Social Media in Union Communications: An International Study with UNI Global Union Affiliates
| Author | Julie Barnett,Panagiotis Panagiotopoulos |
| Date | 01 September 2015 |
| Published date | 01 September 2015 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/bjir.12060 |
Social Media in Union Communications:
An International Study with UNI Global
Union Affiliates
Panagiotis Panagiotopoulos and Julie Barnett
Abstract
This article assesses the use of social media in union communications based on
an international survey with 149 unions affiliated with UNI Global Union. High
expectations of union modernization, leadership and pressures from members are
likely to drive the agenda of social media within unions. However, the actual use
of different channels is based on organizational variables such as membership
base and participation in communities of practice. Beliefs about the anticipated
benefits and risks of social media were not found to be influential in these early
assessments. Implications for union communication strategies are discussed.
1. Introduction
The potential of information and communication technologies (ICT) to
enhance trade union communications has generated global interest during
recent decades. Since the emergence of the Internet, positive views highlight
how online communications can become a force of change for unions (Lee
1997), while critics point out that the Internet is not inherently beneficial to
unions as it might result in fragmentation of the labour movement (Chaison
2005). Empirical work has reported on strong beliefs among unionists about
the benefits of ICT (Stevens and Greer 2005). This great potential is also
evidenced by international initiatives such as the UnionBook, which is a
dedicated social network for unionists by LabourStart (2011), and the UNI
Global Communicators Forum (2011).
Over the last years, the landscape of online communications has funda-
mentally changed. Along with the development of union websites, intranets
and mailing lists, more recent channels now include a wide range of
Panagiotis (Panos) Panagiotopoulos is at Brunel University London and Queen Mary Univer-
sity of London. Julie Barnett is at Bath University.
© John Wiley & Sons Ltd/London School of Economics 2014. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd,
9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA.
British Journal of Industrial Relations
53:3 September 2015 0007–1080 pp. 508–532 doi: 10.1111/bjir.12060
information sharing and online networking tools such as Twitter, Facebook,
LinkedIn, blogs and video hosting sites (referred to as social media in this
article). These channels provide powerful means for diverse audiences to
engage with union information, and their main advantage seems to be the
move towards more interactivity (Pinnock 2005). In addition to the increas-
ing use of social media in routine union communications, there have
been cases where online networking enabled new forms of engagement, for
example, the virtual strike on Second Life in September 2007 organized by
UNI Global against IBM in Italy (Blodgett and Tapia 2011). Therefore, the
value proposition of social media for the labour movement merits further
examination along existing communication channels.
This article aims to assess current progress of ICT in union communica-
tions with emphasis on the use of social media. From the very early stages of
ICT use, unions have been reactive rather than proactive and not always able
to specify the impact of new computing applications (Templer and Solomon
1988). Previous studies of union communications have either focused on
single countries or did not take into account social media and other network-
ing tools (e.g. Fiorito and Bass 2002; Ward and Lusoli 2003; Stevens and
Greer 2005). Our knowledge of how unions are planning to use social media,
what communication channels they prioritize and what factors affect their
decisions to do so is limited. Furthermore, there are reasons to believe that
the use of these tools is highly affected by several aspects related to union
characteristics, the context in which they operate and the underlying tech-
nology that tends to evolve rapidly (e.g. Diamond and Freeman 2002;
Martinez Lucio and Walker 2005; Martinez Lucio et al. 2009).
Following a review of the literature in Section 2, the article reports on
the findings of an international survey with 149 unions affiliated with UNI
Global Union (methodology described in Section 3). The survey design
draws on the Technology–Organization–Environment (TOE) framework
(Tornatzky and Fleischer 1990), which allows assessing dimensions of social
media use related to technological (e.g. perceived benefits and risks), organi-
zational (e.g. density, resources and leadership) and environmental variables
(e.g. pressures from members).
The results of the survey identified a wide range of channels for engage-
ment and information sharing used by unions across geographical regions
(Section 4). Unions’ selection of communication channels was found to be
strongly dependent on the size of their membership base and participation in
communities of practice (CoP) that promote the use of social media.
However, social media strategies in unions are likely to be driven by envi-
ronmental variables such as expectations of union modernization and pres-
sures from members. Leadership was the only variable strongly related both
to the selection of channels and to the social media strategy, while techno-
logical variables (perceived benefits and risks) had no effects. Further to
improving our understanding of recent advancements in union communica-
tions, the study discusses implications for future research and practice in
Sections 5 and 6.
© John Wiley & Sons Ltd/London School of Economics 2014.
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