Australian Trade Unions' Workers in Worker Education - Literature review Example

Critical Analysis of Articles Article 1: ‘Exploring the role of Australian trade unions in the education of workers’, Yasukawa, K, Brown, T & Black, S (2011), Melbourne, Victoria, AVETRA. This article was written by Yasukawa, Brown and Black from the University of Technology, Sydney. Its purpose is to analyse two main elements. First is the current literacy and numeracy crisis in workplaces in Australia which is characterised by loss of productivity, lack of penetration of education and training programmes, and shortages of skills, which are being blamed on workers’ lack of numeracy and literacy skills. The second element is the opportunity for unions to show their stake in training and education of workers. The authors seek to establish the possibilities that exist to achieve this and the extant models from which Australia can draw. The article is basically a research paper premised on the state of union education and training in Australia. The main theme of the paper is that Australian workplaces face a numeracy and literacy crisis. That is, many Australian workers have achieved low levels of education and training and this directly impacts their numeracy and literacy levels. The authors cite various authorities to support this position, including the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) (2008), the Australian Industry Group (2010), and Skills Australia (2010). This citing of numerous sources of literature is clear evidence that the authors conducted adequate research to obtain facts about the issue at hand. Other sources supporting this information include a 2006 Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survey (ALLS) and data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (2008). In deed, lack of literacy and numeracy skills is a matter that has been of concern to other bodies such as Innovation & Business Skills Australia (2010), which notes that Australia’s workforce lacks the foundation skills of language, literacy and numeracy. The status quo no doubt affects various issues such as formation of labour unions, active participation in the same, and education and training. The article by Yasukawa, Brown and Black (2011) is therefore comprehensive as it identifies a key problem facing the Australian workforce and attempts to offer a solution by showing how unions can be involved in training and education of workers. No gap is evident in the auricle since the article touches on the challenges that unions are likely to face with respect to education and training. The article by Yasukawa, Brown and Black (2011) seems to be balanced in terms of the perspectives under focus. There is no dominant voice but a balanced review of issues concerning union education based on different sources of literature. It is based on these reviews and case studies that the authors come up with suggestions on how unions can play an active role in impacting literacy and numeracy policy debates so as to create spaces for numeracy and literacy that develops social capital which in turn is important for developing human capital as well. In short, the authors identify particular problems, assess different perspectives of the problems in literature, and attempt to solve these problems based on the literature and case studies that they review. Hence, this all-round approach ensures that no significant issues are marginalised with respect to the topic in question. Ideally, the work starts by identifying the problems that affect the Australian workforce in regard to their education and training and this helps in identifying the challenges in union training and education. The article helps me to think about the role of unions in training and development because today’s workplaces are largely multicultural settings or comprise people from different cultural backgrounds. These people need unifying factors such as mastery of the language to be used and numeracy skills to enhance problem-solving proficiency. According to Hatcher (2002, p. 188), there is need to prepare global employees through training and education by building and enhancing cultural-specific skills such as language skills and knowledge of culture and customs. As well, it is only when employees have the requisite skills in language and numeracy that they can be appreciative and supportive of HRD programmes in their workplace. This can then act as a springboard for creating strong and informed unions which can fight for the rights of workers based on their needs in the workplace while also understanding the role played by employers in the relationship between workers and their employers. As Yasukawa, Brown and Black (2011, p. 10) point out, by focusing on the work practices of workers instead of proxy measures of workplace productivity of the workers’ skills, unions can play a role in coming up with training programs designed to meet the real needs of workers in ways that build on their existing knowledge. Article 2: ‘Globalization and labour education’ by Cairola, E (2007), in Strengthening the trade unions: The key role of labour education, Labour Education 2007/1-2, No. 146-147, pp. 1-10. The article ‘Globalization and labour education’, which was written by Cairola (2007), is one of the papers presented in 2007 during an international workers’ symposium on labour education organised by the ILO Bureau for Workers’ Activities (ACTRAV). The aim of the author was to analyse how a global labour education programme can meet the challenges of a global economy and the role played