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A new certificate course \u2014 run by the GFTU Educational Trust with the Institute of Employment Rights and Birkbeck \u2014 combines practical employment\u2011law training with historical and political analysis to strengthen trade union activists preparing for leadership roles; applications close 12 September 2025.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The General Federation of Trade Unions (GFTU) Educational Trust, in partnership with the Institute of Employment Rights and Birkbeck, University of London, has launched a new certificate course aimed squarely at trade union activists and organisers. Titled Empowering workers: a trade union certificate in labour law and the labour movement, the programme seeks to combine technical grounding in employment law with a wider historical, political and social framing of labour struggles \u2014 an approach the organisers say is designed to strengthen activists\u2019 capacity to defend and advance workers\u2019 rights.<\/p>\n
According to the Institute of Employment Rights announcement, the course deliberately moves beyond the narrow legalistic focus of many mainstream labour-law modules to explore how law, politics and economics shape workplace relations and collective struggle. Speaking in that announcement, Oscar Guardiola\u2011Rivera, the course\u2019s lead tutor and a senior lecturer at Birkbeck School of Law, argued that workers and communities worldwide are \u201ctransforming themselves to confront employer power\u201d through inventive industrial, legal and political tactics; his remarks, the organisers say, underline the course\u2019s emphasis on contemporary movements as well as legal doctrine.<\/p>\n
The organisers present the programme as accessible to trade union activists at different stages of experience: no prior legal qualifications are required, though some background in union campaigning or negotiation is assumed. The course is aimed particularly at senior activists and those preparing for leadership roles within the movement; the GFTU says it will provide a foundation in the history and politics of labour law that is intended to be practical and action-oriented rather than purely academic.<\/p>\n
Practical arrangements combine residential and blended learning. Teaching will run across weekend sessions between October 2025 and July 2026, including a residential block at the GFTU\u2019s Quorn Grange Hotel in Leicestershire and four in\u2011person days at Birkbeck School of Law and Hamilton House in London, supplemented by online group sessions and self\u2011study. Applications must be submitted by 12 September 2025; the course fee is \u00a32,150 and applicants are expected to secure their union\u2019s backing for both fees and release time to complete the programme.<\/p>\n
Organisers have assembled a roster of tutors drawn from established figures in labour law and movement education. Oscar Guardiola\u2011Rivera leads the teaching and is listed by Birkbeck as Professor of Human Rights and Political Philosophy; the programme also names Lord John Hendy KC, a specialist in collective labour and trade-union law, alongside contributors from the Institute of Employment Rights and the Marx Memorial Library. The inclusion of Geoff Shears \u2014 long associated with trade-union legal practice \u2014 and the suggested participation of public figures such as Baroness Shami Chakrabarti and campaigner Yvette Williams were presented in the announcement as indicative of the course\u2019s blend of legal, historical and campaigning perspectives.<\/p>\n
The course arrives at a moment when organisers say labour movements are experimenting with new tactics and broadening the scope of campaigns to connect workplace issues with housing, climate and community struggles. The Institute of Employment Rights framed the certificate as responding to those developments: by situating legal knowledge within movement history and political strategy, the course aspires to equip activists with tools to turn legal argument and collective action into tangible gains for workers.<\/p>\n
Those interested in applying or seeking further practical details are asked to consult the GFTU Educational Trust and the Institute of Employment Rights for entry requirements, dates and contact information; the application deadline is 12 September 2025 and places are limited, the organisers warn.<\/p>\n