Unite helps update the skills of Airport Security
Unite are currently working with Urban Futures
(the consortium who manage both recruitment for all employers on
the airport, and the Stansted Academy which is aimed at training
new employees) and the Community Development manager for BAA. As a
result of this collaboration a steering group has been established.
Part of the role of this steering group is to coordinate the
recruitment of Union Learning Reps in the security department of
BAA at Stansted and explore the demand for learning. As a result of
this development Diane Dash and Tony Gogay were recruited and
trained as ULRs. One of their first objectives was to conduct a
survey of the security personnel. This survey helped identify a
desire for IT training within the department. Better trained
security personnel with the skills needed to keep air travel safe
is imperative in these internationally troubled times. This shows
how the union and the company still have training and safety as a
common concern even when other issues divide us.
Unite, through its Herts. Trade Union Learning
Centre has a history of delivering successful learning in the
workplace. The survey conducted by the ULRS identified that the
potential for learning was bigger than had originally been
anticipated. Armed with this information, backed up by some hard
data from the survey, the Union was able to secure regular release
time for the ULRs and a permanent union helpdesk in the Stansted
Academy office.
Workers at Stansted are being encouraged to
improve their English, Maths and Information & Communication
Technology (ICT) skills. The initiative has met with an
enthusiastic response from staff, with 40 current learners. There
has been 15 successful test passes in literacy or numeracy. Some of
these learners have now progressed onto the IT Qualification
planner as the first stage in working towards achieving IT
qualifications.
This continuing success is helping to add
weight to the positive message that the project is having in
developing a learning culture at the Airport. The next step
is to enter into a formal learning agreement with the employer
which will cement the learning as an industrial issue where the
union and the employer can work together for the long term future
of Stansted Airport.
