In the Canadian pulp/paper industry, management is focused on worker flexibility for productivity. Unions view workplace learning as a threat to job control and security. Although learning new skills enhances individual workers' flexibility and employability, collectively it weakens the union through job losses. (Contains 56 references.) (SK)

Purpose: Responding to the recent split in the US labor movement, this paper aims to argue that learning must become an integral part of a progressive union devoted to organizing. Design/methodology/approach: This paper traces the evolution of vocational education in US industrial unions and critiques it in light of the challenges facing labor…