Organizing Via CyberUnions: Can 21st Century CyberUnions be Created in Time? (Will CyberUnions Compute?) Arthur B. Shostak, Ph.D Professor of Sociology Drexel University Dept. of Psychology and Sociology Phil., PA 19104 Labor Educator, CWA Local 189 member; Adjunct Sociologist, AFL-CIO George Meany Center for Labor Studies This Essay will appear in CyberUnion: America's 21st Century Labor Movement - Publication expected in 1998 (publisher being sought) (An earlier Version was prepared for the Silver Anniversary Conference: 25 Years of Higher Education Collective Bargaining, April 14-15, 1997, The National Center for the Study of Collective Bargaining in Higher Education and the Professions, Baruch College, CUNY School of Public Affairs).   If Labor is to heighten its prospects it must explore changes related to the new centrality of information. With mind-boggling speed the so-called Age of Information has swept in and engulfed us in a world surely not familar, but rife nevertheless with rich opportunities. Infotech, or the mix of gadgets spawned by a synthesis of computers and telecommunications, revolutionizes organizations and the lives of us all. Cellular phones abound. We wonder how we ever got anything done before e-mail. We take the fax for granted, and watch with wonder while the Internet transforms itself before our eyes. Our children ask how did we ever get along before search engines, personal homepages, Nintendo, Myst, interactive games, chat rooms, and the exotic like. Much to its credit, the AFL-CIO and certain of its major affiliates have moved quickly to turn infotech to advantage. The AFL-CIO's LaborNet service on Compuserve, for example, has pioneered in bringing both official information and informal chat rooms to union activists. The AFL-CIO publication, America @ Work, features innovative computer uses by its 71 affilates in every issue. International homepages, and those of especially forward-looking locals can be found on the Internet, along with specialized listserves, such as PubLabor, that enable unionists to engage in free-wheeling focused discussions (as, for example, of items of special interest to public sector unionists). Equally impressive are such innovations as the use the Hotel and Restaurant Union is making of a website to warn unionists away from hotels it is picketing. The Flight Attendants Union has a site for collecting complaints from members about airplane equipment problems the union intends to soon address. Insurgents in the American Airline Pilots Union have used faxes and e-mail to rally their troops. The 6-yearlong strike at Frontier Casino in Neveda employed a web site to update supporters around the world. Cyberprotesters from numerous countries recently rallied to bombard Bridgestone-Firestone executives with e-mail protesting the company's treatment of its American work force. And the new labor publication, Working USA, highlights relevant websites and e-mail listserves in most issue More and more, labor cannot hold its own in arbitrations unless its representative is using a laptop. It cannot match the other side of the bargaining table unless its representative is using a modular phone, a fax, and a laptop. It cannot bring back useful material from a discussion or conference unless conveyed via a modular phone or swiftly word-processed into a laptop. All of these forms of empowerment and more are operational today, but they appear true of only a very small proportion of union professionals. Labor's effort here falls far short of the potential, as it remains inchoate and directionless. Labor's various computer instructors, for example, are still not knit together in one organization, and do not even have their own listserve. Various locals are busy re-inventing the wheel in infotech applications because their own international union does not have a central office to help field-proven tools gain employ. No cross-fertilization occurs, except sporadically when a good listserve like PubLabor has a contributor highlight an infotech gain. The time is at hand for the AFL-CIO and particularly assertive affiliates to consider adoption of the CyberUnion model, an intriguing 21st century approach to modern trade unionism in general, and to organizing in particular. Marked by enthusiasm for on-coming Age of Information, it is creative in making the most of what other frustrated unions find daunting in the extreme. A CyberUnion stands out in its employ of futuristics (a perspective), infotech (cutting-edge tools), and tradition (a commitment). Its appreciation for what "F-I-T" can do for it has enthusiasts believing the CyberUnion could enable labor to recruit millions of new members and surge forward early in the next century. a) Employing an art form known as futuristics, a CyberUnion will replace the narrow "putting-out-fires" orientation of most unions with a longer perspective, one that encompasses the here-and-now, but extends 5 and 10 years beyond it. b) It will replace a narrow tolerance for shopworn communication tools (newsletters, mailings, etc.) with a high-tech perspective, one that upgrades familiar tools (as in adding color to the newletter) even as it moves to the cutting-edge (e-mail for all; listserves for many; etc.). c) Finally, it will replace hollow observances of union traditions with whole-hearted celebration, the better to ensure that labor's high tech gains are always accompanied by comparable high touch advances, e.g., a local's history and traditions could be "captured" in a memorable CD-ROM provided to all. Leaving further discussion of both futuristics and tradition for another time, a CyberUnion's employ of infotech might include at least six features: 1) It will employ infotech tools to regularly survey members, both actual and potential, to learn in depth what are their needs and wants, their dreams and night-mares. In this way it will facilitate both the organizing of new, and of organized members. 2.) It will employ infotech tools to keep members abreast of relevant developments, and, to learn of such from the rank-and-file. The union's homepage is updated daily, and e-mail of real merit flows often back and forth between officers and the rank-and-file. 3.) It will employ infotech tools to survey members and ascertain preferences and priorities among major questions confronting the organization. Every effort is made to improve member participation in union policy-making. 