Work Week
BARGAINING CHIPS? Ford's PC perk could hand labor an organizing tool.
Ford plans to put computers with Internet hookups in all employees' homes. But "the same technology that buys you a Ford Taurus enables you to organize a demonstration in Seattle," says Harley Shaiken, a Berkeley professor. The issue is moot at mostly unionized Ford: "We're very comfortable with our relationship with the United Auto Workers," spokesman Ed Miller says. Still, the AFL-CIO credits "virtual organizing" for such victories as 1998's entry of United Airlines ticket agents and cargo workers into the Machinists union.
One key to whether this will be a trend is whether wiring workers yields the competitive advantages sought by Ford. Spokesmen for several nonunion rivals, including Toyota and Honda, say they won't follow suit. They deny organizing is a factor.
In the airline industry, where mostly nonunionized Delta has already followed Ford's example, a spokeswoman for partly unionized AirTran calls the online perks a "terrific idea."