Tell a friend about this article
Previous Article: Fifty-two playing cards = fearsome "Local 52"
Next Article: District Council 37 union delegates reject proposal for direct election of Council officers
AUDHome--> Union Democracy Review--> Articles
SUBSCRIBE to Union Democracy Review!
From the September-October 2005 issue of Union Democracy Review #158
SEIU pulls plug on "Future of Labor" discussion
"Unite to Win" is dead, of course, and so is its website www.unitetowin.org. Launched by SEIU, the website included a blog with uncensored commentary - something previously unheard of at that level of the union leadership. But the time for innovation appears to be over. According to SEIU president Andy Stern, "UniteToWin.org …was set up to help stimulate discussion during a period of intense debate within the AFL-CIO… That debate is now over." Visitors are now instructed to go to the website of the Change to Win Coalition.
Change to Win's website has no blog and offers no space for commentary or discussion nor are there counter proposals or links to dissenting views, as there were on Unite to Win. From the classically-titled proposal "Restoring the American Dream," to the self-congratulatory press releases, Change to Win is very much in the tradition of the old-style official union website: top-down, one-way, promotional material.
SEIU’s retreat from the brave new world of online discussion may go even further. Andy Stern’s “Blog for the Future” - which preceded Unite to Win - has also disappeared from the SEIU website. There is still a “blog” link in the navigation bar, but it just leads back to the home page. (Technical note: some of the material from Stern's Blog for the Future is still available via the Wayback Machine, but UnitetoWin's owners blocked the Wayback Machine from archiving the site's contents. Not only has it been discontinued, its contents are no longer available.)
The AFL-CIO website still hosts "Strengthening Our Union Movement for the Future" a cumbersome arrangement of proposals and documents that includes comments from unionists, but it is buried in the site. A look at the (undated) posts from union members suggests that the "Voices from our Movement" have been silent since before the AFL-CIO convention. The "AFL-CIO 2005 Convention" page makes no mention of the comments page and mirrors Change to Win's seamless self-promotion.
Discussion of the future of labor may have stalled in the Federation and the Coalition, but it is very much alive on rank-and-file and independent websites. Former National Writers Union president Jonathan Tasini's website is one example. Working Life centers on a Daily Blog where Tasini's frequent posts draw lively and articulate commentary from posters like Kate Bronfenbrenner, Bill Pearson, and Jane Slaughter. Hot topics like the AMFA Northwest strike are debated with passion but little “flaming”. (See too the recent exchange on union democracy.)
For a frequently updated list of websites and blogs see AUDLinks on this site and our list of feeds from labor blogs.
Articles
on the internet and union democracy:
Surrendering
to the internet: Democrats in spite of themselves?
IBEW
president Hill upholds Canadian member's rights
Union
officials "condone and endorse" attack on member's internet free speech
rights
Round
2 in the internet battle in AFSCME DC37
In AFSCME
DC37 - A round in the internet battle
Danger of democracy on the Internet? Kill it!
Whose
"IBEW" is it? An Electrician on the Internet.
Results
of the 2005 AUD Best Rank-and-File Website Contest
Union
democracy online survives two lawsuits
Online
Guide: build an effective rank-and-file website
SEIU
Pulls plug on "Labor's Future" discussion
52
Playing cards = fearsome "Local 52"
Using the Internet for Union Democracy
AUD's Best Rank-and-File Websites of 2004
Matt
Noyes on AUD and the Internet
2KB
of free speech? ACLU & Public Citizen sue in IBEW Local 46 election
Making a splash:
SEIU's Unite to Win and the "free and open debate" on Labor's future
SAG officers unnerved by actors' internet free speech
Free speech irritates UFCW
Free speech in NWU
IATSE 600: Internet
democracy triumphs over super centralization
Cyber-democracy:
your legal rights online.(handout)
See
also:
AUD's 50 Guidelines for
building an effective rank-and-file website, and the sample
homepage.
The labortech tag
on del.icio.us.
Previous Article: Fifty-two playing cards = fearsome "Local 52"
Next Article: District Council 37 union delegates reject proposal for direct election of Council officers
This website is made possible by contributions from union members and supporters like you. Please help us build the movement for union democracy, join or contribute to AUD.
AUDHome; Legal Rights; Education; Union Democracy Review; Books; AUDLinks
Page designed by Matt Noyes, National
Writers Union/UAW, and Rachel Szekely
The Association for Union Democracy. www.uniondemocracy.org
104 Montgomery Street, Brooklyn,
New York, 11225; USA; 718-564-1114; info@uniondemocracy.org
This work is licensed
under a Creative
Commons License.
Use
the following credit line on the materials you use:
"From the
website of the Association for Union Democracy. www.uniondemocracy.org. Email:
info@uniondemocracy.org. 104 Montgomery Street, Brooklyn, New York, 11225; USA;
718-564-1114"
Please notify us at websteward@uniondemocracy.org when you use material from the site.
Send comments or suggestions on the website to websteward@uniondemocracy.org.