Arthur Shostak's book is a well-written composition, important for all those who are interested in the future of labor unions. It is important because it suggests an agenda for leaders and members of labor organizations, and it empowers this agenda with the tools of information technology. The pleasure I derived from the style stems from the fact that Shostak employs a rare mix of scholarship, enthusiasm and bridging between the Kabalistic language of computer technology and the common language of every member in the work community. The book portrays in a (subtle) systematic way the major SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) of computers and the Internet for labor organizations. It points to three major strategic goals which are enhanced by computer technology: servicing, political action and organizing.

In this context, labor unions may exhibit three modes of accommodation with computers and information technology: Cyber Naught (resistance to the brave new world of computers and informatics), Cyber Drift (aimlessness in using the new technologies), and Cyber Gain (adopting computers and informatics for current and traditional uses, not the future). However, the preferred model is the CyberUnion, which uses the information technology for the good of the members by focusing on Futuristics, Innovations, Services and Traditions (FIST). Each type of modus vivendi is well diagnosed and documented by richly-researched sources and case studies. The author is an enthusiastic supporter of the labor movement. Nevertheless, he does not ignore the weaknesses and problems which hamper labor organizations due to painful transformation of traditional (sometimes Ludite) attitudes towards computer technology. He repeatedly points out the dangerous gap between rank-and-file and head officers in regard to knowledge, skills, abilities and motivation in using the new technologies. However, he suggests a wide repertory of change agents and change techniques to make the labor movement better equipped to tackle the challenges facing it in the next century. Although the research dimension of the issues in the book is acknowledged and discussed, I, for one, would be curious to be more informed in greater detail about it in the current academic channels, both in their theoretical and empirical elaboration.

Arthur B. Shostak, CyberUnion: Empowering Labor Through Computer Technology,
1999, M. E. Sharpe, Inc.