ABSTRACT
The literature on globalisation is extensive and within it there is a significant stream of analysis concerning its impact on labour and the trade union responses (see, for example, Fairbrother and Yates 2003; Frege and Kelly 2004; Harrod and O’Brien 2002; Moody 1997; Munck 2002; Waterman and Wills 2001). This literature demonstrates the active agency of trade unions in the global restructuring of both private and public sectors. This activity is underpinned by the development of trade union education programmes that have built on established training strategies but have also used innovative content and methods. Without this supportive framework of educational activity, trade union responses to globalisation would be severely undermined and yet there is little by way of research and analysis of the most recent developments in trade union education in this global context. In some respects this is not surprising as trade union education is dominated by the demands of rapid response delivery and pragmatic programmes where skills development have taken priority. As Spencer (2002) cogently observes ‘most of the labour education courses provided by unions are tools courses’ (his emphasis). That is, in this context, they seek to provide the knowledge and skills necessary to respond to the immediate impact of globalisation as it occurs through restructuring, job loss, employment change and the challenges this brings to existing collective organisation and bargaining.
