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Will Unionism Prosper in Cyber-Space? The Promise of the Internet for Employee Organization

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  • Wayne J. Diamond
  • Richard B. Freeman

Abstract

This paper argues that the low cost of information, communication, and interaction on the Web offers trade unions opportunities to improve services and attract members and thus reinvent themselves for the 21st Century. Analyzing current use of the Internet by unions in the United Kingdom and United States, we develop five hypothesis about the impact of the Internet on unions. 1) the Customized Services hypothesis that unions will individualize services; 2) the Cyber-organizing hypothesis that the Web will ease organization and produce virtual minority unions at many non-union firms; 3) the Cyber-democracy hypothesis that the Web will enhance democracy in unions; 4) the Cyber-dispute hypothesis that the Web will become an important space for industrial disputes; and 5) the New Internationalism hypothesis that the Web will strengthen the international labor community. If unions fail to exploit the opportunities on the Web to gain members, we expect other organizations, Internet recruitment sites, specialized advice centers, and the like, to fill the e-union niche.

Suggested Citation

  • Wayne J. Diamond & Richard B. Freeman, 2001. "Will Unionism Prosper in Cyber-Space? The Promise of the Internet for Employee Organization," NBER Working Papers 8483, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:8483
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    Cited by:

    1. Tom Hunt & Heather Connolly, 2023. "Covid‐19 and the work of trade unions: Adaptation, transition and renewal," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(2), pages 150-166, March.
    2. Richard B. Freeman, 2002. "The Labour Market in the New Information Economy," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 18(3), pages 288-305.
    3. Raquel Rego & Wim Sprenger & Vassil Kirov & Greg Thomson & Daniele Di Nunzio, 2016. "The use of new ICTs in trade union protests – five European cases," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 22(3), pages 315-329, August.
    4. Nana Wesley Hansen & Mark Friis Hau, 2024. "Between Settlement and Mobilization: Political Logics of Intra-Organizational Union Communication on Social Media," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 38(2), pages 299-317, April.
    5. Allan Kerr & Jeremy Waddington, 2014. "E-Communications: An Aspect of Union Renewal or Merely Doing Things Electronically?," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 52(4), pages 658-681, December.
    6. Alex J. Wood, 2015. "Networks of injustice and worker mobilisation at Walmart," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(4), pages 259-274, July.
    7. Nina Pološki Vokić & Alka Obadić, 2014. "The future of trade unions in Croatia – various stakeholders’ perspectives," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 20(4), pages 521-536, November.
    8. Gregor Murray, 2017. "Union renewal: what can we learn from three decades of research?," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 23(1), pages 9-29, February.
    9. Louise Thornthwaite & Nikola Balnave & Alison Barnes, 2018. "Unions and social media: Prospects for gender inclusion," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(4), pages 401-417, July.
    10. Vincent Pasquier & Thibault Daudigeos & Marcos Barros, 2020. "Towards a New Flashmob Unionism: The Case of the Fight for 15 Movement," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 58(2), pages 336-363, June.
    11. David Peetz & Georgina Murray & Olav Muurlink & Maggie May, 2015. "The meaning and making of union delegate networks," The Economic and Labour Relations Review, , vol. 26(4), pages 596-613, December.
    12. Torsten Geelan & Andy Hodder, 2017. "Enhancing transnational labour solidarity: the unfulfilled promise of the Internet and social media," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(4), pages 345-364, July.

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