This article is from the current issue of the magazine of SEKO, the Swedish commercial workers' union.
This is my first column for your magazine and so I should introduce myself. My name is Richard Flint and I live and work in London, England. I used to work for the International Transport Workers Federation [ITF]. I medically retired last December after ten years of work due to a progressive disability known as ataxia..
As a disabled person I find the Internet a source of entertainment and useful enlightenment. One of the most exciting developments recently has been the explosion in the use of this technology by workers and, in my opinion, the possibilities that this offers to us all.
The supporters of the recently concluded Liverpool dockers dispute deserve to be remembered in the history books for their pioneering work in using the Internet. Despite the fact that the dock workers didn't have official backing from their national trade union and so were technically prevented from addressing other transport unions, their innovative use of the technology allowed them to go over the heads of their official groups and appeal directly to groups of sympathetic workers all over the world. Both in their use of e-mail and the World Wide Web, the Liverpudlians demonstrated to all of us how it can be done.
Significantly, the initial use of the technology was supported by individuals who had access to the Internet and passed messages on to workers who didn't have access. Successful industrial disputes are not only fought by the workers but also by the broader community. The role of the dock workers supporters in this dispute was critical.
Practically, there was a lot of international solidarity action in support of this dispute and use of the internet must be recorded as one of the major reason why this happened.
The lessons of Liverpool appear to have been learnt. A similar dispute is now happening in Australia where a dock company known as Patrick, with strong backing from right wing groups [including the government and farmers], attempted to sack union organised dock workers and replace them with non-union scabs. The dockers union, the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA), has won a significant court case which has ordered the sacked dockers back to work. The dispute is not over yet but the court victory represents a major step forward for the workers and their union.
International solidarity with the Australian workers has been significantly enhanced by the use of the internet with a large number of web sites devoted to information about the dispute. E-mail has also been used extensively and, at the moment, it is continuing to play a significant role. The dockers and their union have asked other workers to act against ships that have been loaded in Australia by non-union labour, and Internet e-mail is being used to monitor these ships and assist workers in hitting them.
As you can probably tell by now, I am a big believer in what we can achieve through the proper use of the new technology. Talking to comrades in Sweden may, however, be preaching to the converted. Sweden is, in fact, in the global vanguard of internet use and is one of the most connected countries in the world.
According to the Irish organisation NUA (http://www.nua.ie) -- a progressive group that produces some very interesting statistics -- the level of internet connectivity in the Nordic countries is the highest in Europe and perhaps as high or higher than Canada and the USA. Of course, this is an inexact science and the figures are best estimates. However, they say that Sweden has 2.4 million people on-line (27 per cent of the population), Finland 1.04 million (20.4%), Norway 1.4 million (32.5%), Iceland 121,630 (45%) and Denmark 600,000 (11.5%). Compare this to Canada's 8.9 million (31%) or the USA's 62 million (30%). Europe "big" states are way behind; Germany (5.8m/12.1%); Great Britain (6 m/10.25%); and France (1.3m/2.5%).
These figures will change radically. The number of people on-line has doubled in less than a year and the level of increase does not appear to the slowing down. Nevertheless, they represent an impressive achievement in the Nordic countries. If these figures are correct, this means that nearly one in three of the people reading this magazine are on-line.
We are living through a revolution that will dramatically alter our lives. It is not enough for us to embrace the new technology and get on-line, we must also begin a public debate about the way this new technology will be owned and deployed. Like many tools we humans invent, the internet and the new technology is a thing that can be used in lots of different ways, for good and for evil and it is up to all of us to ensure that the proper use is made of this technology. I don't want to live in a world that is owned and controlled by Bill Gates, Microsoft, and Rupert Murdoch. If we want a different world, we have to make it.
