HAVING spent more than 20 years championing the cause of workplace education, as a tutor at the Glasgow Trade Union Education Centre, I wasn’t completely blind to the task that faced my colleagues and I when the centre was poised for closure by management.

However, as the Scottish trade union movement assembles for this year’s STUC Congress, we will be arriving in Dundee to celebrate a victory for solidarity and effective campaigning, which sees the Glasgow Trade Union Education Centre saved from closure.

Thanks to a landmark multi-year partnership agreement with City of Glasgow College, our centre — an institution that has stood at the heart of Scotland’s labour movement for over 30 years — will continue to offer critical accredited training in employment law, health and safety, collective bargaining and negotiation skills for at least the next two years.

This outcome is nothing short of a victory for the entire trade union movement. When City of Glasgow College declared the centre financially unsustainable, thousands of union members, activists, branch officers, academics, community supporters and elected representatives rallied behind the “Save the Glasgow Trade Union Education Centre” campaign. That grassroots show of solidarity made it clear that, when push comes to shove, our movement will not abandon a cornerstone of its own strength.

But one lesson that must be learned from the campaign, is that while we rightfully celebrate, we must not consider it “job done.” Securing the centre’s future for the next two years was only the first step. Now, more than ever, the burden falls on each union and every workplace to seize this opportunity. If we, as a movement, are to justify the passion and effort that saved the centre, we must commit to purposeful action: use the centre and book courses, engage directly with the centre’s staff, to for example co-design learning that precisely meets members’ needs, and embed that education within the daily organising work of trade unions in Scotland.

Workplace education has always been a fundamental pillar of the trade union movement. It equips our members with the knowledge, confidence and tools to enforce fair pay, safer workplaces and collective agreements. From health and safety representation to negotiations and organising tactics, every course we offer strengthens our collective muscle. It’s what turns frustration into informed action — what empowers a lone shop steward to transform a workplace culture. Our classes strengthen our class.

The well-loved union maxim, “Educate, Agitate, Organise,” has never been more relevant. First, we must educate — ensuring that every shop steward, every health and safety rep, and every member understands their rights and responsibilities. That is precisely what our centre helps deliver, but only if we use it. Second, we must agitate — raising the heat on employers and legislators alike, armed with the knowledge that our education gives us the authority to make demands. Third, we must organise — building the structures, networks and solidarity that carry us from individual classes into collective action. The centre is our launchpad for all three.

So here’s my challenge to every trade union in Scotland and beyond: treat the Glasgow Trade Union Education Centre not as a successful campaign you supported last year but as the lifeblood of your organising work. Encourage your branches to book upcoming courses on employment law, health and safety and bargaining skills. Invite the centre’s tutors into your strategy meetings and tell them exactly what your members need.

Imagine the impact if every branch in Glasgow, then across Scotland, then throughout Britain made workplace education a compulsory component of their organising strategy. We’d have a generation of members who can confidently challenge unsafe practices, negotiate effectively for better terms and mobilise support for collective action from day one. We’d be walking embodiments of the “Educate, Agitate, Organise” creed, capable of unlocking victories that stretch far beyond classroom walls.

The road ahead demands both ambition and commitment. We have a two-year reprieve — let’s treat it as a launch window, not a victory lap. In that time, we must demonstrate that the centre is more than a nice-to-have; it’s indispensable. We must show measurable increases in course bookings, in the diversity of attendees, and in the quality of feedback that shapes future curricula. We must keep the pressure on City of Glasgow College to see this partnership as the beginning of a long-term collaboration, not just a short-term fix.

So let us celebrate this win, yes — but let us also mobilise. Let us educate our members, agitate for improvements, and organise the campaigns that will secure safer, fairer, better-paid workplaces for decades to come. The Glasgow Trade Union Education Centre is ours, but only if we claim it, use it and build upon it. The future of our movement depends on it.

Rab Wilson is a tutor at the Glasgow Trade Union Education Centre.