Education for on-line union activity

This page began as an on-line collaborative resource for a group of trade union educators participating in a workshop on how to design union education that would support and encourage people to engage in meaningful collective union activity through on-line social-networking and web 2.0 tools and sites.

Objectives

To develop ideas and models of union education to encourage and support people to participate in collective union activity through social networking and web 2.0 internet tools and resources. Explore a range of web 2.0 internet tools that could be used for union actvity Develop union education modules to encourage engagement with these tools. Understand that approaches to encouraging on-line union activity are not a mystery, they are based on education models union educators already utilise.

On-line social networking and Web 2.0 resources

There are hundreds of Web 2.0and social-networking sites available. The following are examples of on-line services / tools / resources that either are, or could be, utilised by unions to bring about social change.

• Ning

Union Examples: Teachers Matter NZ education union site for teachers
Fair Deal NZ education union site for school support staff

• Twitter

Union Examples: Your Rights At Work Australian workers rights and social issues twitter feed

Effective use of Web 2.0 for union activity

Sometimes in our union organising we come across worksites that have high levels of union membership but low levels of union activity. This can also occur on-line. We might have hundreds or thousands of union members and supporters joined up to an on-line network but they may not be engaging, or their engagement may not be building collectivity and action.