Apart from my work here at Lightbulb First, I also blog at MyDD.com, a prominent progressive political blog, on the weekends. As you might have gathered from the focus of Lightbulb First, one of my main interests is the use of web technology to build community and develop interesting ideas.
This past weekend, in honor of Labor Day, I wrote a three-part series on how the labor movement can use the web to organize effectively. The labor movement is a fascinating example of a powerful community in crisis. The movement has many different facets, and means a lot of different things to a lot of different people.
Unfortunately, the labor movement, by and large, under-utilizes the web tremendously. Certainly, all of the internationals and federations have their own website, as do many of the statewide coordinating councils. And many of the larger organizing campaigns have their own websites, apart from those of the sponsor unions. Yet many union locals do not have websites, or have websites which are not very effective at communicating their message and developing an online community. Even the internationals and federations, I believe, do not use the web as effectively as they might.
With that in mind, here are the posts from this past weekend's series. I am thinking about expanding the series a bit, and will update here if so (update: the fourth and, I believe final, part has just been posted.)
Using the Internet to strengthen labor unions, part 1 - Organizing workers
Using the Internet to strengthen labor unions, part 2 - Attracting potential members
Using the Internet to strengthen labor unions, part 3 - Enlisting progressive activists
Using the Internet to strengthen the labor movement, part 4 - servicing members
Enjoy, and happy Labor Day!
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