4.) It will make all of its officers and staffers accessible to members via e-mail, and promise personal responses within 72 hours of a message's receipt. 5.) It will outfit every organizer with a laptop and provide schooling in its use, the better to impress potential members with labor's razzle-dazzle power and to bring the organizer in the field access to vital and timely information (two-way communications). 6.) It will update its infotech infrastructure regularly. It will take pride both in being at the cutting-edge, and, in making a special effort to take the membership there with it. These six attributes should help put labor unions on a par with the CyberCorps rapidly coming their way. They should send the message that labor is finally and actually "with it!," a message of import for the union's potential and actual membership, the media, the public, and the business community alike. And they should empower the rank-and-file as never before. Unions uniquely blend humanistic, ethical, and materialistic con-cerns. They should be able to produce a distinctive set of infotech-use rewards, one that will have the citizenry sit up, notice, and applaud. They should be able to get Americans to think of unions, and not just of corporations, when they think about successful cutting-edge 21st Century organizations. And they should mentor their membership in closing the gap between Info-Haves and Have-Nots, arguably the greatest threat posed now to the democracy. Skeptics will dismiss futuristics as only for the secure; infotech, as only for an effete elite; and tradition, as only for those less busy than unionists with barely surviving, better yet celebra-ting anything. They will insist the vast majority of union members are outside the infotech loop, and that this CyberUnion prescription is therefore irrelevant. In rebuttal, proponents can point out ever more unionized workers co-exist with infotech, and especially with computers, at work. Even if the average unionist's living room does not presently contain a PC, the work station probably does. As well, advances in inexpensive devices to access the Internet without a PC (webservers, etc.) promise to soon vastly expand the reach of the Net (to say nothing of speculation that a voice-activated/voice-responsive Palmtop, or very small computer worn on the wrist, may be commonplace by 2005AD). The point, in short, is really not that of hardware or access to it. Rather, the point is to rapidly and thoroughly link labor with all that a smart organization can draw out of infotech, and to "bookend" such adaptation with the ballast of tradition and the headiness of futuristics. Contrary to the misgivings of detractors, adoption of a CyberUnion model is not an implausible or impractical proposal. It builds on initiatives the AFL-CIO and key unions have already begun to take. (The fact that the Sweeney team renamed the AFL-CIO News, their bland and unexceptional house organ, Americ@Work, and transformed it into a bright, brassy, and "hip" publication, is much to the point). This model could invigorate adapters, inspire the membership, favorably impress pros-pective members, intimidate labor's opponents, intrigue vote-seek-ers, and in other valuable ways, significantly bolster labor's chances. Provided, that is, that the AFL-CIO rises to the occasion. It could create a new Office for CyberUnions@Work, one that could serve as an "R&D" center for the promotion of the Cyber-Union model. The Office could hire infotech experts, scrutinize the vast infotech literature (hardcopy as well as Net material), represent labor at major infotech conferences, and in 1,001 other ways, help assure that labor stays at the cutting-edge in its employ of infotech potential. Similarly, the Office could scan the literature in futuristics, interview leading long-range forecasters, represent organized labor at meetings of futurists, and help unions and locals learn how to employ forecasting to advantage. Where tradition is concerned, the Office could study the success of "Bread and Roses," the art and theater project of District 1199-C, and the Annual Labor Arts Festival at the Meany Center, along with similar sources of lessons for bringing along the best of the past into the future. With guidance from the Office, the AFL-CIO could devote an entire page in every issue of Americ@Work to CyberUnion innovations field-proven by a union affiliate and available now for adoption by others (especially innovations in the organizing field). It could highlight such advances at its various meetings, run competitions, and award prizes for outstanding projects. It could pioneer CyberUnion tactics, gadgets, and applications itself, taking care always to promote their employ by its affiliates. The AFL-CIO could ask its educational unit, The George Meany Center for Labor Studies (which President Sweeney enjoys calling Labor's "War College") to create a degree-granting program in CyberUnion Studies (with a concentration on organizing). Graduates could be placed with interna-tionals and large locals long ago convince that they either secure infotech craft or fall hopeless behind. Similarly, the AFL-CIO could encourage the University and College Labor Educators Association to begin including CyberUnion material in labor ed programs from coast to coast. Finally, in recognition of the global nature of this challenge, the new AFL-CIO Office of CyberUnions@Work could sponsor an Annual Inter-national Meeting of interested laborites from nations hither and yon. Daily contact among such influentials via teleconferences and e-mail should vastly increase the international exchange of ideas. Nevertheless, annual opportunities for hands-on person-to-person demonstrations will probably long make a uniquely valuable contribution (as in establishing valuable inter-personal networks). In short, mind-boggling advances in Information Age dynamics will undoubtedly sow much new confusion. Organized labor, thanks to its CyberUnion use of futuristics, infotech, and tradition (F-I-T), should have good utilization experiences to draw on, pride in accomplishment, and a heady sense of adventure about