Labornet Facing 2000, Tasks & Opportunities

Steve Zeltzer

(LaborNet US)

LaborNet was the first democratic cross union communication network in the world. It was established after a conference of LaborTech in the early 90s in San Francisco. This LaborTech conference had brought together labor video, computer and media activists from around the world.

The vision of LaborNet was and continues to be, that in order to educate and develop instantaneous global labor solidarity, we needed to use the tools of the internet as well as other communication technology.

We can now say many years after the establishment of LaborNet that more and more of the world labor movement is using the internet and the web to organize and to build solidarity. At the recent AFL-CIO convention, over 15 minutes was spent on a presentation on how the new AFL-CIO web initiative would help educate and mobilize labor.

LaborNet has now entered a new phase. For nearly the last few years, LaborNet has been under the control of the Institute For Global Communication (IGC). In our view, we have not been able to develop the use of new technology and other tools that are required if Labornet is to be of value to workers not only in the United States but internationally.

On August 30 of this year, LaborNet formally became an independent network. We are presently reworking our web pages and links and they will be available directly at www.labornet.org in the next few weeks.

What are our opportunities in light of the new developments technologically, organizationally and politically for Labornet?

LaborNet will seek to be a portal for all points of view in the labor movement. We will not censor the necessary debate and discussion that must go on in the labor movement. We also will continue to be a portal for information and news from around the US and internationally. At the same time we seek to become a democratically run network based on subscribers to LaborNet. We also support a link with the Association of Progressive Communication (APC) which is the largest non-profit computer network in the world.

We believe that the organizational, technical and political development of labor in the United States is critical in the battles ahead. LaborNet can play an important part in helping to educate workers about the value and use of the internet and communication technology. US workers are now beginning to use the net to get their struggles out and break the information blockade against labor and other movements by the corporate media.

The development of labor solidarity, activism and communication in the US labor movement must be a key component to the new labor movement. LaborNet is well placed to take on this task.

Using the internet and the web we have helped workers in struggle from one side of the country to the other as well as building international campaigns. At the same time there are great threats to the use of this technology by privatization of the internet, the monopolization of capital and the control of the internet by a smaller and smaller number of companies.

LaborNet supporters such as Ken Hamidi of www.faceintel.com have had their web sites threatened and are being sued to stop them from using email to communciate with workers in their industry. We believe that US LaborNet and all Labrnets internationally must develop a united effort to defend our right to communicate without censorship and control by the media/technology robber barons. Let us have no illusions about this. As the class struggle heats up, every effort will be made to thwart the use of the internet in the battle with capital. The control of these tools will play an important role is who wins this battle. This has already occured in some cases with Labrnets around the world.

We believe that LaborNet must play a vital role in rallying workers and the organized labor movement to defend democratic rights on the internet. We plan to also provide a forum and information center for workers who want to organize unions. At present only 13% of the workers in the United States are organized into unions and the internet can play a vital role in helping to build unionization.

LaborNet must also play an important role in linking up with other LaborNets around the world. The growth of labor communication on an international is a very positive sign that the labor movement is beginning not only to get on line but to begin to develop strategies that uses these communication tools to fight the critical battles that labor faces.

We at LaborNet have aways seen our selves as part of an international network of workers worldwide using these tools to communicate and build our solidarity. Labornet has sought to contribute to the d evelopment of workers struggles from Korea to Liverpool an South Africa. For the 21 century much still has to be done.

The use of LaborNet to help build a multi-media global communication network for labor is vital. This network should be easily searchable and seamless from one union to another as well as from one country to another. It should also be multi-lingual.

The linking together of the world labornets can lead to many possiblities. A worldwide labor daily electronic newspaper is now possible as well as a worldwide dialy labor video report in many languages. The web is now the vehicle for this information/media stream and LaborNet must play a key role not only in helping to develop this for labor but also making labor aware of the possibilities.

In the United States, the multi-cultural and multi-national character of the country means that it is even more important that LaborNet tap into the great potential. It is also the center of many multi-nationals that dominate most of the earth. The need for supporting rank and file labor links/web pages as well as supporting the web pages for workers of every multi-national of the world is another task for LaborNet.

We will be having a number of meetings and discussions on the future of LaborNet with our supporters in the United States. This discussion of how we are structured and where we go is important to the future of LaborNet and we invite your thoughts and comments.