The social network for trade unionists - a LabourStart project.
Building a bottom-up transnational unionism that will hack the capitalist mode of production and lead the way towards mature and advanced, joyful, positive, creative alternative world civilizations.
Website: http://snuproject.wordpress.com/
Location: Everywhere
Members: 83
Latest Activity: Apr 14
Hundreds of millions not if billions of workers in the world are out of reach for the established trade union mechanisms and structures, so they are not protected at all. Peter Waterman calls them 'Labour's others', for some others they are the new working class; the precariat composed of people who holds no property and even secure job.
What kind of trade union structure will go beyond the ongoing problems and the crisis of unionism, which was born out of well known problems and will become the change maker of our time. Can Unionbook ensemble a model for such future union organisation through the net?
There are already many good examples of action and organising taking place via the net and incredible results are getting reached , as it happened in 2007 when financial support has been mobilized from the wealthier segments of the Western working classes for the Ford worker's first ever strike organised in Russia since the beginning of the 20th Century.
For already some times social networks are gaining ground as an important and dynamic forms of communication and collective action tools. Many activists are involved today in one or another social network on the net, or on the real world. Is time came to transform this tool into a new generation social movement union.
There is a need to start discussion can this happen, can it work, and how? How would we build and gain legal ground for such a union, is it possible, or necessary? How would such union look like, be governed and function against the offensive coming from the employer and the state?
'Social Network Unionism' working group has recently been created with the aim of promoting such discussion and providing a space for comprehensive work in order to experiment with Social Network Union idea by utilizing the opportunity created by LabourStart team and Eric Lee, by creating the unique space of Unionbook and bringing hundreds of unionist together on the net.
I want to suggest that this is actually the discussion towards the New Unionism for the 21st century. With this call I would like to invite all who involved one way or other in labour and trade union movements to join and contribute this working group.
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The initial discussion and exchange below on the Comment Wall has been a clustering around the SNU idea, its definition, possible implications, usage etc. To provide clarity and focus for the overall dlscussion I have suggested to split the discussion into two piece.
Below forum now can focus on what is SNU about, its definition, it's feasibility, cotribution, usefullness, limits, how can we promote the concept within existing unions? and so on.
For such discussion, Peter HJ's New Unionism, SIGTUR's TNCs, and PSI's own experiements here in UnionBook provide live examples of developing SNU.
For the second line of discussion a group has been created. Focus of that discussion has been suggested as actually how to create one global grassroots social network union, in order to complete the first discussion by both pressurring on existing unions to change -without contending them-and challneging capital and state elite to stop attacing on life, peace and justice immediately -by bringing all progreesive and revolutionary social forces into one counter hegemonic bloc.
Started by Orsan Senalp. Last reply by Orsan Senalp Jul 19, 2011.
Started by Kirsten Forkert. Last reply by Joseph Skues Jan 25.
Started by Orsan Senalp. Last reply by Orsan Senalp Sep 29, 2011.
Started by Kirsten Forkert. Last reply by Orsan Senalp Jun 21, 2011.
Started by Orsan Senalp. Last reply by Philip Lillies Aug 4, 2011.
Started by Orsan Senalp. Last reply by Orsan Senalp Aug 3, 2011.
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Comment by Godfrey Moase on July 22, 2012 at 2:08 My latest blog post continuing the direct unionism series. http://wp.me/pb4Hp-8U
Comment by Orsan Senalp on July 11, 2012 at 13:38 A simple schematic of the system of intellectual production in the P2P mode of production with the role of each kind of group, its production and the relationships between them.
Color key:
dark blue, institutions of the commons; dark red: digital commons; light blue: local groups Continue reading
Comment by Godfrey Moase on July 11, 2012 at 11:24 Comment by Godfrey Moase on July 10, 2012 at 10:57 I agree with Peter about the link. No worries about the mistake Orsan.
If I'm about a bit out of the loop over the next few days it's because of this - http://www.nuw.org.au/get-informed/news/newsitems/indefinate-strike...
Comment by peter waterman on July 9, 2012 at 18:37 Nope, don't know who set it up but it has been around a long time. However, technologically it is definitely first generation (way before p2p). And in terms of content it is very US-oriented and focussed on social partnership and collective bargaining. In other words, both technically and in content/orientation it surely is a model that needs surpassing. Which does not necessarily mean it is of no value. What do others think?
Comment by Orsan Senalp on July 9, 2012 at 17:06 hi Peter great resources! I found this pne looks like a good collection and can be widened: http://www.xpdnc.com/index.html i dont know who is behind it. any idea? and godfrey sorry for the mistake this morning first thing first changed it on the post, so plase post around the new one with correct name of yours!
Comment by peter waterman on July 9, 2012 at 9:03 PS. Woops! The links don't...umm...link. However, with your skills, you can surely get rid of the surplus http:/ and link to the items indicated.
Comment by peter waterman on July 9, 2012 at 8:57 Godfrey and Orsan:
Yup, a critical survey of existing efforts is certainly a prerequisite since 1) if there is an appropriate blog, list or site (have I left anything out?), one wouldn't want to duplicate, and 2) if there is not, one would want to create something that surpassed recognised limitations of what is existent. My contribution to such a critical survey would be my piece with some such title as 'Alternative International Labour Communication by Computer after T.... This was, evidently, published before the efforts of Orsan, of Walton Pantland and Godfrey. (As, also, in ignorance of a myriad of other inter/national efforts). Some relevant literature by Mosco and McKercher, subtitled 'Will Knowledge Workers of the World Unite?, is picked up in my later paper on 'Global Labour Studies'.
Two points raised in the AILCC paper are on the value of a charter or declaration. Or even, it now occurs to me, a discussion document. And then of a survey instrument. As there declared, my own attempt at a survey produced only two responses! So any new such effort should, I think, be launched by (or with) others, and quite possibly with other questions. Or maybe one would need a research methodology that was not dependent on a survey.
Comment by Godfrey Moase on July 9, 2012 at 6:33 Also I couldn't agree more with your comment Orsan. We definitely need to launch some sort of global project on this. Maybe we should undertake a survey of existing efforts and see where we can link them together?
Comment by Godfrey Moase on July 9, 2012 at 6:31 Thanks Orsan! The last name is Moase though : )
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