Teachers' bosses learn about ULRs

A guide promoting the role of teacher union learning reps (ULRs) has been produced by the three major teaching unions (ATL, NASUWT and NUT) in partnership with Bracknell Forest Borough Council, Brighton and Hove City Council, Oxfordshire County Council, the Labour Research Department and SERTUC Learning Services.

Funded by the Trade Union Fund for the South East (TUFSE), the guide is aimed at local authorities, governing bodies, head teachers and other employers of teachers.

Recognising that some employers may wonder why such well-educated, well-qualified professionals as teachers should require the help of a ULR, it tackles this question head-on before outlining how ULRs can deliver benefits in areas such as equality and work-life balance.

Case studies illustrate the difference that teacher ULRs can make. For example, the guide explains how a ULR helped a Spanish teacher to gain a qualification in French through evening classes, and secured funding for it from her employer. This delivered benefits to both the teacher and the school.

Copies of the guide can be downloaded free of charge from www.tuc.org.uk/skills/index.cfm. Hard copies are available from the unions involved - call 020 7782 1558 (ATL), 0121 453 6150 (NASUWT ) or 020 7380 4754/4780 (NUT).