Union Learning Representatives: a case study of the Public and Commercial Services Union

Abstract

Union Learning Representatives (ULRs) are a relatively recent phenomenon and are a new category of lay representation within the workplace in the United Kingdom. They are part of the present New Labour administration's drive to expand and improve lifelong learning and create the new 'learning society' - in this case, particularly amongst the working population by working in partnership with the trade union movement. This initiative has been given greater credence by the Employment Act 2002, which grants a number of statutory rights to ULRs. The aim of this article is two-fold: first, to examine developments in the establishment of ULRs in the workplace and what has been achieved to date, and secondly, to see how ULRs operate within the workplace and identify the benefits to the employees they help. This will be achieved by undertaking a case study of ULRs of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS).