My name is Steve Dondley, I'm the owner and founder of Prometheus Labor Communications, http://prometheuslabor.com, a company that builds websites for labor unions and labor-friendly organizations.
A couple of years after finishing a six year stint in the Navy, I started a career in the labor movement as an organizer for UFCW Local 1459 in my hometown of Springfield, MA. The challenge of organizing workers energized me and I had a good amount success with several organizing victories. But what I loved most about organizing was that it exposed me to a lot of truths about the work world and real-world politics. Now, I had worked my share of crappy retail and restaurant jobs, but the poltical dynamics and intrinsic unfairness of the employer-employee relationships weren't revealed to me until I became an organizer. Unfortunately, when the Caldor's and Bradlees department stores closed—both victims of Wal-Mart—Local 1459 lost about 1/3 of its membership and let its organizers go.
It was right around that time I started to gain an intense interest in the Internet. As a kid, I loved computers and I also had a fascination with mass communication theory which I picked up while attending a California community college right after I got out of the Navy. These passions drove me to learn everything I could about the World Wide Web and its associated technologies. In 1999, I built my first union website for my former employer, UFCW Local 1459. In 2000, I began classes at UMass to earn a self-designed degree in "Internet Technology and Communications."
During these years, I stayed involved in the labor movement, working as an occupational safety and health educator, community organizer, and volunteered time with my labor council. The work of labor unions resonates with me politically and my own working-class background.
One of my key missions in life is to do what I can to help the labor movement grow and flourish. And so, my current work, building websites for labor organizations, is very fulfilling for me. It combines my passions for technology and communication with my goal to serve the cause of labor. I'm very proud to be a part of this site. Richard Negri is doing a fantastic job building this community and showing how to put a warm, human face on Internet technology, which I believe holds the key to labor's future.
So, let's get out there and continue building this community together. Remember: Communicate or Die!
