Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

Labor unions have been a feature on the world's media landscape for close to two centuries. Depending on the era and the locale, they have certified the skills of content providers and production workers, bargained collectively for wages and benefits, trained and disciplined members of the craft, and fought with employers and the state over freedom of expression, workplace health and safety, protection of intellectual property, and access to information. In general, they have attracted relatively little scholarly attention. Nonetheless, they have had a significant impact on media institutions and on the societies in which they operate. Calculating the number of unionized media workers around the world is virtually impossible. In part, that is because the definition of what constitutes the media continues to evolve. Meanwhile, many unions have transformed themselves into sector-wide communications unions that include but are not limited to media workers. Finally, statistical agencies define and tally media work in different ways. Globally, an International Labour Organization (ILO) survey of 92 countries estimated that union density – the proportion of workers who were organized into trade unions – stood at just under 20 percent, though this varied widely from country to country ( International Labour Organization 1997 ). In the media, union density also varies tremendously. In many ... log in or subscribe to read full text