Trade Unions, Web 2.0 and Social Media

1. Walton Pantland Glasgow, Scotland waltonp@gmail.com http://cyberunions.org Trade Unions, Web 2.0and Social Media Using new technology to organise CCISUA Conference The Hague May 2010

2. Background LabourStart – “where trade unionists start their day on the net” – was the first and most important labour movement initiative on the Internet www.labourstart.org Started in 1997, the site is still going strong. It aggregates trade union news from around the world, and sends out ‘action alerts’ to coordinate international solidarity New tools, collectively referred to as Web 2.0, are putting unprecedented power into the hands of ordinary activists

3. What is ‘Web 2.0’? Web 1.0 static websites designed by professionals Web 2.0 easy to edit, dynamic, participative

4. Why is this useful for unions? • Free, easy to use communications tools Improves communications with reps and members Gets the union message across to media and the rest of the world Enhances union democracy by keeping people informed and engaged Makes the union a more dynamic organisation

5. Tools Social networks – Facebook, Unionbook, Ning Microblogging – twitter, identica Blogs, wikis and websites Telecommunications Countries with low Internet penetration

6. But first, an interesting trade union campaign IN 2007, the union UNI-Global held a cyber picket in the virtual reality world, Second Life, against IBM.

7. Appropriate technology Technology must be appropriate to the needs of the people it serves No point setting up a website for people who have no Internet access Simpler solutions are usually better Cheap or free is good Experiment widely – what works for one group might not work for others

8. Social Networks The social network that everyone is on – including your boss and your mother. Useful for keeping in touch, but major privacy concerns. www.facebook.com A social networking site for trade union activists. Very useful for sharing ideas with activists in other countries. www.unionbook.org The site I used to create the CCISUA social network. Unfortunately it is no longer free. http://ccisua.ning.com/

9. Not really a social network – more for sharing news Dynamic, real time communication Great for ‘crowdsourcing ideas Unique syntax: ‘@’ identifies a user – for instance I am @leischa on twitter ‘#’ makes a term searchable by creating a hashtag – e.g. #unions ‘RT’ means ‘retweet’, or forward a message

10. My message ‘@’ replies

11. Most people use an app like Tweetdeck to follow twitter. Tweetdeck is dynamic, with tweets rolling down the screen like a waterfall – or twitterfall. You can follow different streams in the different column

12. #vestas #unions Some twitter campaigns & hashtags #BAstrike #Iloveimmigrants #trafigura #Nestle #iranelection

13. Set up a simple branch website Blogger.com Create a basic website using free tools Wordpress.com Yola.com Wikidot.com

14. Register a custom domain - $10 - $ 15 per year, e.g. www.yourunion.org Integrate Web 2.0 tools to keep content dynamic Create a custom email address with Google Apps, e.g. info@yourunion.org Most sites have tutorials to show you how to do this

15. Smart Phones BlackBerry Android iPhone Allows you to access Web 2.0 anywhere They are getting cheaper…

16. Telecommunications Free software you can download to your computer – allows you to make free phone and video calls to any other user in the world. Allows you to ‘stream’ live video from a smart phone to the Internet* *Needs a fast Internet connection

17. Other useful tools Online Surveys surveymonkey.com Why not take my online survey, and tell me how you use technology in your union work? www.surveymonkey.com/s/cyberunions Easy to use, and allows you to find out exactly what matters to your members Used by Unite in recognition campaigns

18. Other useful tools Delicious.com integrates with your browser and allows you to save, tag and share interesting links online… …you can export the links using RSS… …and display them on your branch website – along with any other RSS feed.

19. What about countries with low Internet penetration?

20. SMS – the Text Message Mobile phones are ubiquitous in developing countries There are many examples of activists using text messages – for instance to monitor elections Frontline SMS is a great tool

21. Frontline SMS is free software that runs on a PC hub and collates information sent by text message. The PC doesn’t need an Internet connection – it uses ordinary mobile networks to send messages.

22. Why are so many tools free? Most common business model is ‘freemium’ – basic account for free, paid account with more features People who create free and open source software are ideologically committed to making tools freely available The are lots of free tools for union activists Go out there and experiment!

23. Free and Open Source Software Operating systems Linux …as well as free software that runs on any system: Open Office, Scribus, Inkscape and thousands more

24. Recommendations Unions and their activists should make a conscious decision to embrace new technology Unions should train their reps and members to use online tools Reps should feel free to experiment widely We should accept that new technologies will create more open, fluid and dynamic union structures. This is a good thing.

25. Warning! Privacy: there is no such thing as online privacy. If you don’t want people to know, don’t post it! Expect glitches – hardware and software failure is common. Batteries run out, or there is no WiFi or 3G signal. “Facebook helps you connect and share with the people in your life - Whether you want to or not.” www.youropenbook.org Incompatibility – there are still no standard file formats State and corporate control – we need to defend the freedom of cyberspace

26. What’s next? the ‘semantic’ web: knows who you are and responds intelligently, showing you the content you are most interested in Web 3.0 If you enjoyed this presentation, please feel free to copy, remix and reuse it in anyway you see fit. For more information, contact me: waltonp@gmail.com cyberunions.org Twitter: @leischa