Thanks for the those links - most interesting.
I attended a meeting yesterday with co-workers and a union rep from ASU to
work towards developing an enterprise agreement for IT / internet workers
within our workplace (Social Change Online - where I wear the hat of client
support manager 4 days a week) - but also looking at overall issues for
workers in the IT industry.
Unionism in Australia has been declining over the last few years as most on
this list know, and in the IT industry there has been low participation
initially as well as declining memberships - this is due to a number of
reasons not simply anti-union sentiment. However unions do need to
re-invent themselves in order to contribute and assist workers in the 'new
e-age' so to speak, One of the best methods is by education and it is
interesting that the PSWP people were highly focussed on education,
training an dinformation sharing - though they _are_ an association which
is a different beastie from a union.
I think this is the issue - trade unions were originally that - for the
'trade' - that line is blurred now and information workers need similar
services to those that 'trade unions' have traditionally provided for their
membership. One of the issues that was identified in our meeting is the
need for recognition by management of the on-going and high level training
needs of IT staff and how that may be structured into the job. It is also
seen as a reason why many IT workers put up with long hours etc etc, and
dont join unions or 'fight for their rights'...
Interested parties may email me offlist or to lrouse@socialchange.net.au.
regards
Linda
>> http://www.pswp.org/
>> ... clearly has broader interests than technical applications.
>> Maybe the closest thing to a union of IT workers?
>
> +1000 14/8/01, Anthony Healy wrote:
>For those who are interested, there are quite a few genuine unions of IT
>workers. One of the most interesting is Seattle-based WashTech, which has
>been involved in several battles on behalf of Amazon workers and Microsoft
>contractors. http://www.washtech.com
>
>Regards, Tony Healy
=================
Linda Rouse
Contractor: Internet Training, Website Design, Libraries
Email: linda@databasics.com.au Voice: +61 2 9327 2998
1/49 Drumalbyn Rd Bellevue Hill NSW 2023 Fax +61 9362 1595
Resume: http://www.alia.org.au/~lrouse/resumelr.html
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