ABC Life Literacy Canada

An inexcusable situation: A union perspective on the business commitment to literacy training

By Laurell Ritchie

Any meaningful discussion of workplace literacy has to begin by acknowledging the elephant that’s been sitting around the living room for too long and getting in the way of our ability to act.

Employer investment in worker training and learning has been persistently poor in Canada, despite all the talk about a new “knowledge economy” and the need to raise the skill levels of Canadian workers. It’s inexcusable. Canadian employers spend less on training than those in most other OECD countries, including key competitors.

There’s one important exception. Quebec law requires the majority of employers to invest at least one per cent of annual payroll in training. Quebec first tried a voluntary rebate system, but only 4 per cent of firms responded. So it is now mandatory, just as WHMIS health and safety training is mandatory across Canada. And no Quebec firm gains a competitive advantage by spending less.

Quebec’s choice has made a real difference. The recent International Adult Literacy and Skills Survey (IALSS) shows a whopping 11.3 per cent increase in skill levels over the last decade in Quebec – the only province to show an improvement. The same survey found that 42 per cent of working-age Canadian adults don’t have the reading, writing, math and comprehension skills needed to succeed in today’s society.

This is where our challenge begins.

Canadian Auto Workers and many other unions would happily enter into discussions with an employer who proposes to introduce a workplace literacy program. In the past, many employers have argued that they’re not a school when unions have made such proposals, citing delivery costs, scheduling issues or concerns that workers would leave for better-paying jobs. Others have resisted the idea of shouldering any responsibility for employee learning beyond enterprise-specific skills. And sometimes things have ground to a halt at the top of the house, despite the best efforts of a human-resource manager who has put the case that literacy programs help address such issues as skill shortages, worker retention, changing technologies, ISO standards and productivity levels.

Employers will find that unions are not ignorant of the need to address such practical issues as scheduling. Unions also appreciate that some of the infrastructures to support workplace literacy programs need to come from government, and are prepared to work with employers to press for good public policy, funding and help with learning materials, curriculum development, train-the-trainer programs and so on. Unions have also called for EI benefits to cover employed workers taking classes, just as the in-class portion of apprenticeships is covered by EI.

Whether the employer or union takes the initiative, the parties will need, from the outset, to acknowledge their different motivations. The “business case” for literacy usually addresses the positive contributions to the bottom line and return-on-investment. The “union case” will be different, based on labour’s long-standing commitment to adult education and work opportunities for members.

We hope the best employers will take the initiative on literacy programs. We also hope they’ll respond positively to union proposals. Workplace literacy programs are essential, if we‘re going to deliver on the much-saluted goal of stronger reading, writing and math skills – the foundation for all other adult learning.

Canadian Auto Workers favours an approach to workplace literacy that encompasses:

• emphasis on generic, basic skills such as reading, writing, ESL/FSL, math, basic computer skills and high-school upgrading (“essential skills” typically refer to job-specific skills)
• voluntary participation at no cost to the worker
• pay, job classification and seniority rights not being affected by workers’ participation or non-participation
• on-site classes, if possible, since the workplace is accessible, familiar and offers peer support
• classes on paid time, which encourages participation. Our negotiated literacy programs run with 2 hours of employer-paid time and 2 hours of employees’ own time
• worker-centered, adult-learning principles, based on training needs identified by workers themselves and not just a pre-set curriculum
• the development of the full person and the full range of skills
• an understanding that some will hesitate to get involved after years of disguising their difficulties with reading and writing
• the development of peer instructors
• the union as an equal partner in program decision-making

Laurell Ritchie is a National Representative with the Canadian Auto Workers in the union’s Work Organization and Training Department. Among other responsibilities, she acts as liaison for CAW literacy programs and sits on the Canadian Labour Congress Literacy Work Group.