Labor unions have provided English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) instruction in the workplace since the early 1900s, to serve a growing immigrant workforce. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, an increase in immigrant population, decline in manufacturing jobs, new technology, and work restructuring brought a new urgency to union-sponsored worker education, primarily to provide workers with access to training. The need for communication skills, problem-solving skills, and knowledge of workplace organization for the high-performance workplace has recently emerged as a new need. Programs usually involve a partnership of unions, businesses, and educational entities. These may include union consortia, joint union-company partnership funds, or individual unions forming partnerships with employers and educators. Workplace ESL instruction and curricula for union programs incorporate the range of approaches and techniques found in many adult ESL programs. While the major focus is on job-related language skills, the programs may also teach general life skills, worker rights and responsibilities, problem-solving and critical thinking, and health safety. Contains 11 references. (MSE) (Adjunct ERIC Clearinghouse on Literacy Education)