Education Officer Job Details

The GFTU education programme will provide and develop The skills and knowledge to develop confident and informed activists in order to build collective power An understanding of a political and economic context with an emphasis on the relationship of labour and capital An understanding and appreciation of Trade Union history

We are an Institute of Leadership and Management Awarding Centre (ILM). Some courses have been fully validated and gain participants an ILM qualification. We will provide a new course for trade union trainers in learning theory and practice. We believe strongly that the way in which trade union education is taught through democratic participatory engagement is as important as what is taught. Old faithful trade union essential training has been refreshed for new representatives, developing negotiating technique, health and safety, pensions, pay campaigning, trade unions and the community, public speaking, lobbying parliament effectively, will be joined by many new areas of importance such as neurodiversity awareness, stress at work, economics for workers, advanced pensions, and a range of subjects around the much neglected history of the working class movement. We are committed to imaginative learning techniques and believe art and cultural work and workers has great power within trade union organising, campaigning and education. We are therefore going to appoint an arts and cultural worker to develop initiatives in this important area.

education in the current political and economic context and hold a special conference. On November 11-13 there will be a significant section on trade union education at our Union Building Conference. We will provide online learning materials, but are committed to the importance of face to face exchanges between learners from across the unions. We will provide course materials at unions’ requests for their own work. We are assisting some unions with curriculum delivery and development. We offer one day of free training for all affiliates. We will provide flexible learning through evening classes, day schools, weekend courses and our programme of five day courses at Northern College have already begun, covering health and safety, new representatives training and negotiations. We will again provide our popular Trade Union Management programme.

We have commissioned a new performance piece of 75 minutes covering the history of the trade union movement in song, video clips and recordings. This is a great educational piece for union training events and conferences. We have a network of great poets, singers, musicians, theatre groups and artists keen to support union learning. We have a wonderful learning environment in our own Hotel and Conference Centre www.quorngrangehotel.co.uk and this is available for unions’ own learning events. Indeed over 30 unions currently use this excellent facility discounted for GFTU affiliates and their members.

Social justice and community Internationalism and solidarity

A culture in which all of our education is informed by a commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion.

Doug Nicholls, General Secretary. Ben Marshall , President GFTU. John Smith, Chair GFTU Educational Trust.

Check the website and communications for the forthcoming programme for the next two years. General Federation of Trade Unions Educational Trust The Lodge 84 Wood Lane, Quorn Leicestershire LE12 8DB www.gftu.org.uk

Above all our Educational Trust Trustees, supported by the GFTU Executive and the union education officers’meeting have developed a clear set of principles on which our new programme will be delivered:

Quorn Grange Hotel and Conference Centre