NEC Members
Extent to which equipped to fulfill role as NEC member. (skills and competencies)
A majority of participants felt that they were fairly well equipped to fulfill their role as NEC member. There was positive feedback from many on the training courses that were provided by the various unions. They cited the following training as being particularly useful:
HETAC Trade Union Studies
Organising
Train the Trainer
Courses on employment legislation/labour law
Induction training for new NEC members
Health and Safety
A couple of participants stated that the advantage of the training they had undertaken was that it built the confidence necessary to carry out their role effectively.
A significant number said that they learnt on-the-job/the hard way, that they picked up skills and knowledge as they went along and had developed their own approach, that they had completed shop steward training back in the 1980s but nothing specific since for NEC members. One participant said that it was up to themselves to source their own training (other than shop steward training) as the union didn’t provide it. There appeared to be consensus that many NEC members believe that they don’t need training as they have a lot of experience and one participant said that some NEC members nearly feel it is an insult to be offered training.
Many expressed an interest in getting further training for their role – see below for suggestions. One participant said that he was crying out for further courses (other than the shop steward training he had done), that he heard of others doing wonderful courses but that he appeared to be out of the loop. Another participant said that more training is required particularly for new NEC members trying to grapple with their role, agendas.
A couple of participants seemed to blur the distinction between training for their role as NEC member and their own job e.g. the union run Train the Trainer was raised by one person as being useful for their job; another said that courses she had undertaken for work, such as counseling, was useful for their role as NEC member and that all the training worked together to make them equipped for the role. A third person stated that he is a member of the health and safety committee at work, had completed SafePass and had progressed from ICTU run certificate in health and safety to the Diploma in UCD – he concluded that whilst most of the course helped him in work it also helped him in his role as NEC member, particularly the ICTU module on the course.
Difficulties encountered in getting training:
Lack of options for training outside the big centres/cities and very little training available in certain areas e.g. midlands
Awareness of Current Training and Appropriateness of Training
The majority of participants stated that they were aware of current training. Some stated that the ethos of training in their union was changing and that their union was reviewing the training provided as some of it was not appropriate or could be improved. One participant cited the ULR training as being good training but as it was not recognised in the workplace the appropriateness was questionable. Another participant said that the current training being provided is more appropriate now but it took a long time to get there – e,g. the history of the trade union movement which had featured strongly years ago. One participant said that there was a high level of awareness of training but that getting the time to do it was an issue.
Training provision for the future (to include content and mechanisms of delivery)
General consensus that training needs to change as the world is changing and also that courses need to be relevant and encourage people to come back for more training. Some debate on whether a top-down approach or a bottom-up approach was required e.g. One participant felt that officials are not equipped to organise and that there should be a top-down approach on organising, another participant disagreed and said that it should start at membership level. The danger of training going backwards was described as very real by a participant who pointed to the drying up of FAS funding, demise of VECs.
Suggestions:
Organising, how to get people involved
Research
Legal aspects of role of NEC member
NEC specific training and workshops
Debating, arguing, getting your message across
How a meeting is run. Also sub-commitees, negotiations. (one participant said that everyone assumes that an NEC member knows this, but it is not necessarily so).
Running a business e.g. asset management (one participant said that upon election to NEC he had given a copy of the union accounts to an accountant friend and had asked him to interpret them for him)
Reading a balance sheet/template
Training for delegates/Trade Council members
Role of NEC – use the content of shop steward and branch committee training courses but apply it to NEC e.g. rules and procedures
Role of NEC – not there to represent their local people
Leadership/other training of women in the trade union movement – LIFT programme
Current issues of the day
Some participants believed that the unions are equipped to deal with training provision but that the training methods need changing. For example local training facilities being made available.
Suggestions on delivery:
Train at NEC meetings (before the meeting so participants would have to attend)
ICTU to facilitate/drive training courses, especially for unions who do not have a their own college/small unions
On-line training where appropriate e.g. reading accounts – easy to put on-line
AGS/National Secretaries should be involved in training with NEC
Deliver certain workshops/training on a countrywide/regional basis e.g. current issues of the day (no training available in North-West according to one participant).
ICTU delivery of courses has the advantage of taking the politics out of training
Pooling of resources between unions – have good people, good trainers (e.g. the situation described at Conference whereby 5 unions had got 5 legal opinions on Lavelle)
Some courses are generic to all unions – could be delivered on a cost-effective basis and regional basis
Train all the NEC members together – experienced members can learn from newer members too
Mandatory training for all NEC members
After the workshop a few participants came up to give their suggestions as time ran out:
Induction training for new NEC members
Officer specific Training
Unions to go into primary schools and explain the role of unions
IT Training
NOTICE OF EXCLUSION FROM CALPERS MEMBERSHIP 1
SLOPE ELECTRIC TRUST INC BOARD MEMBERS WILLIAM GION
SUMMARY REPORT OF CEBS MEMBERS’ SELF ASSESSMENTS ON
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