working within the framework of thelearning agreement, the committee also decideshow the resources will be used and what learningwill take place during company time, and what willbe in the individual’s time.

Co-investmentThe fund was started with a £4,000 grant fromunionlearn. The employer then put £20,000 intothe ‘pot’. Later the provider agreed to donate £110per completed NVQ. As well as this funding, thevarious partners made ‘in kind’ contributions – theemployer contributed resources for the learningcentre, the college agreed to provide some freecourses, the learners gave their time. State fundingwas drawn in through Train to Gain. The fund wasused to pay for publicity and promotion, to helpwith the cost of learning and to contribute towardstime off for learning.

Outputs and outcomes From the start it was agreed the fund would beused to encourage a broad range for learning –from vocational to personal development – thatmembers might want to become involved in.

During the period of the project, learners took up the following courses:

❚ 204 people achieved Skills for Life qualificationsranging from Entry Level to Level 2, andincluding 66 ESOL qualifications

❚ 138 took gained ICT qualifications includingECDL,CLAIT and ITQ

❚ 104 took NVQs in warehousing and other subjects

❚ 85 took courses in subjects including holidaySpanish, basic sign language and other topics.

Argos Distribution Heywood



BenefitsThe impact of the CLF cannot just be measured in terms of the outputs above. There have beenbroader changes, such as improving the confidenceof members of staff.

The site manager noted that the companysometimes needed to ask shop floor employees to do some screen work with PCs, and that the CLF project gave many people greater confidencein taking on such work.

According to the management, the CLF has also led to greater staff engagement at the site, and a more positive atmosphere.

ChallengesInitially there was some scepticism on the shopfloor, but as the initiative developed, a morepositive attitude to learning took shape. Staff felt the union was more ‘visible’ and there was a

generally more positive attitude to learning andtowards the union – particularly among Polish andother migrant workers. Some new members joined.Equally managers began to recognise benefitsarising from the learning programme: greaterconfidence, more flexibility and better moraleacross the workforce.

There has also been a build up of trust on thelearning committee. The last 12 months has seen the site go through some difficult negotiationsas it moved to a new shift system. Both themanagement and union reps were clear that thelearning partnership should continue, regardless of other difficulties. They all valued the learninginitiative and were keen that members of thelearning committee should continue workingtogether to resolve problems.

A lot of energy still has to be put into engaginglearners – for example through promotions andaward ceremonies, as well as using vouchers asincentives and personal development programmes.And funding and resources remain a problem. Co-funding learning is expensive. State fundingprogrammes are under pressure. The ULRs and the learning committee are preparing a proposalfor funding support from the company for the next financial year – and this process will need to be repeated annually.

collective learning fund case study 2 Argos DistributionGary Unsworth [email protected]


May 2010


“People’s confidence is lifted and morale is better. People are more positive aboutthe union and value their certificates”Mark Chantler, ULR Unite

“It's not about the £4,000. It is about whatthis has triggered. The learning deliveredhas given people greater confidence toapply for jobs that use their new skills.”Andrew Collier, Planning Manager


BackgroundMcVities is a large food manufacturer inManchester. It is part of a company with a numberof manufacturing locations in the UK and its mainproduct is biscuits. About 600 members of staff are employed at the Manchester site, mainly on theproduction lines. In addition there are up to 300temporary staff employed there, depending on thetime of year. Most employees tended to have lefteducation long ago, with few or no qualifications.

Union membership runs at about 90 per centamong the permanent staff and there is a team ofeight shop stewards and union learning reps(ULRs). The union’s relationship with managementis on the whole stable but can be difficult at times.

Engaging with the employerAt the start of the CLF project, McVities already hada record of union involvement in learning althoughit had flagged a little. There was a learning centre,some ULRs and a learning agreement in place withthe company. By the time the CLF was launched,management had begun to realise that, to becompetitive, the company needed to start movingto a higher skill production model. So both unionand management agreed to apply for a grant to setup a CLF (subsequently named ‘The Biscuit Barrel’).Management agreed to match the unionlearn grantwith a contribution of £4,000.

