To display this email in a browser, please click here.

Wales TUC Learning Services E-zine

Summer issue - July 2011

Hello and welcome to the Wales TUC's summer e-zine. This quarter's articles

include:

Learning at work day at the HMRC The new TUC Education course booklet Employment Tribunal Skills and Discrimination Law course UNISON Cymru's entry to the Excellence in Healthcare awards A report from the Wales TUC women's summer school Enjoy!

Learning at Work Day event, HMRC Wrexham by Laura Westwood

Our Learning at Work Day event was held at the HMRC offices in Wrexham on

Thursday 12th May 2011.

We are lucky to have a large office with lots of small rooms. So we arranged for

a Macmillan nurse, representatives from St John's Ambulance, Glyndwr

University, Open University and someone from Nightingale House, a local

hospice, to come in and speak to staff. We also had Bernice Waugh from the

Wales TUC at the event.

Nightingale House - Margaret Hollings came along and spoke about the work that

the hospice do. She showed staff a short DVD about the hospice. She explained

how difficult it is to get funding, and told staff about the different fun events that

the hospice organise such as the ladies midnight walk, 10k fun run and 'It's a

knockout' challenge. They even have their own lottery which people can sign up

to for £1 per week.

St Johns Ambulance - Vicky from St John's came along and explained that St

John's ambulance is a worldwide organisation. She told us about the sort of

training that is available from St John's and the events that they get to attend.

21, 000 people get trained via St Johns Ambulance every year. They even run a

Young Lifesaver scheme where children as young as five year's old get basic first

aid training. She also told the group about the Community First Responder Team

that St Johns have. This team are on standby and should there be a delay in

ambulance getting to the patient, for example, in a rural area, then the First

Responder would get to the scene and administer first aid until the paramedics

arrive.

Macmillan - A nurse from Macmillan held several sessions. She told staff about

the support that the Macmillan nurses can provide. They offer emotional support

from the time someone finds out that they're ill, right through to when they're

fully recovered. This can be over a time scale of up to five years. They also offer

counselling and even have information centres in hospitals, including Wrexham.

Glyndwr, Open University and Bernice from the Wales TUC all set up tables in the

staff kitchen. As staff came for a brew, there was no getting away! They were

also able to discuss courses that were available, and Bernice provided a grammar

quiz for staff with books given away as prizes.

A member of staff, Kathryn, held several Tai Chi sessions in the staff lounge and

we had some brilliant responses to this event. Everyone went back to their

desks, chilled and relaxed.

We also held sessions where staff could take an essential skills screener which

again, was very successful. As ULRs, Laura and Jane were on hand to answer

queries and sold a general knowledge quiz during the day with all proceeds going

to Nightingale House Hospice. We also had prizes of books to give away and

some cereal bars kindly provided by Kelloggs.

The event was a great success and many members of staff were able to

participate and we're already thinking up ideas for similar events in the future.

Bernice Waugh from the Wales TUC said:

"I had a great time at the event and I met loads of new people (and a former

colleague).

I did wish I could have gone into the Tai Chi. As people came out they floated -

they did! People were all soft and floaty with smiles and saying 'Ooo that was

lovely' and 'Mmm, I could do with doing that every day'. I thought Tai Chi was

just slow karate moves, it just shows, you learn something new every day.

And the other new thing I learnt, along with several others who did the grammar

quiz, (more fun than it sounds - honest) was what an ellipsis is. Nope you will

have to look it up... (There's a clue in there somewhere).

Throughout the whole day, Jane and Laura were rushing around making sure

everything was running smoothly and in between, raising money for Nightingale

House Hospice. Outstanding job done for Learning at Work Day by Laura and

Jane and everyone else who made it such a success. Just wait for next year!

PS: Don't be fooled by the 'kindly donated', I heard strong arm tactics were used..."

Wales TUC Education - new course booklet

The Wales TUC Education Service has published a new course

booklet which give full details of the course programme for all

reps from September 2011 to July 2012. It includes details of

new courses, redundancy advice and online learning

opportunities.

A PDF copy of the booklet can be downloaded via this link, or

alternatively hard copies of the booklet can be requested from

the Wales TUC office tel: 029 2034 7010 or email jrees@tuc.org.uk

Employment Tribunal Skills and Discrimination Law course

The Equality and Human Rights Commission's

Employment Tribunal Skills and Discrimination Law

course will be commencing in the autumn in Wrexham.

