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Helping Workers Online and Offline: Innovations in Union and Worker Organization Using the Internet

In: Studies of Labor Market Intermediation

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  • Richard B. Freeman
  • M. Marit Rehavi

Abstract

This study examines two innovative efforts to provide union services to workers with the aid of low cost Internet communication: the AFL-CIO's Working America, a "community affiliate" that enrolled 2 million workers from 2004 to 2007 by canvassing them at their homes and over the Internet (www.workingamerica.org); and the UK'S Trade Union Congress's www.unionreps.org.uk, a discussion board for worker representatives to communicate about workplace issues. Working America demonstrates that workers without collective bargaining will join a union organization that communicates on-line and off-line and campaigns for worker interests in society. Unionreps.org shows that local worker representatives can form an on-line community that shares information to improve the services they give workers. Combining the two innovations could be a step toward a new "open source" union form that provides union services at low cost outside of collective bargaining.
(This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.)

Suggested Citation

  • Richard B. Freeman & M. Marit Rehavi, 2009. "Helping Workers Online and Offline: Innovations in Union and Worker Organization Using the Internet," NBER Chapters, in: Studies of Labor Market Intermediation, pages 273-306, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberch:3592
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Joni Hersch, 2004. "A Workers' Lobby to Provide Portable Benefits," NBER Chapters, in: Emerging Labor Market Institutions for the Twenty-First Century, pages 207-228, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Quentin Jones & Gilad Ravid & Sheizaf Rafaeli, 2004. "Information Overload and the Message Dynamics of Online Interaction Spaces: A Theoretical Model and Empirical Exploration," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 15(2), pages 194-210, June.
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    4. Andreoni, James, 1990. "Impure Altruism and Donations to Public Goods: A Theory of Warm-Glow Giving?," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 100(401), pages 464-477, June.
    5. Ichniowski, Casey & Shaw, Kathryn & Prennushi, Giovanna, 1997. "The Effects of Human Resource Management Practices on Productivity: A Study of Steel Finishing Lines," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 87(3), pages 291-313, June.
    6. Daphne Taras & A. Gesser, 2003. "How New Lawyers Use E-Voice to Drive Firm Compensation: The "Greedy Associates" Phenomenon," Journal of Labor Research, Transaction Publishers, vol. 24(1), pages 9-29, January.
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    Cited by:

    1. Zhang, Wei & You, Jianmin & Lin, Weiwen, 2021. "Internet plus and China industrial system's low-carbon development," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    2. Freeman, Richard Barry, 2013. "What, If Anything, Can Labor Do to Rejuvenate Itself and Improve Worker Well-being in an Era of Inequality and Crisis-driven Austerity?," Scholarly Articles 13047660, Harvard University Department of Economics.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J0 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - General
    • J3 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs
    • J40 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - General
    • J5 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining
    • J51 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - Trade Unions: Objectives, Structure, and Effects
    • J52 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - Dispute Resolution: Strikes, Arbitration, and Mediation
    • J81 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Standards - - - Working Conditions
    • J83 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Standards - - - Workers' Rights

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