The CLF is jointly managed by the learningcommittee, with the active involvement of the site learning co-ordinator, the training anddevelopment manager, the ULRs and the learningproviders. The CLF has been used to promotelearning, purchase software and other IT equipment.

The learning committee listens to feedback and,within the framework of the learning agreement,makes group decisions taking into account theresources available – either in the CLF or throughexternal agencies. So, for example, Train to Gainfunding was used to fund a programme of NVQs. In another case, the cost of ICT courses for

non-ICT users had become too expensive for those employees, so the committee found andpromoted a free provider of online ICT courses.

Co-investmentThe CLF was started with a £4,000 grant fromunionlearn. The employer matched this with acontribution of £4,000. Successful negotiations led to the college agreeing to donate £50 for every£1,000 earned from fees. The individual pays anelement of the fee where appropriate. A bid to theLSC resulted in a further £1,200 for the fund. Inaddition, ‘in-kind’ contributions were made by the employer (facilities and release of the learningco-ordinator), the union (digital cameras) and theindividual learner (study time).

Outputs and outcomes It was understood from the beginning of the project that the learning would cover a spread of learning including vocational learning andpersonal development. The results include:

❚ 30 Skills for Life passes at Levels 1 and 2

❚ 49 ICT passes at Levels 1 and 2

❚ 40 people taking the NVQ in food manufacturing – most commonly at Level 2

❚ 14 people taking personal learningprogrammes, including languages and, in one case, a plumbing NVQ

❚ the creation of a book swap club.

BenefitsThe overall impact is not just on the numbers who have accessed learning. The way the CLF ismanaged has itself affected how learning developsat the site. The union learning co-ordinator believesthat the CLF provided a focus and a structure tolearning activity. Whereas before there was drift,now the learning committee’s discussions have amore solid basis – working out how the limitedfunds and resources could be best used or how the fund could be grown. Union-led learning isbecoming more professional in its approach.

McVities Manchester



This has led to greater respect and trust betweencommittee partners and a much higher profile for the union in the workplace – among bothtemporary and permanent staff.

Like many workplaces, the site has to moderniseand update to survive. It is in a period of transitionin starting to move beyond training centred onlegal requirements (such as health and safety, foodhygiene, and manual handling). The CLF pilot, withits broad, open access introduction of the NVQ, hascontributed to this process. Initially there was a lotof scepticism both on the shop floor and with someunion reps and line managers. Now a more positiveattitude to learning is emerging.

Challenges The pilot stage has been short and problemsremain. The CLF has been established with co-funding in order to make learning accessible andaffordable, but there are concerns about how bestto work out ways of drawing in cash and resources,while keeping expenditure at a sustainable level.The learning committee are well aware of the issueand are considering ways of dealing with it, whichwill no doubt involve further co-funding by theemployer, the individual and the state.

There is much less scepticism about the initiativethan there was previously, particularly on the shopfloor and from the immediate beneficiaries –learners. There remain pockets of doubt howeverabout sustainability, both among some unionmembers and some line managers. Overcomingthese last doubts remains a challenge.


McVities, ManchesterJonathan Waterhouse, [email protected]


May 2010


“The union is more now visible within the workplace with over 30 new membersrecruited. I have recruited more membersthrough the learning centre than I ever did as a shop steward” Jonathan Waterhouse, Learning Co-ordinator

“The CLF has supported the growth ofinvestment in people development. Thefund has provided our ‘Learn 4 U’ centrewith a great foundation and with the abilityto strengthen the learning agenda on sitefor the future.”Loretta Smith, HR usiness artner,Manchester


B P


June 2010

Photography © Chris Gleave

Designwww.wave.coop

PrintNewnorth

unionlearn Congress House London WC1B 3LS

Tel 020 7079 6920Fax 020 7079 6921


All unionlearn publications maybe made available for dyslexic or visually impaired readers, onrequest, in an agreed electronicformat or in accessible formatssuch as Braille, audiotape andlarge print, at no extra cost.


Case Studies

Co-investing in Learning - Collective Learning Fund Pilots in the North West

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