Global Labournet

The Labour Movement and the Internet

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An independent, online newsletter serving the trade union movement.
Edited by Eric Lee.

22 April 1997

Global Labour Institute Founded

The Global Labour Institute was founded in Geneva on March 20 this year. It is an international foundation whose purpose is to serve the international labour movement.

The GLI was quick to announce its email address -- gli@iprolink.ch -- and this is no accident. The Chair of the new organization is Dan Gallin, who is President of the International Federation of Workers' Education Associations (IFWEA), which was the first international labour institution of any kind to have a site on the world wide web.

Also serving on the Foundation Board of the new organization is Dave Spooner, one of the recognized founders of Poptel and the Labour Telematics Centre in the U.K. and a pioneer in trade union use of computer communications.

According to the organization's first press release, "The GLI will be a facilitator and a catalyst in the process of building international democratic solidarity through research, educational activity, publishing and the organization of meetings. The GLI will provide a forum for the labour movement as it seeks to develop new strategies and forms of struggle. It will facilitate the building of alliances with labour's democratic allis and potential allies in the fight for democracy, social justice, equality and sustainable development."

8 April 1997

A Trade Union Daily News Service -- Using Email

The following message arrived in my email box yesterday:

As you know the mass media is controlled everywhere by financial and political interests opposed to the accurate and honest portrayal of events. The distortion of the truth is particularly evident in relation to the portrayal of Trade Union struggles, and progressive movements for social justice.

We have established a new electronic mail, news and information service. It covers news stories otherwise not easily accessible. These news items come from all media sources and are translated into English from all over the planet.

In addition to providing daily reports on key events affecting the Labour and Trade Union movement it will also provide a forum in which individuals, activists, journalists and organisations may publish their views and analyses of events, in which you are invited to participate.

Sounds like a good idea to me. For more information, contact Heiko Khoo by email heiko@easynet.co.uk.

3 April 1997

Looking for a Union Job on the Internet?

So am I. And I've found a few locations on the Web that have begun to offer updated lists of jobs for trade unionists.

  • The US labour supersite LaborNet has a job listing -- last time I looked there were three bona fide trade union positions being offered. Point your browser to http://www.igc.apc.org/unionjobs/

  • The International Labour Office in Geneva regularly updates its list of jobs offered both in the European office and in ILO regional offices around the world. The listing is located at: http://www.ilo.org/public/english/160pers/index.htm

  • The national trade union center in the US, the AFL-CIO, while not listing regular trade union jobs (and why not?) has information for young people who want to work next summer in Union Summer '97. The AFL-CIO site is located at http://www.aflcio.org

  • There's a publication in the US called Community Jobs -- its Web site offers only samples of the jobs listed in the print publication. Check it out at http://www.essential.org/access/

  • Every day of the week, WebActive, the left-wing megasite sponsored by the corporation behind RealAudio, offers a single job listing for work in a progressive or community organization, and keeps the five jobs listed each week online at http://www.webactive.com/

This is obviously not a comprehensive listing. I'm sure there are online sources of information about jobs in the trade union movement outside of the US, for example. If your union lists its job openings online (and it should!), let me know and I'll report it here. Thanks.

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March 1997 / February 1997 / January 1997 / December 1996 / November 1996

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