Over on the TUC’s Stronger Unions blog I’ve written a post about how the changes digital is wreaking on many organisations will affect unions. I’ve included a few key challenges for unions…
1. Unions are smaller fish in a much bigger digital pond
Trade unions were built in a broadcast era. Many had the wherewithal to run newspapers and other broadcast channels. They had strong face-to-face communications networks and structures that could cascade messages down to millions of workers.
In recent years, unions have taken advantage of digital channels to save money on print (as any sensible organisation would do). That moves trade unions into direct competition with a great many other organisations who also use digital communications. The historic advantages unions had over these organisations in terms of direct access to people on the ground and the financial means to build their own channels for delivering communications are not relevant here.