E‐Communications: An Aspect of Union Renewal or Merely Doing Things Electronically?
| Author | Jeremy Waddington,Allan Kerr |
| Published date | 01 December 2014 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/bjir.12010 |
| Date | 01 December 2014 |
E-Communications: An Aspect of
Union Renewal or Merely Doing
Things Electronically?
Allan Kerr and Jeremy Waddington
Abstract
Drawing on questionnaire-based survey data and web-based data, this article
examines the introduction of virtual branch websites within 12 branches of
UNISON. The article situates e-communications within a union communica-
tions strategy from the perspective of union members and shows how the virtual
branch websites contribute to aspects of union renewal including organization
and participation, union democracy and the conduct of industrial disputes.
1. Introduction
While some have argued that information technology will be used by man-
agers to communicate directly with employees and thus to bypass unions as
intermediary organizations (Castells 1997; Grossman 1995) or that the use
of information technology will have adverse effects on the commitment of
workers to trade unions (Chaison 2002), others view information technology
as being central to long-term union renewal and adaptation to changed
circumstances (Darlington 2004; Lee 1997; Shostack 1999). In practice, trade
unions now employ information technology to assist negotiations, in rela-
tions with employers, as an internal administrative tool, in organizing cam-
paigns, as a communications medium with members, and in developing and
sustaining global institutions such as world works councils (Fiorito et al.
2002; Pliskin et al. 1997; Shostack 1999). The use by trade union represen-
tatives of smart phones is now almost ubiquitous, as 24/7 contact and elec-
tronic media become prerequisite to trade union operations.
Although there is a widespread perception that unions in general, and
British unions in particular, were slow to recognize the potential benefits that
Allan Kerr is at UNISON. Jeremy Waddington is at the University of Manchester and the
European Trade Union Institute.
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British Journal of Industrial Relations doi: 10.1111/bjir.12010
52:4 December 2014 0007–1080 pp. 658–681
© Blackwell Publishing Ltd/London School of Economics 2013. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd,
9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA.
may arise from the use of information technology (Hogan and Grieco 1999;
Lee 1997), surveys suggest that most unions now embrace information
technology, albeit unevenly, and apply it to a wide range of functions. For
example, the majority of British unions did not set up a website until 1999–
2000, but since then have applied these websites to the functions of informa-
tion provision, recruitment and increasing participation (Fiorito 2002; Ward
and Lusoli 2003). While trade unions in Australia and the United States
tended to introduce information technology earlier than their British coun-
terparts, the purposes of the introduction were similar, with differences in
national industrial relations institutions being the principal source of varia-
tion in the specific uses of information technology (Cockfield 2003; Fiorito
et al. 2000).
The survey evidence mentioned above highlights the relatively small
number of branches/locals that have introduced a website dedicated to local
matters, although it is acknowledged that ‘as a starting point [of the intro-
duction of information technology to the heart of trade union activity] every
branch of every union should have a website which is continually updated’
(Darlington 2004: 10). This article examines a concerted initiative within
UNISON, the largest trade union in the United Kingdom with membership
concentrated in public services, to introduce 12 virtual branches based on
local websites to supplement ‘standard’ branch practices and the national
website that initially went live in 1995. The article focuses particular attention
on the responses of members to the virtual branch sites, the extent to which
the virtual branches stimulated member participation and the involvement of
members with the sites during industrial conflicts. To elaborate this analysis,
the article comprises five sections. Following this introductory section,
Section 2 highlights the objectives that trade unionists set for the introduction
of information technology and, in particular, the objectives set for the virtual
branches within UNISON. Section 3 identifies data sources and the compo-
sition of the membership sample involved in the research. Section 4 presents
the results. The article shows that trade unionists in part-time employment
and ‘passive participators’, most of whom were women, tended to use the
virtual branch sites in greater numbers as the project unfolded. Contrary to
the expectations of many, however, the virtual branch sites required an
enormous amount of initial support to set up and considerable resources to
maintain, the deployment of which was beyond several branches that par-
ticipated in the project. Section 5 concludes the article.
2. Three points of departure
Following Greene et al., information technology, the Internet and email
communication are treated here as ‘e-forms’ of trade union activity, which
can take place within a wider arena of ‘e-collectivism’ (Greene et al. 2003:
282). E-forms of trade union activity are regarded as influencing national
trade union activity and organization in a wide range of policy areas,
E-Communications 659
© Blackwell Publishing Ltd/London School of Economics 2013.
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