Harnessing the Internet: Empowering the Trade Union Movement in the Digital Age

1. THE TRADE UNION MOVEMENT AND THE INTERNET Naci GÜNDOĞAN Anadolu University 66th Midwest Political Science Association Conference Chicago, April 03-06, 2008

2. Trade union membership in some developed countries Source: Waddington (2005) Trade Union Membership in Europe, ETUI-REHS, Brussels.

3. Why has union density declined? • The main reasons: • a dramatic fall in the number of jobs in manufacturing industries, • a fall in traditional full time employment and an increase in part time and temporary workers,

4. an increase in the proportion of the workforce employed by small companies, • larger numbers of unemployed people.

5. How can be reversed union decline? • Information and communication technologies (ICTs) in particular the internet have been presented as one solution. • The Internet is • relatively cheap, • very fast, • truly global, • available all the time, • inter-active, • thehyperlink

6. The internet began as a tool for the military and academics in the 1960s. • In the early 90s, web-browsers were developed, and the technology gradually permeated the mainstream, with email becoming a popular means of communication.

8. The Internet and Trade Unions- History and Pioneers • The first published suggestion that trade unionists might be able to use networked computers for such tasks as online distance learning was made in 1972 by Charles "Chip" Levinson, in his book International Trade Unionism. • One of the premier networks began in 1986 in Canada, SOLINET, (Solidarity Computer Conferencing Network) was created by Marc Belanger.

9. In 1991, LaborNet was founded to build a democratic communication network for the labor movement. It is an independent network that seeks to build up labor communication for all working people. LaborNets are now established in the United Kingdom, Austria, Germany, Korea, Turkey, Japan. • Unison was the first union in the world to set up a web site (1993) and became the first union to set up a free Internet service for its members through Poptel.

10. LaborStart has a global network of volunteer correspondents updating headlines throughout the day. • In 2004, the global union federation, UNI-Union International Network, launched a web-based help desk to assist union web workers in running or improving their web sites. • Today, worldwide, the number of union web sites has risen rapidly, as many developing country unions have gone on-line, and as the Global Union Federations and International Confederation of Free Trade Unions have made the Internet integral to their operations.

11. There is no one site which gives a listing of all world trade union web sites because there is no spesific union domain name to facilitate the easy identification of union websites. • The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the private group that determines domain names, rejected the request of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) to create a dot-union name. Whereas union domain name will broden the scope of issues brought to the emerging internet community.

12. The most recent attempt at a global inventory of union webpages was undertaken by the London School of Economics, in 2001. This survey claimed to find a total of about 2,700 websites. The authors of this survey admit that they may have missed some sites, particularly those not using the English language. • In Europe, figures for the number of union websites included the UK in first place (373), France in second place (181) and Germany third (59).

13. What is the Impact of the Internet on Trade Union Movement? • Optimistic view: ‘ICTs offer unions new ways of mobilising and engaging with members and potential members, and that they create opportunities for strengthening the union movement on an international scale’ (E.Lee, R. Darlington, W. J. Diamond, R. Freeman).

14. According to Eric Lee the internet would even allow the trade union movement to renew itself and fill key gaps in its national and international systems of communication, leading to a broader and more meaningful dialogue within labour and beyond it. • Diamond and Freeman argue that “the internet offers unions great opportunities to improve services and attract members because it bridges gap between an increasingly heterogeneous and individualistic workforce and the collective activity and solidarity that lies at the heart of trade unionism”.

15. Pessimistic view: “ Increasing the use of the internet will further undermine the role of traditional representative organisations. The internet will render superfluous intermediate organizations since it can link individuals directly to firms and governments” (Grossman, Corrado, Firestone, Negroponte, Castells). According to this view, the big losers from the web are the traditional institutions that have served as the main intermediaries between government and its citizens - the political parties, trade unions, civic associations.

16. How is the internet changing unions? • Freeman: “the internet is changing unions from institution of the WEBBS to institution of the WEB”. • How can the trade union movement utilize from the internet? • Organizing workers In particular, trade unions have continued to find difficulty in organising growth areas of the labour market, especially amongst women and non-standard employees. Women and young workers are a particularly important target group because of their increased share of these employment growth areas.

17. Traditional union activities such as meetings, continue to be held at times and in locations, which make it extremely difficult for women or those working non-standard hours to attend. E-forms could better enable increased participation and activism among women and non-standard employees.

18. Internal and external communication • Internal communications can be improved through e-mail and intranets to allow union officials and staff to keep in touch and exchange information more easily. • External communication with members is enhanced by web sites and e-mails that allow information to be delivered in a timely and less costly manner than the traditional newsletter and mail-out, and also allow members to communicate more easily with officials.

