The Wobblies on the Web

I have mixed feelings about unions. I've always felt that it was the right and responsibility of each individual not to accept work that did not provide humane conditions and appropriate remuneration.

But it was only recently that I really came to realize that it was only through the efforts of unions such as the Industrial Workers of the World, the "Wobblies", that we have a five day work week, and an eight hour day, and many of the standard benefits we come to expect today.

Local 23 of the IWW has a great web page, covering many of the issues of concern to the labor movement today.

Who may join the Telecommunication and Computer Workers Union?

Any worker in the industry is welcome. Workers engaged in the installation, maintenance and operation of all forms of radio, television, telephone, cable, internet and satellite communications are part of the industry as well as computer programmers and operators. Technologies as recent as wireless data transfer and as old as telegraph communications make up the industry, as well as everyone in between. Together these different types of communication and information transfer form the network of communications that can keep us in contact with each other (if controlled and operated by the workers of the world) or keep us from contacting each other (if controlled by the bosses for profit).

There's also a great page about Joe Hill.

And no item about the labor movement would be complete without a reference to Utah Phillips and Ani DiFranco's Fellow Workers. Howard Zinn wrote the liner notes:

Today, of the world's largest 100 economies, 51 are not countries but corporations, which have been merging with one another to amass enormous power. Because only 15% of the labor force in this country have union protection, these corporations can now set wages and fire at will (downsize is the polite term). They control the economy, they buy the political parties, they dominate the media.

So should I be concerned that I can be fired from my job at a mere corporate whim? Well, I can get another job, maybe even a good one. But what about the folks whose work is less in demand? The commodity workers, interchangeable for any other minimum wage flunky? I'm no socialist, but I do have a social conscience.