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The statutory rights given to trade union learning representatives (ULRs) to facilitate and organize learning in the workplace has led to the creation of a new specialized union lay official role. This article investigates how the ULR initiative is facilitating the development of learning partnerships in the workplace. Empirical data is provided from a qualitative study that draws on interviews with full-time trade union officials from a range of unions. It is argued that although the ULR initiative provides opportunities for unions to promote the ideal of learning partnerships within the workplace, rights to learning remain a contested terrain between many employers and unions.

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This report compares the union learning representative in the UK with the learning representative initiative in New Zealand. The role and achievements of learning representatives and the organisation of learning is explored through the use of four case studies, two from each country. The UK cases are from a civil service department and a manufacturing company. The New Zealand cases are from an organisation that provides support to people with learning disabilities, and from a company in the retail and distribution sector. In both countries, learning representatives have been provided with some recognition in ongoing policies of government. An important factor in sustaining the initiatives is the commitment of the individual learning representatives to progressing learning within their organisations.

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Purpose - Disparities in learning opportunities endure. This paper aims to investigate whether the learning representative schemes in the UK and New Zealand (NZ) may redress disparate opportunities for learning. Design/methodology/approach - An interview study of UK trade unions' educational officers and an interview study of representatives of bodies involved in designing the NZ learning representative scheme are used to consider each scheme's capability to address disparate learning opportunities. Findings - The paper finds that the UK scheme allows trade unions to initiate vocational and non-vocational learning opportunities locally. Legislative and financial support allows some redress of inequalities in learning opportunities. The NZ scheme was introduced through a tripartite alliance of central organizations, without legislative support, to provide vocational opportunities. This scheme may facilitate learning opportunities at companies where the constituents of the central organizations support the initiative. Research implications/ limitations - The UK scheme is firmly established, while the NZ scheme has only been developed recently. The potential for further developments in the New Zealand scheme must be acknowledged. Practical implications/ limitations - Union-backed learning representative schemes in different countries have been introduced to redress the unequal distribution of learning opportunities that exist at work. However, to date, there has been limited research into the potential for learning representative schemes to promote learning in different organizational contexts. There is a need for further research in this area. Originality/value - The paper presents findings from the first comparative study of the learning representative schemes in the UK and NZ.

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