The role of workplace literacy and numeracy education in the introduction of new workplace practices was examined in a case study of a local council in New South Wales, Australia. Two researchers worked over a 6-week period to interview the manager, 2 team leaders, and 15 team members involved in the introduction of competitive maintenance and construction teams. The interviews focused on the following: the literacy and numeracy practices involved in working in new competitive construction and maintenance teams, workers' responses to competitive teams, and the education and training implications of competitive teams for the council's construction and maintenance workers. Team members' literacy and numeracy skills were generally low; however, low literacy and numeracy skills were not likely to affect their job performance as maintenance/construction workers. The team members generally resisted the new teams and tended to view the teams and discourse of "a new work order" as devices to get them to work harder rather than to simply work "smarter." The manager and supervisors were acting in what they considered workers' best interests by making workers more competitive; however, by imposing changes "from above," they in fact increased some workers' private resistance. (Contains 104 references.) (MN)