The information and communication technology (ICT) industry has been growing phenomenally in financial and geographical terms. However, ICT production has not yet drawn the same kind of public concern about labor standards as the garment or footwear industries despite many parallels. Furthermore, union density in electronics manufacturing remains startlingly low around the world. Based on primary research in Bangalore, hailed as the “Silicon Valley of India” and Silicon Valley, California, the article has three objectives: (1) to outline some of the challenges to unionization that arise from the current forms of corporate structure in this profitable, global industry; (2) to highlight recent efforts by unions and community-based organizations to increase corporate social responsibility in various industries; and (3) to apply lessons from these examples to the high-technology industry.
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