>I would be interested in hearing comments about this, and
>would appreciate being steered toward some sources of information concerning
>service industry unions.
Have you heard of the Services Employees International Union? They have a fairly informative website <http://www.seiu.org> with news about organizing nurses, Justice for Janitors, etc. They are a part of the AFL-CIO, so they probably aren't "Workers of the World, Unite!" But they do claim 1.3 million members and they do encourage political action, which is a hopeful sign. Other than that, I don't know much about them.
Eric