by labour education in promoting decent living for all. According to the writer, the same issues are the ones that underlie the strategies and future growth of the programme for the Workers’ Activities of the International Training Centre of the ILO in Turin, Italy. The paper was written for the purpose of presentation during the symposium organised by ACTRAV. Cairola (2007) starts by noting that today’s education programmes are geared to helping the international trade union deal with the challenges posed by globalisation. Based on this argument, the writer points out three dimensions that need to be addressed: the globalisation of trade, the globalisation of finance, and the globalisation of production. The author then discusses these issues by addressing matters such as labour and production based on the Ford model, the rapid increase in production between the 1950s and the 1970s, and political decision making and globalisation. Cairola (2007) then poses three critical questions: whether workers’ organisations are globalising, whether various national labour markets are converging into one global labour market based on adherence to fundamental labour standards, and whether the international labour movement is able to attain new forms of solidarity and mutual cooperation with respect to the development of long-lasting and mutually supported networks. The answers to these questions arise from the fact that the globalisation of democratic values and rights of workers in today’s business environment has become the priority of a cohesive global union movement. This can be achieved through training union members and strengthening workers’ organisations as well as their ability to offer labour education to enable them to respond to the challenges caused by globalisation. This view is supported by Peetz and Alexander (2010, p. 1), who note that increased power at the workplace by a union, an increased power within a union, cannot be implemented by members if they do not have the requisite skills and confidence – hence the reason why effective union training and education is essential. The information presented by Cairola (2007, p. 5) is comprehensive because the writer goes on to discuss how ACTRAV Turin aims to strengthen employees’ organisations’ as well as their capacity to offer labour education and to take action to deal with the challenges posed by globalisation. The writer also goes further to explain why unions should offer training, which are also the core principles and values that inspire the work of ACTRAV Turin. These are: labour education is a strategic tool for establishing strong, independent and democratic trade unions; training strengthens solidarity and enhances union effectiveness; unions aim to foster freedom of association and collective bargaining; training aims to develop sustainable education and trade union networks; and that unions aim to integrate gender perspectives in workplace relations (pp. 5-6). Some gaps are however evident in this regard, in that the work of ACTRAV does not seem to identify with the challenges that face individual unions. These include the fact that unions find it difficult to deal with training issues in the perspective of a more deregulated market; the benefits of trade unions seem to have diminished in some industries, hence issue of training and education is not a priority; and that the quality of training offered in particular workplaces may be of poor quality (Cooney 2012, p. 54) even as ACTRAV strives to achieve unification of such training and education. The article by Cairola (2007) therefore tends to focus more on what needs to be done to achieve a globalised labour movement as per ACTRAV recommendations but tends to ignore or marginalise the problems that unions face in different countries and at workplace levels. The article is insightful when it comes to the issue of HRD in my workplace because it introduces the idea of using information technology in training at the workplace level. The article recognises the fact that more than 1 billion people have been on the Internet since 2006. This gives the labour movement a unique opportunity to form networks across borders and learn from different countries. For instance, my workplace in Australia can learn about what is happening in terms of training and HRD in other countries and try to improve on the same. IT experience is especially vital in disseminating IT labour education through the use of online conferences, databases, email lists, presentation programmes, spreadsheets and the creation of informative websites as noted by (Cairola 2007, p. 8). References Cairola, E 2007, ‘Globalization and labour education’, in Strengthening the trade unions: The key role of labour education, Labour Education 2007/1-2, No. 146-147, pp. 1-10, Cooney, R 2012, ‘The dimensions of union interest in training: Trade unions and workplace training in Australia’, In R Cooney & M Stuart (eds), Trade unions and workplace training: Issues and international perspectives, Taylor and Francis, London. Hatcher, T G 2002, Ethics and HRD: A new approach to leading responsible organizations, Basic Books, New York. Innovation & Business Skills Australia 2010, ‘VET workforce skills in language, literacy and numeracy’, viewed 19 May 2013, Peetz, D & Alexander, M 2010, ‘Formal and informal union education in the promotion of union democracy and activism’, viewed 11 June 2013, Yasukawa, K Brown, T & Black, S 2011, ‘Exploring the role of Australian trade unions in the education of workers’, Melbourne, Victoria, AVETRA, viewed 19 May 2013, Read More