ATL

Union philosopher

The recession, a potential change of government and philosophy all came up in discussion as Report met new unionlearn director Tom Wilson. Words by Alex Tomlin

No sooner have I sat down to interview Tom Wilson than I am bombarded with questions: what do I do at ATL? How many people are in the communications department? Who sends out the press releases?

Wilson is seriously interested in how unions work. The new director of unionlearn, the Trades Union Congress' (TUC) learning and skills organisation, is particularly interested in education unions as he has three siblings, all teachers and each a member of a different education union.

"There's a healthy discussion at Christmas," he reveals. "My brother is a career-minded ambitious sort of chap and he likes ATL because he sees it as very professional."

Wilson sees unions and education as inextricably linked. "Unions have always been about education. The first union banners said 'Educate. Agitate. Organise.' Education is just as important as the other two. Unions help people develop, that's what they do," he says.

To pay his way through university, Wilson worked variously on a building site, in a yoghurt factory, as a hospital porter, on an oil rig in the North Sea, in a bottling factory in East London and on a production line making airline meals. He learnt as much through this work as he did studying philosophy at university. "I learnt there's some bloody awful jobs and the dreadful way people are paid and managed," he explains. "And that made me feel like a trade unionist and I've been a trade unionist first, last and foremost all my life."

So, what happened to the philosophy degree? "I'm a philosopher in my spare time," Wilson laughs. "But I think studying it should be compulsory for all union negotiators. It trains you to distinguish between a good argument and a bad one. To be able to analyse what's normative and prescriptive, what's empirical and what's just an assertion. I think it's stood me in very good stead throughout my life."

Now, Wilson turns his philosophy towards unionlearn, having just recently finished his previous job as head of the TUC's organisational and services department. He follows in the footsteps of Liz Smith OBE, who retired in July, having overseen the training of more than 23,000 union learning reps (ULRs), surpassing the target of 22,000 a year ahead of schedule. A glowing message from the Prime Minister was read out at her retirement party. Hers are big shoes to fill.

"She was a really important figure in the skills landscape," Wilson states. "She will be a hard act to follow but I will do my best. I've always liked a challenge. Unionlearn is a fantastic team of people. Around 150 staff and they're all as passionate as I am and Liz was about union learning so I've got terrific support. I'm convinced we can carry on the good work that Liz has done."

In his brief tenure he has already employed two new members of staff charged with collecting information, statistics and case studies to put the case for unionlearn to whoever forms the next government. The organisation is largely reliant on UK government and EU funding and Wilson is keen for that to continue.

"There are people who say that funding is under threat and a new government would pull the plug. I'm absolutely convinced that is not the case. We've got a very strong story to tell, not least because employers love the work unionlearn do. They can see they get better returns on their training investment if they involve the union," he says.

The current fashion for announcing public spending cuts is also on his mind. Plucking a figure from the air, he says: "If [the new government] decides to take, say, 20 per cent out of the adult skills budget, thinking 'why should we subsidise employers who should be spending their own money on training?', I think that would be disastrous because the history of this country is that employers simply don't adequately invest in training."

The cloud of recession hovering over the country has prompted the TUC to start a programme called 'recession support for unions'. "We aim to help unions help their members deal with the onslaught of the recession in whichever way suits that union. And it's interesting the extent to which employers are really supportive of that. When employers find out what we do they're often really surprised. It's not the image they had in their minds of what unions are all about," he says.

Employers tightening their belts in the recession may well have an effect on their responses to employees' right to request time off for training, which is scheduled to come into effect some time in 2010 and will apply to all employees. This will mean that employers will need to have sound business reasons for rejecting employee requests for time off to train.

"Unionlearn's here to enable unions to help members exercise that right," Wilson explains. "When the right to request comes in we need to make sure that union members are very strongly equipped to put the best case they can, making it difficult for the employer to refuse.

"In turn that means the request has to be sensible and well founded and that the person making the request is well aware of the reasons the employers can use to refuse.

"It may be a good idea to find a course that doesn't entirely involve your working day, perhaps a mixture of some days, some evenings. Sometimes you have to be a bit pragmatic and work out a sensible compromise. ULRs can help to frame the request to make it as relevant as possible."

Wilson is keen to talk up the part ULRs play. "ULRs need to be influencers, persuaders. That's why a lot of ULRs want to do it and are very good at it. A passionate commitment to helping members with their learning really turns on a lot of ULRs. They themselves are often people who have seen in some personal way the value of training.

"Education staff absolutely par excellence make really good ULRs precisely because they can see the power of learning. A lot want to carry on and do the CPD, so having a ULR around in the staffroom can help them, by being a mentor and advising them on the best type of CPD. That's why ULRs are so successful in unions like ATL.

"Being a ULR can give you a new lease of life," he continues. "It's a way of directly helping people you work with every day but also gaining some skills for yourself. You also get recognition and respect from colleagues and management, which is great."

The ULR role, which has existed for less than 10 years, also brings new people into union activity. "It can attract different types to traditional rep roles. A higher proportion of younger union members, women, black and ethnic minorities, many of them coming into a union role for the first time, really enjoy it and go on to take other roles as well."

Despite their success, ULRs can't yet be seen as equal to the more established roles of workplace and health and safety reps. "Enthusiast as I am, I wouldn't say we're quite there yet," Wilson says. But he is looking at a target of half of all reps having a ULR aspect to their role, although the timing of that does depend on what funding is available.

"We need to continually develop the ULR role," he adds. "Some ULRs love getting stuck into negotiating money agreements, others enjoy the counselling aspect, others like learning about the education system, about different types of learning for different types of learners. You can take it in all sorts of different directions.

"We're very concerned that we meet the needs of unions that support us. For example, if unions want us to do training at a much higher level we can do that," he explains. He adds: "We actually do more higher professional courses than is generally realised."

Finally, what does Wilson want to achieve in his time at the helm? "My main ambition is to embed union learning as a permanent institution in the skills landscape in the way the Open University has," he responds. "That's the kind of standing that I aspire to for union learning. In years to come people will see it as an absolutely central, rock-solid part of the labour movement and the skills landscapes."

To find out more about ATL's union learning reps or how to become one visit our learning reps page.