Look for a word and you find an English sentence
7/10/2009
Having worked within the road transport and distribution sector, as a URTU trade union rep, for what seems like a long life time, I know that the English language has always had a need to be taught to accommodate the influx of migrant workers.
Most migrants are skilled workers, with good qualifications, but have one major barrier in their lives - their lack of command of the English language.
When I spoke to one of our experienced URTU Shop Stewards, to gage his opinion on the need for English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) in our industry, Sean O`Flaherty recalled the time he helped Pawel Wieczack, a warehouse worker from Poland.
Pawel is a highly qualified engineer but his English was lacking in literacy skills. His lack of the command of the English language meant only got him a agency job as a warehouse picker at PC World, Northampton.
He joined URTU to gain support and the help of education in English. Sean recalls, "We helped him find ESOL courses, which would have supported him in all he needed. But, despite finding these courses, they lacked the funding to support him". Then, all the ULRs on this site pooled the resources, left no stone unturned, and even asked the management for support (I know some things can be silly thoughts!)
At last a provider was found to fund him in his quest for knowledge, on the understanding he was to be the only ESOL funding, as there was no more available for ESOL. Pawel went on to work as a team leader and progress to first line manager.
Sean said, "when the contract at PC World ended we can only hope he went on to achieve all he hoped for". When Pawel looked for a word when joining the trade union the word was HELP he got it and found an english sentence that changed his life.
Barry Marks
URTU ULF Project Worker
