I doubt the Union here stands a chance:
"Unions use Internet to navigate high-tech world
By Deborah Zabarenko
WASHINGTON, Sept 5 (Reuters) - True or false: The high-tech
world spells doom for U.S. labor unions.
Unions and the U.S. Labor Department say this statement is
false -- and getting more so as the United States moves past
Monday's Labor Day holiday toward a marketplace increasingly
driven by high technology.
At the same time, the Internet offers unaffiliated workers
new ways to look for jobs.
Unions are using the Internet to organize and communicate,
with Web sites and e-mail exploited in bargaining campaigns,
said Candice Johnson, a spokesperson for the 630,000-member
Communications Workers of America (CWA).
Traditionally the union of telephone company employees, the
CWA is now reaching out to California's Silicon Valley and has
sparked interest among workers at such Internet giants as
Microsoft <MSFT.O> and Amazon.com <AMZN.O>, Johnson said in a
telephone interview.
"Going back at least 10 years or so, we've been working at
ensuring our members are going to be able to move into the jobs
of the future," Johnson said. "(Using the Internet) is one way
you make sure that people have the job opportunity and
employment security, because technology is moving so fast."
CWA has its own Web site -- cwa-union.org --
and also puts together Web pages specifically targeted to
individual companies and industries. They also communicate with
members and those seeking to join the union through e-mail to
personal e-mail accounts, Johnson said.
One member group of high-tech workers in Washington state
-- washtech.org -- is seeking to make sick pay, holiday
pay and "decent medical coverage" basic workplace rights.
Such benefits are common among some union workers, but rare
among so-called "permatemps" at Microsoft and other high-tech
firms. Permatemps are classified as temporary workers, but some
work for the same company for years, without the same benefits
as regular permanent employees.
It makes sense for unions to use the Internet, because 57
percent of all unionized workers have home computers, according
to a 1999 survey cited by the AFL-CIO, the U.S. labor
federation that represents 13 million workers.
The unionized share of the U.S. work force started
declining in the 1960s and accelerated in the 1980s as the
nation's industrial base shrank and President Ronald Reagan set
a hostile tone for labor relations by firing all striking
federal air traffic controllers in 1981.
But one grass-roots organization in San Jose, California,
sees the possibility of a new kind of union aimed at clerical
and technical employees in Silicon Valley.
"As goes this valley, so goes America," said Amy Dean, a
spokesperson for Working Partnerships USA, which plans to
launch its new "membership organization" in October. "And the
point is that almost 40 percent of employees in this valley
work under nonstandard work arrangements."
The new organization -- "It's not your father's union,"
Dean said by telephone -- will aim to assure portable health
benefits for workers who move quickly from one job to another,
as well as provide training opportunities and other support.
This is in line with a U.S. Labor Department report on the
future employment picture, which looks for an increasingly
high-tech work force
.
"By 2006, nearly half of all U.S. workers will be employed
in industries that produce or intensively use information
technology, products and services, according to U.S. Commerce
Department projections," the report said.
Job-seekers need not wait until the new millennium to look
for work on-line, with an array of Internet-based services
already available, including monster.com and
careerpath.com/ and dozens of others.
Monster.com also has a feature that allows potential
workers to auction themselves to employees who bid for their
services. Since the auction was launched in July, there have
been 2...
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