Social media users in search of ‘facts’: the Trade Union House fire case

The e-participation can be considered an area under constant focus. This paper presents a brief analysis of e-participation and e-democracy, and proposes a platform for electronic participation based on social media principles, designed to gather teachers and unions in a shared deliberative space. Interaction and collaboration are supported through questions, answers, suggestions, comments, votes, surveys and live debates. This proposal is intended to narrow the communication gap between teachers and unions and encourage teachers to become involved and participate in educational debates and important topics about the profession. The platform presented enables effective participation in formal and informal decision-making processes via the Internet, either as standalone or widgets with full integration into any Website. It is under constant development and will be improved along with this project. The actors in this study were chosen from the National Federation of Teachers due to its representativeness regarding associate teachers and provide an opportunity to assess the platform potential to support participation in a union context. The platform will be used in a trade union linked to teachers of several grade levels to understand their participation in this organization.

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Web Platform for Public E-Participation Management

International Journal of Civic Engagement and Social Change ◽

10.4018/ijcesc.2014010105 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 1 (1) ◽

pp. 60-77 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Carlos Quental ◽

Luis Borges Gouveia

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Social Media ◽

Trade Union ◽

The Internet ◽

Grade Levels ◽

Decision Making Processes ◽

National Federation ◽

Communication Gap ◽

Web Platform

The e-participation can be considered an area under constant focus. This paper presents a brief analysis of e-participation and e-democracy, and proposes a platform for electronic participation based on social media principles, designed to gather teachers and unions in a shared deliberative space. Interaction and collaboration are supported through questions, answers, suggestions, comments, votes, surveys and live debates. This proposal is intended to narrow the communication gap between teachers and unions and encourage teachers to become involved and participate in educational debates and important topics about the profession. The platform presented enables effective participation in formal and informal decision-making processes via the Internet, either as standalone or widgets with full integration into any Website. It is under constant development and will be improved along with this project. The actors in this study were chosen from the National Federation of Teachers due to its representativeness regarding associate teachers and provide an opportunity to assess the platform potential to support participation in a union context. The platform will be used in a trade union linked to teachers of several grade levels to understand their participation in this organization.

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‘We Planned a Dispute by Blackberry’: The Implications of the Trade Union Bill for Union Use of Social Media as Suggested by the BA-BASSA Dispute of 2009–11

Industrial Law Journal ◽

10.1093/indlaw/dww011 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 45 (2) ◽

pp. 251-256

Author(s):

Sian Moore ◽

Phil Taylor

Keyword(s):

Social Media ◽

Trade Union ◽

Use Of Social Media

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Understanding trade union usage of social media: A case study of the Public and Commercial Services union on Facebook and Twitter

New Technology Work and Employment ◽

10.1111/ntwe.12209 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

David J. Houghton ◽

Andy Hodder

Keyword(s):

Social Media ◽

Trade Union ◽

The Public

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Riders, Rights and Collective Action

10.5772/intechopen.96178 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Holm-Detlev Köhler

Keyword(s):

Social Media ◽

Collective Action ◽

Conceptual Framework ◽

Trade Union ◽

European Countries ◽

Collective Actions ◽

Union Power ◽

Power Resources

The aim of this chapter is to develop a conceptual framework for analysing the collective actions and organisational practices of delivery and transportation gig-workers, building on Rosa Luxemburg’s colonisation concept and on the power resources theory employed in current trade union analysis. The empirical bases are recent surveys and studies on platform work, the analysis of websites and social media communities for the collective action of platform workers and conversations with platform activists in several European countries. The specific characteristics of platform workers’ collective actions and organisational practices are examined with a view to identifying their potential and the opportunities they afford in the light of different trade union power resources.

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Digital communication as a global challenge for trade unions: lessons from Brazil and Portugal

Tempo Social ◽

10.11606/0103-2070.ts.2021.182000 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 33 (2) ◽

pp. 183-208

Author(s):

Hermes Augusto Costa ◽

Bia Carneiro

Keyword(s):

Social Media ◽

Trade Union ◽

Trade Unions ◽

Information Technologies ◽

Global Strategy ◽

Physical Work ◽

Face To Face ◽

Global Challenge ◽

Social Media Platforms ◽

Pros And Cons

As a cross-cutting issue encompassing all of society, the evolution of digital technologies is particularly challenging to traditional labour actors that are accustomed to physical work and face-to-face contact. This article discusses the distinctive possibilities of social media use as a forward-thinking global strategy for organised labour. After an initial clarification of useful concepts to consider in the digital age, we focus on the social media presence of trade unions, identifying the pros and cons associated with platform-based communication. Finally, the article debates the implications of social media platforms as tools to strengthen networks with nonunion actors and contribute to the amplification of the labour agenda. Through a comparative analysis of four trade union confederations, two from Brazil and two from Portugal, we argue that, despite the possibilities for outreach and interaction enabled by the new communication and information technologies, trade union confederations maintain constricted networks and an outdated top-down communications model.

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Digital unionism as a renewal strategy? Social media use by trade union confederations

Journal of Industrial Relations ◽

10.1177/0022185620979337 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 002218562097933

Author(s):

Bia Carneiro ◽

Hermes Augusto Costa

Keyword(s):

Social Media ◽

Trade Union ◽

Trade Unions ◽

Information Technologies ◽

Non Union ◽

Trade Unionism ◽

Union Renewal ◽

Social Media Platforms ◽

Labor Institutions ◽

The Uk

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.

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The Rhetoric and Realities of Internet Technologies on Trade Union Marketing

International Journal of Technology and Human Interaction ◽

10.4018/ijthi.2021040101 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 17 (2) ◽

pp. 1-22

Author(s):

Peter John Stokes ◽

Brian Jones ◽

Howard Kline

Keyword(s):

Social Media ◽

Trade Union ◽

Lived Experiences ◽

The Internet ◽

Technological Determinism ◽

Internet Technologies ◽

Individual Level ◽

The Many ◽

The Web ◽

As If

The internet and the many technologies it has generated (for example, social media) create varying impacts in specific sectors. Trades unions (TUs) are a case in point and are significant longstanding institutions which have developed over a number of centuries in many different national contexts. While the internet has been adopted by TUs, they have also generally been cast in an idealised light as if the web should automatically be expected to radically transform and improve processes, communities, and relations. The paper challenges this zeitgeist and suggests that the predominant ‘utopian'-style idealistic presentation of TU and the web is the product of technological determinism. This has important implications for TUs ‘lived experiences' and realpolitik. There is a risk that technologies will continue to operate at a macro, rather than a micro individual level, and be more dominated by managerial and commercial motives which encroach on legitimate TU representation and resistance rather than TU interests.

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