EC Meeting Papers January 2018

Education Officer’s Report

January 2018

The visit of four senior officers from the VGCL (Vietnamese Confederation of Trade Unions), from 11 – 17 December, was a great success. Thanks, in particular, are due to the GMB, Unite, Aegis and RMT unions and to Thompson’s Solicitors; who gave freely of their officers’ time and expertise. The focus of the visit was Health & safety in the Workplace, and the itinerary included a visit to the TUC; the second largest quarry workings in the UK, and training on all aspects of H&S law and best practice. The Morning Star ran a feature on the visit (18/12/17) and the task, now, is to build upon the firm links established with the VGCL. Calton Books in Glasgow are now placing regular orders for GFTU stock and there is a burgeoning relationship with Five Leaves in Nottingham. The Liberating Arts Festival, though scaled back in terms of its programme, went ahead as planned; built positive new relationships with partners in the fields of arts and culture, and delivered on its learning outcomes. Meetings have been held with ILM in order to resolve historic issues over the delivery of the programme. An initial TU management course has been scheduled, for GMB Birmingham & West Midlands, at the end of February. A new contracted has been signed with Learning Pool, covering provision of the service for the next 6 months. The end of the 2017-18 programme of Formac is due to be finalised, in Warsaw, 27-28 February, and a new 2018-19 strategy, requiring GFTU involvement, set out. The first of the new customised TSSA courses are set to come on stream in March; a SLA is due to be signed between GFTU and the union at the end of January. The ‘Learning to Teach in Trade Union Education’ and the post-graduate ‘Principles of Effective Trade Union Education’ run in partnership with Leeds Beckett University and Newman College have been rescheduled for Easter and the autumn, respectively. GMB London Region, NAPO, BFAWU and the SWU have all expressed interest in customised training days. The relationship with Northern College continues to grow, and Northern are now attending both the Education Officers’ meetings and the Union Building Conference in February. The immediate staffing and administrative situation has been stabilised with the appointment of Ros Hartshorn as Education Administrator. The GFTU core courses and the History dayschools continue to register minimal interest, with only one of the projected session’s going ahead. There was interest, among POA members, in both Work is ongoing with the publication schedule for Workable book titles for 2018. The tender and re-writing of the PCS contract for education is ongoing. A talk was given to a very well-attended meeting of the Lincoln Labour Party (4/12) on Keir Hardie.