TUC 2024 backs Usdaw’s call for investment in training and skills

Addressing Congress, Dave McCrossen - Usdaw deputy general secretary said: “For the past 14 years it feels like we've been knocking on a firmly closed door with the Conservatives. In fact, it's sometimes felt more like a brick wall. The Tories made it clear they had no interest in listening to us. No interest in listening to working people. No interest in listening to the people who know, first hand, what our industries need.

“As trade unionists, we know that working people are at the heart of a strong economy. So, I can say it is a relief to be talking about training and skills, an issue which is so important for the economic future, when we have a government that is listening to us now and recognises that there is a 14-year-wide skills gap in this country. A gap that has been created by the Conservatives.

“They scrapped the Union Learning Fund in England. A fund that had demonstrated its value, time and time again. Not just in changing the lives of workers for the better, but in delivering increased productivity for businesses. Their incompetence with the Apprenticeship Levy resulted in apprenticeships falling by a third. £3.5 billion worth of apprenticeship training squandered, the Levy has been an abject failure, and it is these failures to improve the training and skills of working people which have left a legacy of poor-quality jobs, poor productivity and poor wage growth.

“Usdaw is clear that improved training and skills are essential for strong economic growth, but there is also another very serious reason. The world of work is changing. It's a challenge on all our agendas. The members I represent in retail have seen some of the biggest changes in recent years. The sector is constantly changing in response to the needs and habits of the consumer.

“Usdaw's own research shows that many of our members feel left behind by the march of new technology. They haven't had the training they need to respond to the changes that are happening, every day, in their workplaces. They haven't been given the opportunity to develop the skills they need today. So it's no wonder they are worried about what the future holds. Better skills and better training for working people, giving people a chance to access the right skills and qualifications. A chance to adapt to the changing world of work.

“There is so much work to be done to clean up the mess left by the Tories. We finally have the opportunity to achieve the major improvements we've been asking for all these years, like a right to time paid off for re-training; a complete overhaul of the Apprenticeship Levy scheme; significant investment in skills and training; and the re-introduction of the Union Learning Fund in England. Because investment in working people will pay off.”