Wakefield and District Housing
Wakefield and District Housing became the largest single housing stock transfer organisation in 2005 and now owns and manages almost 31,000 homes in the Wakefield area.
Joint working with the union on learning and training began after Wakefield District Housing set up a training team when it became involved in the Wakefield Homebuilder programme. This involves taking on people not in education, employment or training (or NEET’s) and offering a 26 week intensive training programme and potential employment opportunities in construction.
The trainees brush up on skills and work towards a foundation certificate in Construction and a Construction Scheme Certification Scheme (CSCS) card. WDH has employed 28 people, and in all, some 200 people have gone on to find jobs through the programme.
Recognising that the organisation had a skills gap, combined with a somewhat aging workforce, the training team quickly realised that a successful strategy to address this would need to involve UCATT.
Employment Training Manager, Gary Marley explained: “WDH has a large workforce of varying ages, and there can be fear factor to overcome in getting people involved with learning and development. Union involvement has meant that the workforce now see training as an opportunity as well as a requirement which is delivered by colleagues who are approachable and understanding , rather than it being imposed upon them.”
One problem for many older workers in the industry is that their City & Guilds qualifications are no longer recognised unless they are indentured. For a variety of reasons, for example, an additional part of the training was never offered, or people were indentured but have since lost their paperwork, workers can often find that their qualification is not valid.
Duncan Hutchinson, UCATT ULF funded project worker said “it can be very difficult for someone with 35 years construction experience to be told that their qualification is not valid, but union learning representatives have been able to explain to members that going through the on-site assessment process is nothing to be ashamed of, and its actually the assessors that do all the hard work. The worker meets up with assessor and gets help in putting together a portfolio, including photographs to show their standard of work.”
The training team asked for UCATT’s help in delivering the CSCS training and the union has now delivered invigilation and assistance to WDH employees, as well as its partners, including property consultants NPS, Mears Group, Bullock Construction and local sub contractors J&S Builders, with more than 450 workers going through the training.
Learning and training has gone from strength to strength. Repairs Manager, Dennis Doody, who is also a UCATT Regional and National Executive member, was the driving force behind turning a working depot into a fully accredited learning centre, equipped with an electronic white board and 10 internet connected computers, with financial support from the Union Learning Fund.
A learning agreement was signed in 2007 and there is now a learning committee made up of directors, managers and the workforce reps.
These developments have made a huge difference to the learning culture of the organisation, according to UCATT convenor and ULR Ian Weglarsi:
“It was initially difficult to get learning initiatives off the ground, because of a “why do we need to go on a course at our age” culture, and a reluctance on the part of managers and supervisors to release people to attend the training”, he said. “But the signing of the learning agreement and the setting up of the learning centre has led to a huge cultural change, and learning is now valued by the workforce and management alike.”
