In a keynote speech to the Scottish Union Learning Conference in Stirling tomorrow (Thursday 13 November 2008), Grahame Smith General Secretary of the Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) will call for the Scottish Government to make progress on the right to request time off work for training, and to resist pressure from business to move away from commitments given to investing in training and workforce development.
The STUC will be raising this issue with the First Minister, Alex Salmond MSP, later in the day, to ensure that the Scottish Government follows through on commitments given to invest in the workforce, giving the right to take up learning and training opportunities; using opportunities provided by procurement to really develop skills In his speech to the Conference Mr Smith will say “The right to request time-off for training must not fall victim to wrongheaded accusations that it’s a burden on business that should not be introduced during a recession. “More training and flexible working are the very things that will make organisations more productive and help lift us out of recession. “Giving the right to request time off for training will pose a real challenge to those employers who neglect training and will give unions an important role in helping individuals to shape their requests to learn new skills. “I’ll be raising this with the First Minister this afternoon and I’ll demand that the Scottish Government exploit the significant potential to use procurement to boost investment in skills during the recession; to make funding available to support those companies and workers who, through collective agreement, continue to invest in skills, to ensure that the public sector is an exemplar in this regard, to increase its support for apprenticeships and to be prepared to provide finance and the opportunity for those in work to up-skill and re-train in response to more difficult economic conditions that threaten job security.”
ENDS
For further information please contact: Ann Henderson Assistant Secretary STUC Tel: 0141 337 8100
Jennifer Payne, Marketing Officer Scottish Union Learning Tel: 0141 337 8100