The course will cover:

The Equality Act 2010 in relation to employment (specifically covering

age, civil partnership, disability, gender, pregnancy and maternity, race,

religion or belief, sexual orientation and transgender;

Skills association with assisting your clients with taking a claim to an employment tribunal

The course is completely free of charge to the EHRC's target audience, which

includes trade union representatives, and is held one day a month over 6

months.

If you are interested in the course, or know of anyone who may be interested

then please contact Kerry Wakefield at the EHRC on 029 2044 7725 or email

kerry.wakefield@equalityhumanrights.com

Click here down load an information leaflet about the course

UNISON Cymru shortlisted for Social Partnership Forum award

UNISON Cymru Wales has entered an application into

this year's Healthcare People Management Association

Excellence in HRM Awards. The category UNISON applied

under was the Social Partnership Forum award for

partnership working and they described UNISON's

strategy around improving essential skills in the NHS in

Wales through their 'Connecting Health Through

Learning' WULF projects. The award was sponsored by

the Social Partnership Forum which is a tripartite arrangement between the

Department of Health, NHS employers and NHS trade unions.

UNISON Cymru's written application was shortlisted along with another two

applications. They were invited to deliver a presentation to panel consisting of

HRM professionals, HPMA representatives, users from trade unions and a

representative from the Social Partnership Forum. An awards ceremony is being

held in London this Thursday (23rd June) where the winner of this category will

be announced. Representatives from NHS employers, UNISON WULF project

managers and UNISON staff will be in attendance to find out if their application is

successful.

Update: Unfortunately UNISON Cymru did not win the award, but they did come

highly recommended.

To read more about the awards about it please click here.

Wales TUC women's summer school

The Wales TUC women's summer school took place in Cardiff on the 22 - 23 June

2011. Around 20 women trade union activists from a variety of unions attended

the 2-day residential summer school which aimed to develop new activists in

confidence, knowledge and skills. The event received very positive feedback from

those who attended

Sheila Hart, one of the attendees at the event, has written this report of her

personal experience of the summer school.

"This was the first Wales TUC Education event I have attended. I did not know

what to expect but the subject matter up for discussion promised to be very

interesting.

I was not disappointed.

Day 1

On entering the meeting room I was greeted by some lovely music from a local

musician, Lou Noble, who immediately set the tone for a relaxed convivial

atmosphere. Many of the delegates had never been to a TUC event and were also

new union reps; so setting the right tone from the start was important. In fact

75% of the delegates had never attended a TUC event before.

The unions were very well represented: NASUWT, USDAW, UNISON, UNITE,

GMB, PCS and Community reps were all present.

Lynne Hackett (Regional Equalities Officer - Unison) opened the event with a

short talk on equality with reference to the Equality Act 2010. Placed around the

room were posters with a statement referring to equality. The delegates split up

into groups of four and we set out with some post-its to determine whether or

not the statements were true or false. The task was the perfect starting point.

One of the questions asked 'at the current rate: How long in years would it take

to have equal pay between men and women?' We all knew the answer would be

a long time but we all gave a collective gasp when the figure of 187 years was

announced.

Needless to say the discussions about equality carried on through lunch.

After lunch Rhian Cartwright and Sue Carlick (TUC tutors) began with a

discussion about what it means to be a woman today. How do we see ourselves;

in the workplace and at home? Leading on from the earlier discussion on equality

the debate that ensued was both lively and insightful; with delegates calling out

'mother' to 'taxi driver'. With ideas fresh in our minds we were given a task 'the

perfect woman'. To complete the task we were given some materials, playing

cards, paperclips, blu-tack, post-its and elastic bands and using the discussion

we had earlier; to create a 'perfect' woman. Many delegates within their groups

were very creative, using the materials to show how women multi-task between

work, family needs and a social life. The task emphasised how we take our many

roles as women for granted. I came out of the task feeling very proud that I am

a woman and of my abilities.

After a well deserved rest we all got together for an evening meal. Melvena

Richard (Equality Rep of the Year 2010) gave a talk on her experiences of being

involved and promoting black members and immigrant workers in UNISON. How

her involvement in highlighting injustices against minority groups inspired the

wider union membership and the local community to gain the confidence to

demand better working conditions and to speak out against racism. A lovely

softly spoken woman who was truly inspirational.

