Well, first of all, let me tell you: I'm not wise enough to have the answers to what is a serious global problem caused by many complex factors.

But let me point out some areas those of us who are interested in the quality of life for working people can explore:

Once past the design stage a technology is the product of many social processes - which unfortunately these days means processes determined by corporations and governments servicing corporations. We can influence technologies as they are being designed and while they are being implemented in particular situations and work-places. We may not have the political and social influence to alter the prevailing technologies - now - but that shouldn't discourage us. After all, the early trade unionists were also told that their goals were unreachable, even fantastic.

And still, we're trade unionists, are we not?

We need to start training Technology Organizers much like we have trained Health and Safety Representatives.

These Technology Organizers could be trained in how to organize computer projects and help workers become effectively involved in the design of technologies.

We could use community organizing as a preliminary model for developing work-place Technology Organizers.

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Talk of unionizing workers these days is not very fashionable. It's like thinking of people in the forties with wide ties or long skirts. But that's exactly what employers want us to think. They want workers to believe that unions were necessary "back then" but really don't have a role in the "modern" economy.

The truth is that history has proven only unions can protect working people. When it comes right down to it the only thing that stands between a worker and poverty is her union - if she's lucky to have one.

However, organizing temporaries and part-timers is easier said than done. One avenue we might investigate as we think about organizing temporaries is the path taken by unions in theentertainment industries. Unions of actors, for example, have many years of experience in representing workers with irregular hours and many employers.

 The least we can do is collate the demands we would make as labour unionists representing temporaries. These would include pro rated benefits such as pensions, holiday pay and sick time. If employers cannot be convinced to provide these sorts of benefits then we have to lobby for legislation.

We need to develop a Bill of Rights for Part-time and Temporary Workers.

5. Build Communities of Workers.

Unions have always been about getting workers together because only when working people get into groups do they begin to understand their situation and gain the strength for pushing their demands.

Getting temporary workers together is not as easy as calling a meeting in the plant cafeteria. By definition temporary workers are not around on long-term, regular schedules. Just getting their names and addresses can be extremely difficult.

But new technologies such as conferencing on the World Wide Web could be explored as a way of bringing together a disparate group with common interests such as temporary workers.

A first experiment might be to organize a Counseling Service on the Internet which can help temporary workers understand their rights, learn strategies for protecting themselves, and, not coincidentally, learn about the principles of unionism.

6. Remember our roots.

There are many people saying that unions are out-dated, industrial organizations. Unions, they say, have no place in the new "knowledge economy". And sometimes, we unionists, are guilty of entrenched, conservative, ideas which simply won't work in the new electronic workplace.

But unions can evolve into effective protectors of workers in the new economies. With new models of activity, such as Technology Organizing, and new tools, such as conferencing on the Web, we can build the new electronic unions of the 21st century. Let's start today.