Cyberunions

Why Open Source and Creative Commons are important for unions

Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) offers powerful, free tools for trade unions and their activists, and a serious attempt should be made to adopt them, and to defend the freedom of the Internet. In the UK, this includes working to repeal the Digital Economy Act. The idea of Creative Commons should not be strange […]

Web 2.0 and trade unions: UNI Global Union video

Appropriately for a global union federation representing communication workers, UNI Global Union is pretty innovative when it comes to using new technology. There were the organisers of the Second Life strike, have an active twitter feed and forum for union communicators. This is their introduction to Web 2.0 for trade unions: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Em8XLIaGm-E]

Facebook – dangerous for unions?

Eric Lee of LabourStart thinks so. Take a listen to his podcast here: Facebook is the most widely used social networking website in the world, with 400 million active users. Because it reaches such a large audience, it seems important for trade unions to use. For Eric, the biggest danger is that you have no control […]

Cyberspace as space: the ideology of the Internet

While new technologies offer activists new tools to use for union activity, it is important to conceptualise cyperspace as space, and to understand activity taking place there as being in a new realm with its own possibilities, ethics and practice. Peter Waterman feels that most trade union use of new technology “…represents a belated response […]

Bottom up vs Top down renewal

In looking at the potential of ICTs for union renewal and revitalisation, we need to look at unions as both collections of people, and as organisations. Which part of the union are we seeking to revitalise? The interests of these two groups are not necessarily the same – in fact, they can be diametrically opposed […]

Trade unions in Second Life – what’s the point?

Second Life is a virtual reality world accessed through the Internet. Participants create ‘avatars’ – online figures that can interact with other characters – and enter a world that in some ways mirrors real life: there are shops and businesses, and it is possible to buy real estate, clothes for your avatar, or a number […]

Twitter and the awesome power of crowdsourcing

I’m going to start this with a dramatic statement: twitter is the most powerful communication medium I’ve ever used. Twitter gives dynamic, real time interaction with people all around the world. It’s like being in a room with the all the most interesting people you can find, and being able to listen to all their […]

Using online surveys for union organising

One of the most useful organising tools for unions is online surveys. These allow you to find out exactly what members and potential members want, and to focus your campaigns accordingly. I have worked with organisers and used online surveys extensively. We use Survey Monkey, but there are other survey tools which are equally good. […]

Trade union flash mobs – a new organising tactic?

Trade union campaigns often seem to be stuck in the last century. It’s no wonder we struggle to attract young members: too often, it looks like we’re trying to recruit them to go back to 1983. We’re seldom innovative when it comes to using new organising tactics, or taking into account the fact that many […]