Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Unemployed? Now You've Got Your Own Unionw

U cubed, the new union for the unemployed started only a few months ago and already has representation in 49 states.

The idea is that much like unions (at one point in time, at least) brought some semblance of power to working people by bringing them together to bargain and politic as one unit instead of thousands of individuals, so too should the unemployed attempt political reforms as one.

It's a pretty young organization, but it has a pretty solid model. Members are organized by zip code and form small cells to elect leadership and set local priorities. All of these groups are then linked up in broader local networks and national networks on line.

Obviously it's far too early in the campaign to see if it will be successful or not, but it's certainly an exciting development. And given that it now has the backing of over a dozen major trade unions (with more to come), it could actually turn out to be a pretty powerful vehicle for expressing the concerns of one of the most underrepresented sections of American society.

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