Day 2

Negotiating Skills with Rhian Cartwright and Sue Carlick (TUC tutors) was the

first item on the agenda for the day. After a surprisingly early night for most

delegates we felt ready to tackle the practical application of union duties. Rhian

and Sue gave out handouts containing case studies and the process of planning

and preparing for a disciplinary hearing. When first approaching a case we follow

the main points using P.I.P. (Problem - Information - Plan). As delegates we

were already in small groups sat around about five tables; which made it easier

to discuss the intricacies of the case.

After a quick overview of the disciplinary case we were split up into two groups:

management and the union. I luckily enough was in the union group.

The case on first glance seemed quite simple. The disciplinary letter stated that

the cleaner had been caught asleep on the job. But as we started to compare the

letter with the statements given, a lot of inconsistencies began to appear. None

of the delegates in the union group had taken part in a disciplinary hearing and

so while at first everyone was a little hesitant to give their opinion that soon

disappeared once the inconsistencies became apparent. Of course, as union reps

we wanted to make a case to support the cleaner and ensure that she was

treated fairly. So following P.I.P., we received the problem, and then discussed

the information available and now to form a plan. The case centred on the fact

that the cleaner had been found asleep but not when. So our first line of defence

was that the cleaner had been found asleep after her contracted hours had

finished, she was sleeping on her own time. Before starting the disciplinary

hearing we had to choose our team. I became the cleaner, Angela Owens

(UNISON) became the note taker and Ruth Jenkins (PCS) became our negotiator,

all reps from our union the General Workers Union (GWU). We discussed a back

story to add depth to the sparse facts on offer. This involved the cleaner being

found out as being a lesbian and receiving sexual harassment from her

supervisor Mr Batty. Yes, we had a great time inventing the back story and even

though we took the disciplinary exercise seriously we were able to have lighter

moments of humour.

The two groups, management and union, were brought back to the main room. A

large table had been placed in the middle of room so that all the delegates not

directly involved could see and hear what was going on. We took our places and

prepared to argue our case. Management had also prepared well. It soon became

apparent that both sides were determined to win. It became a stalemate.

Management stood by the statements written by the supervisor and depot

manager without conceding that the statements omitted time specific details and

the union side got side tracked by the statements without strongly challenging

the statements. This was very useful. While the case, we thought, should not

have been brought before a disciplinary hearing the stalemate situation

highlighted that preparation and a good plan structuring the meeting from the

start may have dealt with each piece of detail quickly so that we could focus on

the key element of the case. The disciplinary was adjourned.

The exercise had given everyone food for thought, so breaking up for lunch was

very well timed.

After lunch Pam Heneberry (Director - Institute of Leadership & Management) led

a discussion on 'Unlocking your full potential and skills building'. The talk she

gave led on from the discussion led by Rhian Cartwright at the beginning of Day

1. Pam talked about not just how we see ourselves as multi-tasking women but

also how we see ourselves in work. The difference between types of managers

and leaders and men and women in the workplace. We talked about what are the

good qualities of managers and the bad. This opened up into a topical discussion

not just directed at Pam but also amongst our own groups. Pam calmed

everything down and we were set a task of choosing from a pile of postcards;

one postcard we liked and discuss how the card represented not only our

workplace but we also had to have a representational song and a word. It was

surprising how many of the women chose 'leader of the gang' (Gary Glitter),

myself included. I picked it because it is light and fun but also inclusive and

strong. This was the theme of the afternoon; Work and responsibility are

serious, planning and structure in work is important. But too much seriousness

can be oppressive so balance is needed. Work hard but work as a team,

consideration and humour balanced with responsibility and structure.

By the end of this Summer School we as delegates, reps and women were

exhausted. There was a lot of information to take in and absorb. When the

delegates were asked if they would like to receive further information, everyone

signed up.

I, personally, would give the course a well deserved thumbs up!! "

Wales TUC Learning Services Website

Contacts

Previous Issues

This email was sent to jrees@tuc.org.uk

Click here to unsubscribe.

Contact

ghathway@tuc.org.uk

029 2034 7010