Website

According to Oftel, the telecommunications watchdog, 16 million adults

(over a third) now regularly access the web from home, work or college.

Almost all TUC-affiliated unions now have their own websites, and some

unions, such as the AUT university lecturers' union, have a policy of

encouraging branches to set up their own. Many union branches also make

extensive use of e-mail as an additional organising tool, although this

is more prevalent among white-collar workers.

The Labour Research Department, which publishes Labour Research, also

makes extensive use of the internet to provide readers with information.

We have now assembled all the useful sites we know about into a

directory which we have published on our own website. The directory

contains over 400 links to sites containing information on health and

safety, the law at work, government departments and company information,

together with the most comprehensive list of local and national unions

that you will find anywhere on the web.

From now on Labour Research we will be looking at the best (and worst)

of these sites in more detail to help you use the internet.

You can find the web directory at http://www.lrd.org.uk/links/

The relaunched Labour Research Department website at

http://www.lrd.org.uk/ contains a wealth of information useful for trade

unionists.

The Labour Research Department has also published a booklet, Negotiating

the net - a guide for trade unionists, which is available from LRD, 78

Blackfriars Road, London SE1 8HF, tel: 020 7928 3649, price £2.95

(£10.00 for non-labour movement bodies).