Laptops Come to the Local by Theta Pavis Unions may be facing a hard time in the United States, but Drexel University Professor Arthur B. Soshtak says the state of labor organizing is quite good.
Unions continue to struggle in part because many heavy manufacturing jobs have been lost.
Service jobs are growing in this country, but that's where unions are the weakest. One growing area of strength, however, is that unions have begun to move into cyberspace. With the help of computers, Shostak says, unions can come to the negotiating table knowing more about the company than the company does. Coming in at a close second is the American Federation of Government Employees which hosts an annual conference featuring professional futurists. Unions are also using listservs to foster dialogues between American workers and unionists around the world.