EC PAPERS NOVEMBER 2017

GFTU are in negotiation with Verso publishers over the rights to republish the memoirs of the late Eric Heffer.

Work has begun looking at a number of European funding streams for progressive education.

Work has begun on unravelling the legacy of the GFTU’s engagement in the ILM programme.

A brochure to promote the GFTU’s ‘Living Histories’ day schools has been produced and was launched at the TUC. This said, the uptake of these special Sunday schools has been disappointing, with the events on The Peasants Revolts of 1549 and the Diggers both being cancelled. GFTU has convened a working party, in conjunction with Ruskin College, in order to explore the potential gain for the Labour Movement to be found in the government’s apprenticeship schemes. An initial meeting, held on 5 July, was well attended and supported by affiliates. The Education Officer visited Northern College to explore ways in which Northern & the GFTU might better promote courses to the benefit of affiliates. Similarly, the Education Officer has met with lecturers at Leeds Beckett University in order to discuss curriculum and avenues of possible further collaboration. The first of the GFTU’s ‘Webinar’ series was hosted on 4 September. It ran for just over an hour on the subject of ‘Wages, Inflation & Pay Bargaining’. 42 people participated and 41 stayed logged-in throughout the whole hour-and-a-quarter seminar. The second Webinar, on ‘The End of Austerity’ had only 17 participants – though all remained on-line until the end of the session. The next Webinar in the series, ‘How to End Inequality’ (scheduled to run on 6 th November) already has 63 applicants booked onto it. This increased uptake may be due to the topic, or to the wider circulation to affiliates afforded by email shots with a jpeg attachment. GFTU has embarked upon a review of the education programme of the PCS union, and will be involved in the writing of a new curriculum for the union.