There has been an explosion of networking technologies in the past five years and workers can and should take advantage of them. This piece surveys these techno-tools and shows how they can be used as a means of much greater collaboration among workers.
The implications of social network unionism are only just starting to dawn on many of us. All of a sudden, workers have the ability to build their own free, open networks, with or without the involvement of their union. They have begun to do so already, and we can expect a cumulative curve. Networks are popping up within workplaces, across organizations, and within occupations, industries, sectors and even across borders (especially in transnationals). These groups do not distinguish between members and non-members, or between full-time and part-time employees.