By working with members across our sectors, the campaign will focus activity with employers, government, local councils, as well as stakeholders in the skills space.

SKILLS

Conference notes that skilled employment is vital to our economy, often providing well paid and decent work. However, government expenditure on education and training continues to fall. Conference also notes that British employers are spending 50% less on training per employee than the EU average.
Conference believes that with the changing world of work, some jobs are being automated and that the people working in those jobs will need to reskill to find new work. Conference further believes that trade unions like Community have a responsibility to be at the forefront of campaigning for and securing better skills provision.

Conference calls on Community to:

• Lobby the government for better skills provision, including but not limited to; free college courses for people who have left employment, increasing the amount of ringfenced money for training that can be accessed by local councils and the creation of new lifelong learning opportunities.

• Call on employers to recognise the importance of and provide; transferable skills, reskilling opportunities and well-paid apprenticeships.

• Work with local councils to increase the skills provision in their area.

• Continue working to understand the impact of technological change on workers through the Commission on Workers and Technology.

• Push for more, and better paid apprenticeships.

• Lobby the Ministry of Justice to ensure adequate training and skills are being offered to prisoners to reduce reoffending and increase the likelihood of prisoners finding work after prison.

• Ensure all our members have access to skills-based learning and the opportunity to retrain.

• Run a skills audit, identifying where skills gaps lie and how we can prepare those workers to take the steps to upskill and/or retrain.

Want to get involved in shaping our campaign? Get in touch: skillsgroup@community-tu.org.