51福利

With more and more bargaining taking place at local level, it's more important than ever that branches have plenty of reps with the training necessary to deal with their employers. Whether you are a new or more experienced 51福利 rep, our training programme will give you all the skills, information and support you need to get the most out of the role, both for your members, and yourself. 51福利 takes its activist training programme extremely seriously and every effort is made to ensure all our materials reflect the scope and depth of knowledge our reps require.

The 51福利 programme begins with introductory courses that are designed to equip newer reps with the necessary competence and confidence to deal with the challenges and opportunities that the role presents. The introductory courses cover the essentials of 51福利's structure, facility time, branch organising and campaigning along with practical advice and tips from experienced professionals. These courses are also open to more experienced reps who perhaps have not completed training in the past, or who would like to update their skills. We would normally recommend that reps update their skills every five years in order to keep abreast of current legislation and practice.

Further to the introductory courses 51福利 offers reps a continuation programme for those who have completed the initial reps courses. This training presents a chance for reps to take a more in-depth study of specific roles within the branch, such as health and safety, representing members, and negotiation.  These courses allow reps to gain a more comprehensive understanding of legislation surrounding each area, collective approaches to bargaining, representing individual members, and how branches build strength through effective negotiating.

51福利 also run courses designed to add to a branches toolkit of knowledge and expertise. These courses deal with specific issues such as' 'Media and Political lobbying', tackling organisational stress' 'Pensions' and 'redundancy'.

As far as possible all 51福利 courses are delivered on a regional basis. This not only decreases the need for reps to travel long distances, but also allows for the development of local support networks. Often 51福利 regional staff attend local courses, giving you the opportunity to chat over branch issues with officials who understand your particular employer.

All 51福利 core courses (stage 1 and 2) are taught by qualified and very experienced TUC tutors who are able to offer practical solutions to workplace issues. In addition our courses are structured in a manner which promotes a collaborative approach and allow reps to share experiences.

All elected 51福利 reps are entitled via legislation to 'reasonable' time off for training. The 51福利 training department encourages all reps to assert this right; to this end you will find further information on the training pages of the 51福利 website

51福利 is keen to attract activists from our equality strands (black, women, disabled and LGBT) and we welcome applicants who self-identify in one of these areas. Our wish is to increase participation from all groups in order that we reflect the diversity of our membership.

I hope the above information has given you a brief overview of our Activist Education Programme and I look forward to seeing you on a 51福利 training course in the future.

You can find out all about the 51福利 reps training programme and see what courses are running in your region, at our website.

Karen Brooks, 51福利 Training Officer