19. Unlike traditional forms of communication that focus on one-to-one communication or one-to-many communication flows, internet tools, such as discussion boards, chat rooms and discussion lists, allow many-to-many communications and allow those who are time poor or geographically dispersed to participate.

20. Services to members • The internet allows unions to meet the demand for better services to members. It can do this in three ways: • by improving the knowledge with which local representatives serve members; • by providing general expert systems advice to workers; • by providing individualized services to members based on their personal charasteristics.

21. Box 1- UNISON MEMBERSHIP BENEFITS • UNISONFree.net and UNISONplus.net These services were being operated by a company called Real Poptel. • Online Legal AdviceUNISON provides expert legal advice and services, including free assistance with problems at work and an extended package of legal services for members and their families. • Learning and Organising Services (LAOS) offers a wide range of learning opportunities, which range from basic skills through to professional level qualifications for UNISON activists and members. Source: http://www.unison.org.uk/benefits/index.asp

22. Box 2- WorkSMART • WorkSMART, from the TUC, is here to help today's working people get the best out of the world of work. • your rights at work: employment law explained • your health at work: keeping well in the workplace • your money: simple advice on your pay, taxes, and pension options • union finder: help in choosing a union • email newsletter: key and quirky stories from the world of work Source: www.worksmart.org.uk

23. Source: http://union.org.nz

24. Education and training • The Internet gives unions a low cost tool for informing workers in any locality about workplace conditions and rights and for advising them how to deal with workplace problems. It generates new opportunities with regard to education and training. Today, many unions provide training courses via the internet for its members and union representatives.

25. Online learning Online courses include: For union reps Countering the Far Right Disability Champions@Work Finding a work Life balance Health and Safety Introduction to Occupational Pensions Organise! A Voice In Every Workplace Union Learning Representatives Union Representatives Stage 1 Tackling Racism TUC Certificate in Occupational Health and Safety For union professional UK Unions and the European Union Source: www.unionlearn.org.uk

26. Collective bargaining process • It is important to improve information flows, and recognise the importance of information as a weapon in collective bargaining. The web can be a crucial source for bargaining and company data. The internet can be used by union researchers to collate relevant information for the professional trade union negotiators.

27. Union members can be easily informed in every stage of bargaining process and electronic balloting of members on agreements and proposals. The internet provides a potentially very powerful way of reaching members during the collective bargaining process, to inform them of developments and to elicit their views and also potentially empowers their members to take a much more direct role during negotiations.

28. International labor solidarity • Eric Lee: “the Internet will create a more global trade union movement by providing information on labour issues around the world.” • The internet provides many opportunities for enhanced forms of solidarity and communication at every level from the local to the global. • Today unions are increasingly using the web as a campaigning tool. They are organizing “cyber picketing” by flooding a company’s e-mail system with protest messages.

29. Act NOW! • If your union needs our help creating an online campaign, please fill in this form and we'll get back to you. Thanks. • Russia: No to impunity for attackers of dockworkers' leader • Iran: Attempted assassination of labour activist • Tell Tommy Hilfiger, Guess and Dickies: Stop the firings of Mexican jean workers; support their right to a union of their choice • UK: Support the Fremantle Care Workers • Australia: Support Cochlear workers • Turkey:Intimidation and Mass Firings at Yörsan Dairy Company Source: http://labourstart.org

30. Transparency and union democracy • The Internet democratizes unions, decentralizes them, makes them more transparent and open, weakens entrenched bureaucracies and provides new tools for rank and file activists. • It is an inexpensive way for individuals to participate in decisions. Discussion forums, chatrooms and list servers create virtual communities that can spontaneously develop new thinking on issues as well as share information outside official settings.

31. The use of the internet by trade unions increases the transparency of the behaviour of union officials to the union membership and enables an independent assessment of performance of officials. • Hogan argued that “on-line unionism represents a challenge to the iron law of oligarchy”.

32. The transformation of Unions in the Internet Era Source:Diamond-Freeman (2002).

33. Conclusion • The Trade Union Movement is undergoing a process of change, following a 30-year long trend of decline in membership, recognition and public support. The consideration of the internet is vital to this process. Neverthless, it does not have to be exaggerated the role of the internet on the future of trade union movement.

34. In this paper, we have not argued that the internet represents the panacea to cure all union ills. It cannot be a substitute for traditional face-to-face methods of organising, meeting and motivating union members. So it has to be understood as a new tool, and no more than that, in labour's toolbox.

35. We have argued that innovative internet activities can create a new excitement and ferment in the trade union movement. • And creative usage of the internet can develop proactive strategies to counter the forces of membership decline, through the creation of new channels of communication and new opportunities to participate.

36. Many thanks for your attention