Equal Opportunities Independent Review
Section 6
EQUALITY INFORMATION AND KNOWLEDGE ON EQUALITY AND TRAINING PROVISION
Knowledge and Information
In this section we look at what members and branches know about equality
issues, what training they have had, how they deal with equality issues
locally, and what further advice and information that they may require.
Overall, a general theme that emerged again and again in discussions
during the review was the admission by many members that they felt
ill-equipped to deal with equality issues. They were unsure about the issues
and generally felt unconfident about discussing race and gay and lesbian
matters as a representative of the union. In addition, several gay and
lesbian members said that in their view branch officers often had difficulty
in dealing with issues of sexuality and felt uncomfortable with such
matters.
One of the areas we addressed with members was whether equality issues
had been placed on their branch agendas, and whether their branch had
formally discussed the impact of the Lawrence enquiry for example or in
respect of Section 28 for example. Overall it was found that such issues had
been very rarely discussed at meetings.
Results of the Survey
Branches were asked for information about discussions that had taken
place on ethnic minority and gay and lesbian issues in their branch.
They were asked if they
had arranged meetings or group discussions on relevant equality issues,
and if they had, they were asked to provide further details. |
| YES 25% |
NO 75% |
The majority who answered "yes" said that they had put equality on their
agendas and most meetings would address relevant issues. Some said, however,
that although they looked at these issues it was on a fairly informal and
unstructured basis.
Another question asked
branches whether they had considered the implications of the Lawrence
Report for the CWU or for the trade union movement generally. |
| YES 28% |
NO 72% |
The follow up question to this asked for further details. Some branches
did refer to the issue of Lawrence and its implications in relation to
institutional discrimination being referred to in their branch newsletters
and briefings, and a minority referred to the fact that they had actually
discussed this issue at a branch meeting.
Branches were also asked
whether they had discussion meetings that considered gay and lesbian
issues and whether they prepared any information on this area for
distribution to members. |
| YES 19% |
NO 81% |
Those who answered "yes" were asked to provide further details.
However little information was provided here and those that did provide
information answered that they distributed information sent to them nationally,
including OUTtalk, and some referred to particular features that had been
carried in branch magazines.
Equality Officers
One of the main discussion points in our regional meetings was on the
role of equality and how it was co-ordinated, (or not co-ordinated), locally
and regionally and how it was communicated to the union workforce. There
were many different views on this role but there were also some consistent
themes. They included:
- Theoretically all branches should have an Equality Officer and our
survey results found that 67% of branches said that they had such a post.
However, in practice we found that in many of the cases the post was in
fact vacant.
- Very often Equality Officers did not know what their role was, and
what they were supposed to do. Some said that in their view the issue of
equality was not taken seriously and often seen as someone else's problem.
- The issue of time off to carry out the duties of an Equality Officer
was also raised. This role is not generally covered by facility time
agreements which created difficulties for these posts. However it was
argued that with many branches they could explore how they could rearrange
matters themselves and find more time for equality issues.
- Reference was made to the to the role of the Health & Safety Officers
in the union who did have facility time off to carry out their duties,
were adequately resourced, were briefed and also supported. In large part
this was because of such posts having legal recognition whereas equality
posts did not. Too often it was said that at present the Equality Officer
posts were seen as the "Cinderellas" of the union.
- It was also noted that there was a network of Health & Safety Officers
and it was suggested that such a model should be developed for Equality
Officers.
- The issue of the training of Equality Officers was also discussed.
Some had received training, some had not. There was a general feeling
however that when they did go on the training courses held at Elstead and
Alvescot on the specialist equality training it was of a high standard.
However here there were concerns expressed about how the equality Officers
having been on this training would keep up to date on new developments on
such areas as legislative changes.
- Most Equality Officers were aware of the Equal Opportunities
Department at headquarters and many had received the briefings produced by
the Equality Group on various issues. One of the problems however that we
noted as we discussed issues round the country was that very often
Equality Officers had not received this information.
Equality Training
Training at the CWU is primarily arranged by the two Training Colleges at
Alvescot and Elstead. Both schools run specific training courses on equality
and in addition equality is built into many of the continuing training
school courses. In addition although it is sporadic, the Equality
Opportunities Department at Headquarters HQ also provide training on a
regional basis when requested to by various branches throughout the country.
In addition we found that some regions had organised their own training on
equality.
In our survey, branches
were asked whether they had been involved in any training or any other
particular initiatives which were aimed at ethnic minority and/or gay
and lesbian members. |
| YES 34% |
NO 66% |
Those answering "yes" were asked to provide further details and there is
a wide range of answers to this. Some perhaps predictably, referred to the
training courses held at the union training school, others referred to
attending the black workers conference and other equality seminars held
either by the union or by the TUC.
Branches were also asked
about whether they advertised and distributed information about training
seminars and conferences aimed at ethnic minority and/or gay and lesbian
groups. |
| YES 28% |
NO 72% |
Those answering yes were asked to provide further details. The majority
said that they advertised on notice boards and through their usual
communication systems.
In addition, in our interviews with members and activists across the
country, there were a number of views expressed on training and these are
summarised below:
- We received mostly positive comments about the training produced by
the union training colleges.
- One of the comments that was made consistently across the country but
especially in Northern Ireland and in Scotland was that in practical terms
the schools were difficult to get to.
- Also referred to was a concern expressed about who went on the
training courses at Elstead and Alvescot and those who didn't. Several
ethnic minority members complained that they didn't get a look in when
training was arranged.
- We attended a training course arranged at Elstead targeted at ethnic
minority members and these types of courses developed by the training
college appear to be a great success and are to be commended.
- A suggestion was made at all of our meetings that what was required in
addition to the CWU national training at Alvescot and Elstead was a need
to arrange regional and local training courses on equality.
- There was also a discussion about training materials. In order to
develop the extent of training that was required to take account of
practical and financial considerations, it was suggested that training for
trainers should be developed along with some training materials. This is a
successful model that has been used elsewhere.
- There was a general comment that while all branch officers and
representatives should receive equality training, it was essential that a
lead and an example should be taken at headquarters with senior officers
also taking part on equality training sessions including NEC members.
- The follow up to training sessions was discussed in the ways by which
branch officers and representatives could be kept informed and updated on
equality issues, without the need to keep attending training courses.
- The issue of taking time off to attend training courses on equality
was discussed and it was recognised that this could be difficult. However,
given the nature of the employers the CWU predominantly worked with, there
was a view that training in work time could be arranged with the agreement
of the employers. In particular, BT for example allow some limited time
off for employees to attend training on equality.
- There were several examples of good practice on training developed by
CWU and sometimes in conjunction with the employers.
Overall the record of development of training within the union is good.
The problem is that there are not enough people who have been recipients of
the training. The key issue for the future is to develop training for branch
officers and headquarters' staff on equality and also to ensure that they
are updated on a relevant basis on further developments. There is also a
need for greater co-ordination of the various training initiatives taken
across the union in order to ensure consistency, but also to ensure that
examples of good practice are disseminated throughout the union.