Ken Skates, Minister for Economy, Transport and North Wales
This was published under the 2016 to 2021 administration of the Welsh Government
The Wales Union Learning Fund (WULF) with support from Wales TUC, has been identified by Welsh Government as a vehicle for trade unions to deliver immediate skills solutions and support to workers during the Coronavirus (Covid 19) crisis.
Due to the unprecedented situation that has arisen as a result of the Covid-19 outbreak, Wales TUC will be working with trade unions to identify job shortages in key sectors and offer short term training solutions to fill immediate skills shortages.
With immediate effect this will include:
- Providing learning opportunities and relevant qualifications to allow workers to be redeployed into key roles and fill gaps in key sectors, and also to support volunteering where appropriate
- Providing individuals with advice and guidance and to widen access to learning for all workers affected by the crisis
- Providing workers in isolation with opportunities to gain skills and qualifications whilst at home
The support will focus on workers who find themselves out of work, redeployed into different roles and workers who have seen changes being made to their employment contracts such as furloughed workers.
Despite a period of no face-to-face delivery, there will be greater access to online learning, access to qualifications and advice and information made available through webinars and social media.
Wales TUC and trade unions already work closely with well-established programmes such as ReAct and has a collaborative working relationship with major support agencies, such as Working Wales and Careers Wales.
With 48 member unions, the Wales TUC represents just over 400,000 workers and is the voice of Welsh workers. We are facing challenging times and I am confident that Wales TUC and the trade unions will play a vital role to workers that have new emerging skills and employability needs that will help us through these unprecedented times.
Employability support is vital in times of economic uncertainty and we remain committed to ensuring that we have the right support available to those in greatest need. I am extremely supportive of the steps taken by Wales TUC and the trade unions.
Website References:
Wales Union Learning Fund: How to get WULF training during coronavirus
UNISON: Cymru Wales to deliver free online Covid-19 training across Wales