ABSTRACT
Lifelong learning has become an important and emerging item on union agendas as a way of revitalizing union strategies in times of falling union densities and more flexible and mobile labour markets. This chapter explores how lifelong learning has become part of general union strategies as well as concrete bargaining agendas in a way that promotes the employability of union members. Empirically, we discuss the establishment of the Norwegian competence reform at the turn of the millennium and a detailed case study of how the Norwegian Engineers and Managers Association struck a bargaining deal for continuing education with the Norwegian Confederation of Enterprise. We argue that this agreement has transformed this union into a case of ‘lifelong learning unionism’.
