Wobblies on the web.

• Author: Leggiere, Phil
• Position: Labor news on the Internet

Lenape Forge, Pennsylvania Although progressive critics like to invoke the memory of the Luddites to counter hightech communications hype, a number of labor unions are exploring inventive ways of using the internet for organizing.

"The voice of labor has been mostly silent in cyberspace. This must change, and fast. Labor will either adapt or perish," declares Michael Enos, president of United Steelworkers Local 7207, which represents workers at Ballymore Corporation and Lenape Forge of Chester County, Pennsylvania.

Local 7207's web site has been designed to allow rank-and-file activists to stay in contact with other unions, campaigns, and movements around the world. it's also been used, Enos says, to keep tabs on management. "During our last contract negotiations we downloaded credit reports on the company, which gave us an independent source to evaluate their claims and economic status."

While the affluent, white, male demographics of the internet provoke justifiable skepticism about the medium's populist potential, Enos is quick to point out that "for $20 a month and a few hundred dollars worth of equipment you can reach out to millions. How many millions of dollars would it cost to start your own newspaper, TV, or radio station?"

Local 7207's efforts are part of a wider grassroots movement. Strikers at the Detroit newspapers, for instance, have found that instead of printing a strike paper, they could distribute...