[P2P-F] Unions for Immaterial Production?

Sat Mar 5 16:51:36 CET 2011

Very interesting and complex discussion, thanks Michel for creating  
this platform. and giving us to strech our brains.
I currently try to force myslef to imagine and create peer governance  
mechanisms for existing traditional unions [mainly], as well as  
forming a new model in practice that would adopt p2p as its internal  
and external relational dynamic (gaia) [i could put less time on this].
Following the IWW experience, and combining several organising  
methodologies, I hope, if it gets success, this letter experience  
would motivate traditional union structures to change further  
[hypotethically].
The more I learn about the p2p theory and practices, the idea of  
organising immaterial labour is becoming a very good idea with gaia,  
together with material labour. I would like to invite you and others  
to discuss on this, in a publishible way.
greetings

Quoting Michel Bauwens <michelsub2004 at gmail.com>:

> Dear Patrick,
>
> These are interesting remarks, though I suspect you are being ironic,  but
> here a few counter-observations, that may even make it a non-problem:
>
> - the ability of peers to produce freely shared commons is not a problem,
> only the capability of netarchical capitalism to exploit the value without
> return, is; that shifts the locus of the problem to the problems of those
> peers as workers, instead of seeing them as 'scabs'
>
> - this ability of autonomous production is also a weapon or tool against
> employers, i.e. the locus of production can be changed to an autonomous site
> (used by striking journalists already in the past)
>
> - the ability to mobilize of traditional workers is also 'limited' by
> physical locality, so 'immaterial' internetworking may be and actually is a
> plus, see the great movement of the intermittents in France a few years ago
> for an example of labour struggles, or the contemporary mobilization of Arab
> working classes happening right now
>
> A further observation of scabs is that most often these were NOT workers
> from the striking factory, but outsiders, while in the case of free software
> we are talking about people being part of the same community with often
> shared values
>
>
>
> On Sat, Feb 26, 2011 at 12:39 AM, Patrick Anderson <agnucius at gmail.com>wrote:
>
>> The effectiveness of collective bargaining has always been threatened
>> by independent peers who are willing to accept lower wages and endure
>> poor working conditions.
>>
>> For traditional manufacturing jobs, these 'alternate' workers can
>> usually be kept from accessing the Means of Production by forming a
>> physical barrier around the worksite or through various threats that
>> can be carried out because it is easy to monitor who is actually
>> entering the establishment.
>>
>> Yet these valuable techniques of intimidation and coercion so vital to
>> protecting Worker Rights are unlikely to be applicable in the realm of
>> "immaterial production".
>>
>> When it comes to something like Free Software, how can we, the
>> International Programmers of the World, unionize effectively to *stop*
>> independent programmers from creating the solutions that consumers
>> need?
>>
>> This is a catastrophic issue, as many of these independents are
>> willing to work not just for a low Wage, but for Free!  They often fix
>> bugs and add features without any pay at all!
>>
>> How can workers in the 'immaterial' sphere possibly "make a living"
>> with such anarchy and disrespect for organized labor, and with no
>> ability to stop that production?
>>
>
>
>
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