Against a background of declining union significance and falling membership, this article reviews the recent development of trade union workplace learning in Britain. It is argued that the dominant framework within which this learning is currently undertaken is one of "employability". Instead of an employability framework, it is suggested that an educational framework informed by "democratic citizenship" better serves the need for unions and their members to engage with changes within the workplace and within the wider societal context. The first section of the article will provide a brief descriptive overview of these union learning activities in recent years. It will be argued that the focus on learning has represented an important and dynamic new area of trade union organisation and activity at workplace level. The second section of this paper will examine the dominant conceptual framework underpinning this development of learning opportunities and services for union members. It will be argued that the notion of 'employability', with its uncritical focus on skill formation, has resulted in an undue narrowness of the learning agenda. This has resulted in marginalising important aspects of trade union activity in pursuit of their wider societal objectives and aspirations.