Summer courses
Summer learning
The heat may be on but it’s cool to learn with Unite! Choose from an array of courses on organising and bargaining skills, leadership development for Black and Asian members, health and safety advanced courses, the workplace reps’ national courses and the national women’s week courses too.
ORGANISING AND BARGAINING
There are three courses for you to choose from – held over five days at our venue – and you can only attend one course.
The date of the courses are June 2 to 6; the venue is The View Hotel, Eastbourne.
Organising and Bargaining for Equality
This course is open to all Unite workplace reps and workplace Branch Officers to attend. This course will assist all workplace reps and branch officials to understand the importance of equal opportunities for all, and why it is essential to organise, negotiate and campaign around equality in the workplace.
This course covers issues for all under-represented groups within our membership: Women, Black and Asian ethnic Minorities, Disabled and LGBT+, young and older workers.
Organising, Bargaining and Campaigning at Work
This advanced course is for senior workplace reps interested in developing their understanding of workplace organising relating to collective bargaining strategy in the workplace. We will look at multi layered campaigning and building workplace power.
We will utilise legal, industrial, shareholder, media, political and international strategies, to create strong alliances whilst using Unite and wider movement relationships to build effective campaigns and win for workers.
We will identify how “member consultation” works so that you can organise effectively how to bring employers to the bargaining table.
Organising and Bargaining in Mental Health
This is an advanced course designed for workplace reps and Branch Officers and looks at the key issue of mental health as an organising issue. Prior to attending this course reps should have attended Mental Health Awareness in their region.
The course will delve into the workplace environmental factors that can contribute to mental ill health. Workplace stress, long working hours, lone working and performance targets are just some of the issues that the course will examine in the context of mental health and well-being.
The course examines ways to create healthy workplaces and provide representation for members experiencing mental health conditions. You will develop effective strategies and methods to ensure employers are taking responsibility to provide mental health support for workers.
HEALTH & SAFETY ADVANCED COURSES
There are four H&S courses running in the same week, please only choose one course for the duration of the week.
Who should attend? Experienced safety reps who have completed Health and Safety 1A&1B and 2A &2B in their region.
The date of the courses are June 16 to 20; the venue is The View Hotel, Eastbourne
Risk Assessment for New Methods of Working
This course will examine the challenges of risk assessment in a fast-changing working environment encompassing the issue of home and hybrid working, lone working, mobile working, and future technological change.
Our members have faced huge changes in work over the past few years and often the assessment of risk has been offloaded to workers to accommodate what were thought to be temporary changes. Now many workers are expected to do their own risk assessment with minimal guidance or supervision.
The increase in automation and AI has also led to huge challenges in the field of safety, alongside the concerns over air quality and ventilation sparked by the pandemic.
Organising around health, safety and wellbeing
This is an advanced course designed for health and safety reps and looks at Health and Safety as an organising issue.
The course will address health and safety as an organising issue, we will identify common issues in the workplace where we can organise and empower members to address health and safety utilising organising tools such as body mapping,
The course examines ways to create healthy workplaces through empowering members to become reps, and how to get more involved in the Unite Health and Safety structures
EQUALITIES
Black & Asian Members’ Leadership Development Course
The date of the course is June 16 to 20; the venue is The Aloft Hotel, Birmingham.
This course is open to Black and Asian Unite workplace representatives and branch officers, we positively encourage applications from Black and Asian women.
This course will empower Black and Asian workplace reps to build their confidence and progress by identifying effective ways and methods to encourage Black and Asian union reps and branch officers to get further involved in Unite.
You will develop the skills needed in the Workplace, in the Union, at conference and in the wider Labour Movement, at all levels, to build involvement and take action for Race Equality.
National Women’s Week Courses
There are four courses running in the same week, please only choose one course for the duration of the week. This course is open to women who are Unite reps or branch officers to attend.
The date of the courses is August 17 to 22; the venue is Aloft Hotel, Birmingham.
National Women’s Week is a national education course which covers the diversity of Unite women members’, who attend a positive learning environment to share experiences and views, listen to key speakers and learn more about issues facing women in the workplace, with the help of experienced women tutors who are also trade unionists.
Please Note! You must choose one of the courses listed below. Clearly state on your application form which course you will be attending.
Course 1 - Understanding your Union and Getting Involved
This course is designed for less experienced women representatives who want to get more involved and covers how the union works, promoting the Union in your workplace and community, and building confidence.
Course 2 - Women Organising in the Workplace
This course for women representatives looks at strategic organising in the workplace, as well as the related legal challenges and workplace organising issues. It also covers the skills for representing women at work.
Course 3 - Campaigning for Women in the Workplace
This course deals with the Unite women’s key campaigns such as Equal Pay and Union Equality Reps, as well as developing negotiating and campaigning skills to tackling workplace equality issues such as Family Friendly Rights, Women’s Health policies, Part-time working, and sexual harassment.
Course 4 - Leadership Development for Unite Women
This is an advanced course for experienced women activists who have attended other union education courses, and who now want to build on their union involvement and encourage others to get involved. It covers Leadership theories and the power dynamics of the worker-employer relationship for women, skills needed in the workplace, the Union, at conferences and in the wider community at all levels to maximise your union experience.
Childcare Facilities
To ensure that this course is as accessible as possible to those with caring responsibilities, childcare arrangements can be made and paid for by Unite as this course is taking place in school holidays. This will be in line with national Unite policy.
If you require this, please complete the childcare booking form available from the National Education Department.
Email: education.education@unitetheunion.org
Disability Access The Union is committed to ensuring disability access requirements are met.
Please complete the access form together with your application form which is enclosed at the back of the brochure.
Remember Contact your Regional Women & Equalities Officer to apply for National Women’s Week before your application is countersigned by your Regional Education Officer.
