Video

Speakers: Rod Bailey (University of Oxford), John Peaty (former MoD)

• On Writing an Official History of SOE in Italy (Rod Bailey)
• MRD Foot’s SOE in France (John Peaty)

IHR Seminar Series: Official History: Past, Present and Future

Speakers: Tony Comer (former GCHQ Historian), Chris Baxter (Government Historian) and Mark Seaman (Government Historian)

• Behind the Enigma: How GCHQ's Authorised History Appeared (Tony Comer)
• Writing the Authorised History of SIS (Chris Baxter and Mark Seaman)

IHR Seminar Series: Official History: Past, Present and Future

Speakers: Catherine Barnard (University of Cambridge) and Jonathan Hayward (UNITE the Union)

Catherine Barnard: Brexit and the Legal Challenges facing European Works Councils Catherine will address the main legal challenges that confront European works councils following Brexit, particularly those located in UK multinational companies. These include their changed status under UK legislation, as well as the effects that UK withdrawal has on the calculation of company size thresholds that trigger inclusion under the term of the EWC Directives.

Catherine Barnard has been Professor of EU Law and Employment Law at Trinity College, Cambridge, since 2008. She is the author of European Union Law (2020) and The Substantive Law of the European Union: The Four Freedoms (2019), among many other publications, and Senior Fellow in the UK in a Changing Europe project. She is a regular contributor to radio and television programmes on the impact of Brexit.

Jonathan Hayward: Brexit and the Practical Challenges facing European Works Councils
Jonathan will consider the main practical challenges that Brexit has created for the functioning of EWCs, particularly for the continuation of those based in UK multinationals, the continued participation of UK employees within the scope of EWCs, challenges for UK employees/reps in the future and the responses from Unite and its European allies.

Jonathan Hayward is an experienced International Officer in UNITE the Union who has an extensive level of knowledge in the area of European industrial relations and European works councils. Jonathan is a recognised lead expert negotiator in EWC negotiations and has negotiated EWC agreements under various EU member state laws and more recently under Irish law due to the impact of Brexit. He also acts as trade union expert/coordinator to a number of EWCs on behalf of the European Trade Union Federations, including International Airlines Group (IAG), GE Aviation and Swissport.

IHR Seminar Series: History & Policy Trade Union Forum

How should Trade Union Education be delivered? On-line Learning rocketed upwards during the pandemic allowing thousands more Union members to learn at home rather than travelling to a College or other venue. This helped large numbers of eg women and parents. Yet many others feel that face to face Learning is stronger, allowing a shared sense of community and helping new Reps grow confidence. Some Union learners don’t like classrooms (they may not have positive memories), should unions expand e-learning and make more use of their own Offices? Some Union staff and activists are trained to act as Tutors, others use the pedagogical, expertise of e.g. FE staff. Some unions largely deliver their own Education programmes. Others work closely with providers such as Colleges, Universities, the WEA, subject specialists or new organisations like The Learning Curve. Should the TUC coordinate training? And channel funding? Trade Union Education methods are famously Lerner centred, democratic and collective; how best should that tradition be developed? 

Speakers include: Sue Ferns, Senior Deputy General Secretary, Prospect and Professor Mark Stuart, Leeds University Business School and expert on the Union Learning Fund. 

Chair: Tom Wilson, former Head of Unionlearn

IHR Seminar Series: History & Policy Trade Union Forum

This seminar will look at what content should be covered by Trade Union Education, Unions have limited resources and need to choose. A broad range of subjects including e.g. Green issues or more on equalities - or a focus on the skills that Reps need? Should unions provide professional training for members or is that the job of employers? Should unions simply provide Learning in whatever subjects members want? How detailed and extensive should training be? Members with limited time may want a short one hour session on one topic but should such modules be assembled into a larger programme? How should unions build or borrow or share their learning resources? Should Reps be generic or be encouraged to develop specialisms in eg Health and Safety or Equalities? Should learning conform to external accreditation rules or should Unions develop their own standards? Different unions may have different answers to these questions but some argue for a Union wide consensus. 

Speakers include: 

• Steve Craig, Unite 
• Sarah Jameson, education policy officer, Trade Union Advisory Group to the OECD

Chair: Sarah Veale, former Head of Equality and Employment Rights, TUC 

IHR Seminar Series: History & Policy Trade Union Forum