[p2p-research] Fwd: New Unionism: organizing 4 democracy at work

Wed Dec 8 14:48:49 CET 2010

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Peter Hall-Jones <phj at newunionism.net>
Date: Wed, Dec 8, 2010 at 5:36 PM
Subject: New Unionism: organizing 4 democracy at work
To: Peter Hall-Jones <newunionism at gmail.com>

 JOIN US <http://www.newunionism.net/join.htm>

November 2010

*Work in Progress*
This newsletter is produced by the *New Unionism
Network*<http://www.newunionism.net>to promote organizing, workplace
democracy, internationalism and creative
thinking in the union movement. Please feel very free to pass it on. You can
find out more about joining us *here* <http://www.newunionism.net/join.htm>.

* Strike wave signals a global shift
*In September the biggest strike in world history - involving about *100
million workers* - was passed over for a Gainesville preacher who had
threatened to burn a Koran. India and China are both experiencing phenomenal
growth in labour activism. France, Portugal and Spain have been on the boil.
In fact, by our reckoning, two thirds of the largest strikes of all time
have happened in the last 10 years. Check out our list
*here»*<http://newunionism.wordpress.com/2010/10/21/strikes/> Could it
be that our mainstream media (not to mention our unions' own
media) is missing something?
*more»*<http://newunionism.wordpress.com/2010/10/21/strikes/>

*UnionBook: The rise of solidarity networking
**Hey you, yes you! We want to hear from you!
More importantly, we want you to hear from you too! *
The good folk at LabourStart have recently provided us with an interesting
new tool. It's a drastically improved version of UnionBook, and
it's actually pretty bloody good. In fact, if enough people use it, it might
actually become pretty bloody great. Check it out, and while you're
there, don't forget to join our New Unionism group
*here»*<http://www.unionbook.org/group/newunionism>

*Fifth International, eh?
*Ever since the industrial revolution, working people and those on the left
have been trying to establish a viable "International". However, tensions
between the two groupings (they're not the same!) have caused unpredictable
problems. These were especially apparent during the two world wars;
Stalin’s ‘cult of personality’; the Cold War; and the early days of the
globalisation of work. Arguably, the history of the various Internationals
has been one of increased alienation between the working class and those on
the left who claim to be their champions. In fact, until fairly recently,
the vision of a credible "International" seemed more remote than ever.
However, the financial crisis and the revolution in communications seems
to have changed the landscape. Here’s a (very quick) potted history of the
first four Internationals, and some recent goss to suggest a Fifth
International may be on the way. Interesting times, indeed.  Or not.
Depends, really.    *more»*<http://newunionism.wordpress.com/2010/09/05/5i/>

*Dial 1-800-My-UNION?
*How do we optimise communications between union members and union staff?
Over the past few years many unions have experimented with call centers.
Here's an excerpt from *Steve Early’s* forthcoming book *'The Civil Wars in
U.S. Labour — Birth of a New Workers’ Movement or Death Throes of The Old?'*,
which explores call center servicing through the experience of the
U.S. Service Employees' International Union. Critics feared that stewards
and shop floor activists would be undermined by the SEIU's “Member Resource
Centers”. Would the call centers facilitate relationship-building, or act as
a poor substitute? No matter what your feelings are about the Change to Win
split, there's a lot to be learned from Steve's analysis of the SEIU
experience.  *more»*<http://newunionism.wordpress.com/2010/11/22/dial-1%E2%80%93800-my-union/>

*Tax havens and globalisation
*In light of the global economic crisis, many in the labour movement have
been supporting fundamental reform of taxation systems, as an alternative to
public spending cuts. The campaign for 'tax justice' has, at its heart, the
reform of the tax havens. These have grown dramatically in recent decades,
attracting the critical attention of many NGOs and academic researchers.
Foremost amongst these is the 'Tax Justice Network' (TJN), which provides
much of the intellectual ammunition for a new book: *Tax Havens - How
globalization really works*. It looks at their scale, structure, function
and history, along with the political debates and efforts to reform
them. *Richie
Leitch* reviews the book for us
*here»*<http://newunionism.wordpress.com/2010/11/24/tax-havens-and-globalisation/>

*European unions after the crisis
*If nothing else, this financial meltdown has helped demystify economics.
Current moves towards increased regulation can only assist in this process.
They may also offer us a range of new opportunities for influence. In this
closely-reasoned analysis, *Roland Erne* argues for the the primacy of
society over the economic system. However, we need to be careful: *
**"...it would be wrong to perceive radical and pragmatic action repertoires
as mutually exclusive... Transformative counter-movements will only be able
to mobilise people if they are able to propel concrete improvements as well
as a “reasoned utopia” ...the democratic control of labour, land, and money
markets..."*
*download»*<http://ucd-ie.academia.edu/documents/0143/7638/Roland_Erne__2010___European_Unions_after_the_Crisis.pdf>

*An aside to members (you others close your ears!)
*Last year we discussed next steps for New Unionism, including the idea of
setting up a global NGO. We had a lot of ideas and a good show of volunteers
for this; enough to give us a genuinely international base to launch from.
There are also some questions remaining. Since then (thanks Eric!) we've
been looking into different options for the structure. I'd like to suggest
we use *UnionBook* <http://www.unionbook.org/group/newunionism> as the
basis for a discussion on this early next year. Glad to field any questions
or hear any ideas you have in the lead up to this process, starting as
of now.  Just email meeting3 at newunionism.net.

JOIN US <http://www.newunionism.net/join.htm>

*
*
**<http://newunionism.wordpress.com/2010/11/24/tax-havens-and-globalisation/>

*Feedback
*This newsletter comes out every couple of months-ish. Ok, so we've been a
bit slack lately. Anyway, we welcome your feedback, no matter how blunt the
language. Contact feedback at newunionism.net.  If you'd like to
subscribe, just  forward this email to subs at newunionism.net with the word
SUBSCRIBE  in the subject line.  And of course, you can also reply with the
word CANCEL.

 *Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License

*
Peter Hall-Jones
+64 27 8191-999
skype peter.hall-jones
http://www.facebook.com/peter.halljones

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