organized labor and OSS?

Aside from being an economic researcher on technological change (very much
including OSS), I am also a member of a union of employees of the US Dept of
Labor.  A union committee on computer technology is considering a resolution
about open source software.  (The resolution would be a nonbinding statement
of our preferences to inform the union officials and the managers they
negotiate with.  It wouldn't change the world particularly, but the process
of discussing it makes it possible to learn something and figure out if
members have a common position or not, then say so.)  So far neither union
members nor the IT managers seem to have any objection to OSS in principle,
although we do not make such transitions quickly because
centrally-controlled security and standardization are key concerns here.

Below is the draft text of the resolution.  I'd be interested in anyone's
view on whether (a) any labor organization anywhere has taken a stance on
OSS, because I am not aware of any; and (b) the proposed resolution seems
illogical, unclear, self-contradictory, redundant, etc, because such
resolutions should themselves improve through an open-source process of
discussion and learning.  Please know that I am not advocating that you
approve, disapprove, or take any political stance.  Please write to me
privately (at [email protected]) unless the response seems to be of
general interest.

A note of translation: the word "whereas" is apparently required, and in
this context means something like "Because".

-----

Draft proposal (dated 3 March 2004) for:  A resolution by Local 12 on open
source software


Whereas open source software is shared with others, usually on Web sites;

Whereas government use of open source software, instead of software
customized only by specialized contractors, gives employees additional
opportunities to understand, participate in, and improve the software
technology they use at work;

Whereas open source software is cheaper to acquire than proprietary
software;

Whereas use of open source software allows future government expenditures,
and the efforts of public employees, on software development to benefit the
public outside government agencies;

Whereas some software which has already been written by government employees
could be useful to others in the public;

Whereas through the distribution of software written by employees, those
employees can receive recognition, prestige, and also evaluations of their
work by outsiders;

Whereas like some other forward-thinking government authorities, the
Commonwealth of Massachusetts officially promotes open source and requires
its agencies to consider open-source and public-sector code sharing in
determining best-value solutions;

The membership of AFGE Local 12 calls upon the Department of Labor and its
agencies to take opportunities to use open source software approaches
whenever possible, to explicitly justify the alternatives when they are
taken, and to look for changes to make the source code to existing software
programs publicly available.


-- 
Peter B. Meyer     [email protected]    202-691-5678
Research Economist, Office of Productivity and Technology
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Room 2180
2 Massachusetts Avenue N.E., Washington, DC 20212-0001