The CWU enjoys an enviable reputation in the wider trade union and labour movement for the excellence of its education and training programme. The CWU recognises that properly targeted education and training will ensure that representatives develop the skills and confidence required to take part effectively in the industrial relations process.

In addition to educational courses for members (see our Learning Centre page), Solent Branch is fully commited to providing our Reps and activists with the best possible training for thier roles. This is done in partnership with the CWU national Education and Training department and covers everything from the basic role of the Union Rep through to degrees in Trade Union Studies.

A full list of forthcoming courses for activists can be found on the national CWU Education and Training Website. Any Branch activist wishing to be considered for a course should contact Dave Thompson or Gary Williams on the Branch contacts.




The CWU's Education and Training centre, Alvescot Lodge, is situated on the edge of the Cotswolds twenty miles west of Oxford. Alvescot Lodge is open for residential Education and Training courses for CWU members throughout the year. During 2008, Alvescot Lodge underwent extensive modernisation to keep it at the forefront of union learning facilities. these refits have finished and we now have an unrivaleld education centre.

The CWU would summarise the aims of its education programme as follows:

• To provide members with the skills required to negotiate effectively with management and to ensure effective influence on decisions important to members at the workplace;


• To fight discrimination by encouraging greater participation in union activities, especially by women and ethnic minorities;


• To assist the CWU in carrying out its responsibilities to represent its members' interests;


• To promote workers' solidarity in the world and to develop and strengthen free and democratic unions;


• To encourage CWU members to develop their own educational potential in order to better serve the trade union and labour movement.