For Immediate Release
Scotland’s trade unions have come up with a unique way of tackling the current economic challenges - through workplace learning. Recently, ten hearing impaired union members at Royal Strathclyde Blindcraft Industries (RSBi) in Springburn completed a course in Introductory IT and there are already plans for more courses to run in the near future.
Sylvia O’Grady, Scottish Union Learning Manager said, “Our experience shows that it is those with the fewest skills and qualifications who are the first to lose their jobs in an economic downturn. Scottish Union Learning has made European Social Funds (ESF) available to help trade unions address gaps in skills provision and develop the full potential of individual workers.”
Community the Union accessed the ESF Scottish Fund for Union Learning to run the 10-week programme in Introductory IT this summer. The funding provided both an IT lecturer and a British Sign Language interpreter. Community members in RSBi learned to create movies and storybooks from still images, how to use email and surf the internet effectively. Building on this success, the union is planning to run a course in British Sign Language in the Autumn.
Audrey McJimpsey, Community Union Learning Rep and Learning Centre Manager at RSBi said, “Running courses like this would not be possible without access to this unique funding. It’s amazing to see what a difference extra skills can make to an individual’s working life.”
ENDS
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