Abstract
Traditional actors such as trade unions are inevitably challenged by digital technologies, not only from the perspective of labor relations, but also in relation to outreach and communications strategies. In fact, as online and offline realities become increasingly intertwined, the presence of organized labor institutions within the Internet’s current networked environment is unavoidable. This article debates digital trade unionism as a strategy for trade union renewal, particularly the implications of using social media platforms to connect and interact with a broader audience beyond the labor movement. Through a comprehensive comparative analysis of the Facebook pages of six trade union confederations from Brazil, Canada, Portugal, and the UK, we find that despite the possibilities for horizontal dialogue enabled by the new digital communication and information technologies, trade union confederations maintain an outdated ‘one-way’ model of communication, hindering opportunities to reach and engage with both union and non-union actors.
Highlights
Traditional actors such as trade unions are inevitably challenged by digital technologies, from the perspective of labor relations, and in relation to outreach and communications strategies
This study proposes a comparative approach to assess the content disseminated by trade union confederations on their social media channels, in order to find out what they are saying and how they are engaging with different actors, as well as to consider whether their virtual presence has any implications to the wider discussion about trade union renewal
Digital communication technologies and social media present a significant opportunity for trade union renewal as platforms for outreach, advocacy, and alliance building
Summary
Traditional actors such as trade unions are inevitably challenged by digital technologies, from the perspective of labor relations, and in relation to outreach and communications strategies. Behrens et al, 2004; Frege and Kelly, 2003; Heery, 2005; Ibsen and Tapia, 2017; Kloosterboer, 2008; Murray, 2017; Tattersall, 2010) Within this context, this research aims to draw attention to trade union uptake of digital technologies, especially social media platforms, as a potential element to support implementation of these strategies. We start from the basic assumption (Schein, 1985) that, nowadays, an online presence is inevitable, but is increasingly interconnected with offline dimensions (Rogers, 2013) This requires embracing the dynamics of ‘globalized networked capitalism’ (Waterman, 2004) and of Web 2.0 (O’Reilly, 2005) in order to communicate more efficiently and effectively. We raise a few exploratory questions: Considering the hybridization of online and offline dimensions, what does Web 2.0 mean for trade unionism? Is there a digital trade unionism in the making? How do organized labor movements from distinctive industrial relations backgrounds face emerging digital spaces and discourses?
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