WIN Year in Review: Labor enters the Information Age

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.laborradio.org/node/4949

WIN Year in Review: Labor enters the Information Age

TIME magazine's person of the year was "You." The reason, 2006 was the
year individuals took control of their media destiny and began to
realize the full potential of the Information Age. For organized
labor, this trend was no different. For the last decade labor has
approached the Internet with hesitation. At the beginning of 2005
there were fewer than a dozen blogs dedicated to the struggles of
organized labor. By the beginning of 2006 that number had barely
doubled, but now there are countless numbers of workers, labor
leaders, and others using the Internet to pontificate on working life
in the United States. This year saw the AFL-CIO launch a
collaborative blog, which they have used to communicate more directly
with members and essentially utilize as the federation's personal news
service. Another example is the rank and file Alcatraz Ferry workers.
Locked out of their jobs for more than three months this website is
updated by workers on a daily basis – keeping both supporters and the
media up to speed on the situation on the piers.

2006 also saw labor's introduction to the power of YouTube. The
popular user created video sharing website was put to greatest use by
the Service Employees International Union during the Houston janitors
strike. The union used it to broadcast their series "In Janitor's Own
Words" where average workers shared their stories and offered a window
into their daily lives. And when workers had blocked off the street
resulting in the trampling of protestors by police horses, it was
captured on video, with more than 30,000 people seeing the images. In
addition to the SEIU battle, camera phones captured the wildcat
walkout of fed up workers at the Smithfield slaughterhouse in North
Carolina and gave striking Goodyear workers the power to broadcast
their message without paying money to television stations.

While the Workers Independent News has been technically podcasting
labor news for nearly four years, 2006 saw the rise of many unions
creating their own podcasts to speak directly to members – such as the
Pennsylvania AFL-CIO podcast which focuses on issues important to
Pennsylvania workers.