Tetley signs pledge
May 20 2009 by Sue Scott, Evening Gazette
AS part of Adult Learners Week, Tetley GB in Stockton have signed the Skills Pledge.
Unions and the employer will come together in a joint show of commitment to learning and staff development at the site. Dari Taylor, MP for Stockton South will be attending to witness the signing and to meet those involved.
The signing is the culmination of a week of learning based activities, run by the GMB and Unite union Learning Representatives to raise the profile of adult learning and to raise the profile of the new union-led Learning for All Fund project which focuses on improving skills in the workplace and encouraging members and staff to get back into learning – from literacy and numeracy or holiday Spanish.
Tommy Brennan, GMB Regional Secretary and Davey Hall, Unite Regional Secretary will both be at the Tetley event, along with Barney McGill, unionlearn Regional Manager, as staunch supporters of the learning agenda and as recognition of the expanding union-employer partnership work at the site.
Tommy Brennan, GMB Regional Secretary said: “The GMB Union is delighted to be involved, along with unionlearn, in bringing an opportunity for employees to enhance their skills within the workplace and bring added value to the employer in this process.”
Davey Hall, Unite Regional Secretary, said: “The Company have a longstanding strong relationship and tradition of involvement with the Trade Unions and I am extremely pleased that the Learning for All project has been jointly coordinated which will provide for new education opportunities for the workforce. In my belief it will ultimately translate into real advantages, and benefit the company as a whole in competitive terms.”
Dari Taylor, MP for Stockton South, said: “It is a pleasure to visit an excellent company with excellent Trade Union organisation. I am delighted to see how the company and the unions work together to achieve a valued relationship of staff development, learning and developing further skills in a wide variety of areas. It is fantastic to see a union organisation and a company working hand in hand for the benefit of employees.”
The Union Learning Representatives at Tetley organised numerous events for Tetley employees throughout the week including visits from BBC Raw, Middlesbrough College and the Open University, who brought along a wide range of information from organising your bank account and coping with household finances, to enrolling on a course for Digital Photography.
A key event of the week was a visit from the Skills for Life bus, which parked at the Tetley factory and gave employees the opportunity to go on-board and find out more about improving their literacy and numeracy skills.
Although the event was organised by the factory Trade Union representatives, it was very strongly supported and actively encouraged by the Tetley management team.
UK Operations Director, Steve Eastham commented: “It is a pleasure to work with our partners from Unite and GMB to increase the emphasis on learning and skills for our staff. This initiative perfectly complements the work that Tetley are doing to offer NVQ Levels 2 & 3 training to all of our employees.”
HR Manager UK Operations, Kevin Wilson added: “It is important to recognise that developing and training people in the right way can support our company in being a success in today’s challenging environment.
“Working in partnership with our Trade Unions on projects of this manner now and in the future, demonstrates that we have a common goal, that the whole workforce can work contribute towards, and feel a real sense of achievement both personally and collectively.”
