This article explores the efficacy and cost effectiveness of New Labour's skills-based policies to help low paid workers adjust to the pressures generated by globalisation, of which the leading example was Train to Gain (T2G). It also analyses the more general issue of how, why and under what circumstances education, training and skills can help…

In 2005 the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions, the central organisation of unions in New Zealand, initiated a Learning Representatives Project based on the British model. The Government approved an eight-month programme to be funded through its Tertiary Education Commission to "scope the project". Work began not just on scoping, but on…

Describes a project designed to assist national trade union centers with their specific activities in the area of the organization and training of women workers. Discusses the setting up of women's committees as support structures for the trade union confederations. The effectiveness of the program and the response of women trade unionists are…

A project explored and addressed the communication barriers to union participation of stewards and members of the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union (ACTWU). A questionnaire was developed and distributed to over 300 ACTWU members; 153 responded. Other commitments and communication skills were identified as key barriers to greater…

This article describes a labor education program specifically targeted to working class women, who themselves form a minority within the labor movement. The focus of the article is on the Southern School for Union Women. (CT)

This paper reports on research into a national education program within one of Australia's largest trade unions. The program was designed to assist the union's staff and elected officials respond to the rapidly changing industrial and political conditions in the manufacturing sector. It is ambitious in scope comprising sixteen modules that range…

This report on the second year of the Workplace Education Program evaluates 16 programs run by 15 labor unions during the 9-month period between October 1, 1988 and June 30, 1989. The assessment was designed (1) to collect a program-wide database for program documentation; (2) to examine program impact on students' basic literacy skills, on…

The formative evaluation of the Self-Directed Literacy Distance Learning for Developmental Disabilities Workers project is intended to assess the effectiveness of the course materials, operations process, and implementation. Designed to provide 96 hours of workplace literacy training to 426 developmental disabilities workers in about 80…

A program was conducted by the Food and Beverage Workers Union in Washington, D.C., to provide workplace literacy classes for food service workers in the city's government agencies, universities, and museums. A curriculum for workplace literacy skills was developed, sites were selected, and students were recruited. From a target audience of…

This report presents an external summative evaluation plan for the Self-Directed Workplace Distance Learning for Developmental Disabilities Workers Project, a partnership between the Center for Advanced Study of Education and the Civil Service Employees Association, Inc., with the New York State Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental…

An external summative evaluation was conducted for the Self-Directed Workplace Distance Learning for Developmental Disabilities Workers Project, a partnership between the Center for Advanced Study of Education and the Civil Service Employees Association, Inc., with the New York State Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities. Its…

DURING THE PAST FEW DECADES, A NUMBER OF UNIONS HAVE HELPED MEMBERS TO RETRAIN TO COPE WITH TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE OR TO UPGRADE TRADE OR CRAFT SKILLS, AND SOME UNIONS HAVE PARTICIPATED WITH EMPLOYERS IN JOINT APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAMS AND SIMILAR EFFORTS. COLLECTIVE BARGAINING PROVISIONS FOR RETRAINING HAVE BEEN DESIGNED TO KEEP AS MANY WORKERS AS…

The Operating Engineers Dual Enrollment Program combines trade union apprenticeship with college study. Young persons are "dually-enrolled" by meeting both the requirements for indenture as an apprentice and matriculation as an Associate Degree candidate. Apprentices may receive college credit for apprenticeship-related training classes…

An evaluation of this Syracuse, New York workplace literacy skills improvement project had three purposes: to characterize changes in the baseline performance of adults' workplace literacy skills as a function of instructional treatment; to characterize changes in workers' and supervisors' perceptions of worker effectiveness as a function of…

The objectives of the 4-year Laborers-Associated General Contractors (AGC) Business and Education Standards Project are: (1) generate world-class standards for construction craft occupations; (2) develop and promote a certification program for construction craft laborers (this objective was deleted because of negative reaction); (3) promote the…