No study of how technology has affected our history can be complete without the close study of the labor movements that working people throughout our history have made in response to the constant changes brought about by it. In connection to the study of labor movements, current trends of globalization of materials, industry, manufacturing, etc is also a must for any class that hopes to involve students in the current issues surrounding this issue.
The History of the Flint strike in 1937 to create the UAW
Changing Money: Compare prices over time
What is Globalization? Web resources:
The IMF Report Globalization: A definition
Articles about Globalization A list of advantages and disadvantages
Look here for info on one of the largest American Unions: AFL-CIO issues
Outsourcing issues:
Various issues link, pro-anti info, outsourcing of IT jobs, Top 10 outsourcing firms, Against outsourcing article, suburbs and outsourcing
Minimum wage issues:
pro-article1, FairPAy, against-case1, pro/con links, against article 2,
Public School Funding:
Per-pupilfunding, NEA, EquityinEducationalFunding
Walmart Issues:
walmartunionstance, walmartandworkers, walmartandunions, walmartlinks
Frontline episodes on Technology and its effects on the people and the world:
Growing up Online: How the internet and other technology is changing America’s youth
Spying on the Homefront: Is the War on Terror undermining our civil liberties?
Hot Politics: The political battles behind the issue of Global Warming.
Living Old: Technology is keeping people alive longer, what could this mean for society?
Is Wal-Mart Good for America?: Effects of globalization and the “big giants.”
Tax me if you Can: Are corporations getting too many tax breaks that cost the tax payer?
A Dangerous Business: A critical look at a major corporate factory and its’ working conditions
The Automotive Industry today – series
These NPR reports deal with the automotive industry currently (2004). The first report is about GM and the AW Union. Good resources for those interested in the current state of the industry and what problems and successes the different manufacturers have.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4663831
The Travels of a T-Shirt
An NPR report on the book “Travels of a T-Shirt” in the Global economy. Issues include the cotton industry, the global economy “globalization,” Job gain and loss.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4622200
The GAP Company Report Story
This NPR report talks about the latest labor report that GAP just brought out in their website about the conditions of workers around the world.
http://www.npr.org/rundowns/segment.php?wfId=1894179
The Black listing of Migrant Workers
This NPR report talks about the blacklisting of workers for what the report says is the complaining of work related abuses.
http://www.npr.org/rundowns/segment.php?wfId=1891566
Jobs moving out of the US and what that may mean to the economy
NPR Report on the economic condition of Scranton, PA three years after their mayor industry moved to Mexico. This topic relates to our Technology and Labor unit by examining the effects that globalization and NAFTA have on the two societies.
http://www.npr.org/programs/morning/features/2003/aug/scranton/index.html
Information about the fight to Unionize the Ford Plant in Detroit in the 1930’s
A report of an artist who made a screenplay from a personal family story of a union leader from the 1930’s who died while trying to force Ford Company to sign an agreement to unionize its Detroit factory. It gives us a taste of the history of violence in the struggle of workers to unionize in America.
http://www.npr.org/rundowns/segment.php?wfId=1747706
http://64.62.162.161/~forgotte/story.html
How technology and other social changes are affecting the working class
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6406474