it all. Summary. Organized labor is on the move, proving its "smarts," and feeling cautiously hopeful. If it is keep up momentum and make dramatic gains in organizing, the AFL-CIO and its major affiliates must speed up their development of a 21st century CyberUnion model. Supporters are encouraged by evidence this model makes the most of futuristics, infotech, and tradition (F-I-T). If soon widely employed, America's CyberUnions could show the world unionism does "compute" in our Age of Information. Here is a related "Message" from the website of a large L.A. local of the UFCW: UFCW77.ORG [Los Angeles] - The Infotech Revolution By Rick Icaza President, UFCW Local 770 Our nation is undergoing fundamental changes involving both ethnicity and technology. Nowhere are these changes more clearly visible than in the greater L.A. area. I'm writing to report how information technology will radically transform our union in the next five to 10 years. I have been talking with one of America's leading experts in this field - Arthur B. Shostak, Ph.D.,sociology professor and director of employment futures at Philadelphia's Drexel University. He has helped open my eyes to the ways in which Local 770 will be servicing members in the 21st Century. Unions have generally not been on the cutting edge of new technology. Think about it. The retail industry has pioneered digitalized cash registers, computerized inventory control and high-tech check-out stations. Meanwhile, union business representatives come to stores with pen and pad. Management has dazzled employees and the public with mechanical innovations. That has to change. We can no longer play catch-up with the companies. Infotech, a variety of devices borne of computers and telecommunications, is fast sweeping across the country. E-mail, modems, faxes and this wondrous wealth of information called the Internet are now a part of daily life for millions of Americans. They are mainstays of the business world. The AFL-CIO and many international unions are now using the Internet to keep labor leaders and activists informed. Some forward-looking local unions have developed their own Internet Web sites. Local 770 is one of them. All union representatives should be using small portable laptop computers to effectively compete with management. This is especially true in complex arbitration cases. A number of Local 770 staff members have obtained their own laptops. The UFCW International Union is working on a program to equip business reps with laptops. Local 770 will be one of the first local unions to get them. With laptops, business reps will be able to visit stores and immediately call up complete profiles on Local 770 members: their seniority and eligibility for benefits, the number of people in a family. Another gadget, the palmtop, will appear during the next three to five years. This voice-activated, voice-responsive device will be small enough to take the place of a wrist-watch or a key case in a jacket pocket or purse. By talking into the palmtop, the person will communicate by voice with a computer and receive back information by voice. Local 770 business reps equipped with palmtops will input union members' Social Security or ID numbers and instantaneously retrieve detailed information. Instead of saying, "I'll get back to you," our business reps using laptops and palmtops will be able to resolve questions or disputes on the spot. They're Coming How far away are palmtops? Hitachi is already testing a model. Dr. Shostak says palmtops will be in use within three years. They will be commonplace in five years. Dr. Shostak predicts in the not-so-distant future, infotech tools will help conduct in-depth surveys of union members about negotiations, benefits or programs. They will largely replace the written questionnaires Local 770 now sends by mail. Through e-mail and the union's web site, rank-and-file members will be updated daily on the latest developments in contract talks or other activities. Our union's membership is very diverse. Overall, Local 770 members are more familiar with computers than workers in the average union. Many of our members have grown up with them. Some have personal computers at home. Employees, especially at retail stores, often work with the technology. But I also know other Local 770 members have not used computers. Many can't afford to own them. Some skeptics say this technology of the future is only for the wealthy elite. They claim working people are too busy trying to survive to bother with computers. They're wrong. Revolution Underway More and more, unionized employees face infotech on the job. New technology is being developed that will offer access to the Internet at home without a personal computer. And that doesn't include voice-activated/voice-responsive palmtops or other very small computers that could be widely available by the year 2005. Our business reps should be among the first to use palmtops, not the last. We should beat the employers to the cutting edge of technology, not follow in their foot-steps. Local 770 is now taking steps to prepare for the coming infotech revolution. There is a place on the Local 770 Web site - www.ufcw770.org - where union members can e-mail their own business rep with questions or problems. Each business rep's name is listed on the site. These messages go directly into the computers at our L.A. headquarters. E-mail messages are checked each business day, and immediately forwarded to the business reps who are indicated. Members who don't remember the name of their business rep can simply send their name, employer and store number, and the message will go immediately to the correct business rep. Union policy has always required business reps to promptly respond to members who contact them by e-mail, telephone or in person. I have instructed all Local 770 business reps to get back to members who contact them by e-mail within 72 hours after the communication is received. (There is one exception: our policy is not to take information about grievances by phone or e-mail. Some-times grievances result in arbitrations. Union members must personally speak with their business reps to ensure all the necessary facts are collected.) [ BACK ] [ TOP OF PAGE ] [ HOME ] [ RESUME ] [ ESSAYS ] [ BOOK REVIEWS ] [ CONTACT ]