Seeds for Change - A Curriculum Guide for Worker-Centred Literacy

Worker-centered union literacy must be understood first and foremost as trade union education.

Literacy is Trade Union Education

Through the union, we engage in collective struggles to improve our lives and those of our families and communities. Labour's overall goal is to advance workers' collective aspirations for a more just society. A union's concern with improving the literacy skills of members has to be understood in this larger context. Thus, worker-centered union literacy must share the goals of trade union education in general. These are to:

strengthen workers individually and collectively, and
strengthen the union's capacity to engage in the struggle for social justice.

As well, worker-centered union literacy espouses the general principles of trade union education.

The principles of labour education call for an educational process that:

is participatory, inclusive and deeply democratic in both its aims and its methods
acknowledges and builds on the experiences and skills of workers
involves hearts as well as minds
promotes solidarity and respect among workers
enhances workers' capacities for critical reflection and action
links education with action in the world in a project of social transformation

Thus, it is only within the larger context of the union and trade union education that we can begin to understand worker-centered union literacy - what it is and what it stands for.