Can trade unions prosper in Cyber-space?I think the answer to this question is still unclear, but the following web-site should help people make up their mind.
See Cyberunions by Walton Pantland.
Showing posts with label trade unions. Show all posts
Showing posts with label trade unions. Show all posts
Cyberunions and research
Can trade unions prosper in Cyber-space?I think the answer to this question is still unclear, but the following web-site should help people make up their mind.
See Cyberunions by Walton Pantland.
Flash mob industrial protest challenged in court
Nearly two years ago I wrote about an incident of flash mobbing that related to a strike in Germany - see here.
According to Union Renewal blog the same incident has led to the employer organisation accusing the activists of "systematically vandalizing shops" and is now attempting to sue the trade union that played a part in the organisation of the flash mob.
For more details see here.
According to Union Renewal blog the same incident has led to the employer organisation accusing the activists of "systematically vandalizing shops" and is now attempting to sue the trade union that played a part in the organisation of the flash mob.
For more details see here.
Trade union Twitter survey findings
As previously posted on this blog, LabourStart is looking at how trade unions can make use of Twitter.
The findings have now been published.
Key points:
A small but growing number of trade unionists use Twitter, though few are intensive users.
Only a tiny number use Twitter for trade union purposes.
Re-tweeting, the Twitter equivalent of forwarding an email, is not widely used.
Of all the other social networks, only Facebook is widely used and giant sites like MySpace and Bebo are off union members's radar.
Unions that do use Twitter are probably not very good at communicating this fact to members, as most did not know if their unions used Twitter.
Finally, there are considerable differences of opinion among union members online as to the value of Twitter.
Click here for more details.
The findings have now been published.
Key points:
A small but growing number of trade unionists use Twitter, though few are intensive users.
Only a tiny number use Twitter for trade union purposes.
Re-tweeting, the Twitter equivalent of forwarding an email, is not widely used.
Of all the other social networks, only Facebook is widely used and giant sites like MySpace and Bebo are off union members's radar.
Unions that do use Twitter are probably not very good at communicating this fact to members, as most did not know if their unions used Twitter.
Finally, there are considerable differences of opinion among union members online as to the value of Twitter.
Click here for more details.
Facebook and industrial action
According to an article by Kat Baker at Personnel Today:
Unions are attempting to rally support from the wider community for major industrial disputes, including those at IBM and Fujitsu, by using social networking sites like Facebook, it has emerged.
For more details see Social networking sites used to rally support for industrial action.
Unions are attempting to rally support from the wider community for major industrial disputes, including those at IBM and Fujitsu, by using social networking sites like Facebook, it has emerged.
For more details see Social networking sites used to rally support for industrial action.
Creative unions
I've just received details of a new Internet venture from trade unionists.
It's called Creative Unions.
The site is an experiment in bringing together unionists to strengthen collective knowledge and skills in communication strategies and design.
It's called Creative Unions.
The site is an experiment in bringing together unionists to strengthen collective knowledge and skills in communication strategies and design.
Trade unions find new uses for Web 2.0 communication technology
I've been meaning to post some really interesting stuff picked up on by the Union Renewal Blog.
One is about trade unions launching a social networking site "to bring young workers into contact with each other and to help them exchange information and experiences".
The ventures comes from the Netherlands - see here for more information.
The other involves a rather new and novel way of protesting against an employer.
The strategy involves 'flash mobbing' a department store that is at the centre of a industrial relations dispute.
The action involved people descending on the store in droves and spending lots of time at the checkout, causing long waiting lines, only to decide not to purchase their article after all.
The flash mob incident happened in Stuttgart and involved around 100 people.
It could catch on!
See here for more details.
One is about trade unions launching a social networking site "to bring young workers into contact with each other and to help them exchange information and experiences".
The ventures comes from the Netherlands - see here for more information.
The other involves a rather new and novel way of protesting against an employer.
The strategy involves 'flash mobbing' a department store that is at the centre of a industrial relations dispute.
The action involved people descending on the store in droves and spending lots of time at the checkout, causing long waiting lines, only to decide not to purchase their article after all.
The flash mob incident happened in Stuttgart and involved around 100 people.
It could catch on!
See here for more details.
A second life for trade unions?
According to a newly launched website, trade unions are set to experiment with possibilities of organizing workers through virtual reality worlds, such as Second Life.An introductory statement provided by SLunions reads as follows:
This is a blog to help co-ordinate the Union Island project in Second Life.
A number of trade union organisations from around the world are coming together to set up a home for unionists and union issues in the virtual world Second Life.
We’re planning to launch it later in 2008, but in the meantime want to hear from anyone with an interest in unions and virtual worlds.
Keep in touch (join the Union Island User Group group in SL) for more information on what you can expect to see on Union Island, including:
Events
Exhibitions
Learning
Discussion
Campaigns
International networking
Online organising
The possibilities are nearly endless. What should we be looking at?
To find out about the first meeting see the latest post, here.
Pass on the word, brothers and sisters!
Thanks, again, to John, for the lead.
Show your union credentials on Facebook
The TUC has just announced a new initiative - a Facebook application for union members.Details from the TUC include:
It lets you add a little badge [see mine above or visit my blog to view it] to your Facebook profile to show everyone which trade union you're a member of.
You can also see which unions your friends are members of.
The application was initially developed for use by unions in the UK, but it is hoped we'll be able to make it available to more countries, through other national trade union federations.
You can get details of the creator of the initiative and how to add the application to your Facebook profile by visiting My Union.
Thanks to John for letting me know about the initiative - which I think is very encouraging, by-the-way.
Can trade unions renew themselves?
This is the broad question put forward by a new blog called Union Renewal.
More specific questions asked include:
What is the trade union movement doing to organise young, minority and flex workers?
How does it cope with globlisation?
What are its activities at the local level?
How does it put social justice on the agenda?
The blog is run by Dirk Kloosterboer and Tonny Groen of the Netherlands Trade Union Confederation FNV and started earlier this month.
Of further note is also a link from the blog to a paper called Innovative trade union strategies (by Dirk Kloosterboer).
More specific questions asked include:
What is the trade union movement doing to organise young, minority and flex workers?
How does it cope with globlisation?
What are its activities at the local level?
How does it put social justice on the agenda?
The blog is run by Dirk Kloosterboer and Tonny Groen of the Netherlands Trade Union Confederation FNV and started earlier this month.
Of further note is also a link from the blog to a paper called Innovative trade union strategies (by Dirk Kloosterboer).
State of the unions
The DTI has just released the latest statistics for trade union membership in the UK (2006).
The report is called Trade Union Membership 2006 by Heidi Granger and Martin Crowther.
The report is called Trade Union Membership 2006 by Heidi Granger and Martin Crowther.
Key findings include:
- Union density fell 0.6 per cent in the year 2005-2006
- Union density for all employed currently stands at 25.8 per cent
- For the third year in succession women represent the greater proportion of overall membership
- Northern Ireland has the highest union density (39.7 per cent); England the lowest at 27 per cent
- Within England density varies between 21.4 per cent in the South East compared to 38.9 per cent in the North East
- Only one in six private sector workers are in a union; collective agreements in this sector now cover less than 20 per cent of all employees
- 58.8 per cent of all public sector employees are in a union; collective agreements in this sector cover 69 per cent of all employees [not sure if this includes or excludes pay review bodies]
- Hourly earnings for union members is currently £12.43 per hour compared to £10.66 for non-union workers.
The TUC response of "running hard to stand still" can be found here.
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