Western Daily Press (Saturday)
‘We’ll fight for training leave for every worker’
WORKERS should be paid to learn new skills, the Green Party co-leaders told delegates at their party conference yesterday.
Sian Berry and Jonathan Bartley have pledged to allow workers to pursue personal development within working hours.
The party wants to revolutionise work and has already called for a free time index to measure Britain’s success by how much leisure time workers have rather than their economic output.
Ms Berry said current employment law was stifling people’s potential by only allowing those working in companies with more than 250 employees to have training leave, which is unpaid.
“Greens would change all that, so no one has to feel stuck in one job for life,” she said.
“All workers should be able to grow and learn throughout their careers, get trained in the things they need to know for their next job, improve how they do the one they have, or learn a new skill or trade.
“Today we are promising to fight for paid training leave for every worker. With the right political will we can transform employment into more than just work.”
Research has found investing in training and personal development decreases staff turnover and encourages career progression within the company, she added.
Mr Bartley went on to say the Greens were “putting other parties on notice” that they intended to replace the Liberal Democrats as England’s third party.
He said: “It is our ambition to become the third party in Britain.
“Every Green vote amplifies our voice and our ideas and makes others sit up and listen. Every Green vote sends a message.
“So we will get out on our streets, knock on every door and fight for every last vote to win the change we need to see.”