The publication of "Learning Through Life," the main report of the Inquiry into the Future for Lifelong Learning, has been welcomed across the trade union movement. It offers a useful and useable framework for discussing the learning needs of people through the different stages of life and makes compelling suggestions about how to adjust expenditure, strengthen the system and engage learners. The main report of the Inquiry into the Future for Lifelong Learning poses a number of key policy challenges for the development of union learning. "Learning Through Life" offers a rich and extensive agenda for the development of skills in the employment and industrial relations arena. To identify three policy challenges out of the many for trade unions emanating from the report: (1) the strengthening and broadening of union learning representatives and community learning champions; (2) good practice entitlements for learning leave; and (3) improving the quality of work through the skills utilisation agenda. In this article, the author focuses on these three main challenges.