On the 27th October 2021 History & Policy hosted an online event: Recovering from the Pandemic – A workshop on The Future for Employment and Skills. The workshop was organised by the History and Policy Trade Union and Employment Forum, a group of senior trades unionists and academics, and is sponsored by History & Policy at the Institute for Historical Research.
As we chart our way out of the current crisis what are the lessons of history? How can we build a fairer and stronger economy better able to withstand future shocks, not least from climate change? How can we overcome labour shortages and ensure that everyone has the chance to gain the skills we need? How can we help those hardest hit by the pandemic: women, the low paid and unskilled? We hear from the General Secretary of the UK’s largest Trade Union, from a leading historian, from an expert on Labour Law, from a leading Employer representative, from the TUC and from the Labour Party shadow minister for FE and skills.
Introduction
Professor Claire Langhamer (Director of the Institute of Historical Research)
SESSION 1
Chair: Professor Philip Murphy (Director of History & Policy, Institute of Historical Research, School of Advanced Study)
- Christina McAnea (General Secretary of Unison)
- David Edgerton (Professor of Modern British History, Kings College London)
- Toby Perkins (Shadow Minister for Further Education and Skills)
SESSION 2
Chair: Sarah Veale (CBE, former Head of Equality and Employment Rights at the TUC)
- Vicky Philips (Head of Employment Rights, Thompsons Solicitors)
- Janet Williamson (Senior Policy Officer, Economic and Social Affairs Dept, TUC)
- Neil Carberry (Chief Executive, Recruitment and Employment Confederation)
