ESOL training slashes migrant worker turnover

A learning programme at the Christian Salvesen distribution centre in Lutterworth has drastically reduced staff turnover.

With migrant workers comprising nearly three-quarters of the workforce, communication problems were a key issue on the site. So retail union USDAW and the company worked together to provide courses in English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), with all trainees getting paid time off to learn.

The courses have enabled the employees to do their jobs better, and to talk diretly to USDAW learning rep and shop steward Simon Mahoney about employment issues.

Paying tribute to the employer's commitment and support, Mahoney said that it had even paid the course fees for those employees who had not lived in an EU state long enough to qualify for free state learning.

For Christian Salvesen, the benefits have been clear. "Staff retention had always been an issue with up to 80% of new starters leaving in a short space of time," said depot manager Paul Walker. "We've seen that figure plummet to 18%."

The ESOL training has had such an impact that the project has now been expanded to include all workers on site, in learning opportunities from basic skills to IT courses.