{"id":1044,"date":"2018-08-21T06:00:30","date_gmt":"2018-08-21T06:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.uniontrack.com\/blog\/?p=1044"},"modified":"2018-08-20T15:33:25","modified_gmt":"2018-08-20T15:33:25","slug":"digital-union-engagement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uniontrack.com\/blog\/digital-union-engagement","title":{"rendered":"Digital Union Engagement: A Crucial Part of Organized Labor\u2019s Future"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ken Green<\/strong>
\nCEO\/Founder
\nUnionTrack, Inc<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This year has not been without its challenges for union membership. But what can the changes brought by 2018 mean for union engagement in 2019?<\/p>\n

Just a couple of months ago, public unions around the country were presented with a major challenge in the decision the U.S Supreme Court passed down in Janus v. AFSCME<\/a>. While the case itself ostensibly spoke to a narrow question of union dues, it also raised a major question for union leaders: What can we do to create a more connected union and boost union engagement?<\/p>\n

Unifor<\/a> writes that union growth begins with member engagement. Their report is based on the \u201crecognition that Unifor needed to hear from its local unions about the challenges they face \u2013 and to learn from each of their best practices.\u201d This is the foundation of union engagement, and the key perspective to implementing a digital approach.<\/p>\n

Attorneys Nicole S. Croddick, Brian J. Chabarek and Noah A. Schwartz<\/a> note in the New Jersey Law Journal that unions derive their meaning from two things: the power of collective bargaining and the obligation to fairly represent the interests of both members and non-members.<\/p>\n

As it happens, this is at the heart of both the changes that the Janus case has brought about and the idea of union engagement. We want to address the latter here.<\/p>\n

Instead of scrambling to retain (or even attract) union membership, leaders will do well to go back to basics: engaging with their members and demonstrating to them the benefits of union membership. This isn\u2019t salesmanship so much as it is making authentic connections with those whom leaders are looking to represent \u2014 and digital communication technologies play a big role in that.<\/p>\n

This guide acts as a response to the challenges many union leaders face today, and what a new take on engagement can do for unions. Instead of being reactive, leaders can be proactive with their approach to union membership and engagement.<\/p>\n

We want to help you understand how harnessing digital tools can help with that.<\/p>\n

Your Brief: Janus v. AFSCME and Refocusing on Union Engagement<\/span><\/h2>\n

In June, the US Supreme Court handed down a decision that is sure to have a major impact on both union leaders and members. In the Janus v. AFSCME ruling, the court said that non-members will no longer have to pay union dues in the interest of collective bargaining power.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe ruling means that public-sector unions across the nation, already under political pressure, could lose tens of millions of dollars and see their effectiveness diminished,\u201d The New York Times\u2019 Adam Liptak<\/a> reported.<\/p>\n

But this decision, and others like it, does not have to translate into weaker unions. Rather, this decision is actually an opportunity to spark organized labor. Bolstering this perspective are the words of labor union leaders themselves.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo one wanted this case,\u201d Randi Weingarten<\/a>, president of the American Federation of Teachers, tells Noam Scheiber at the The New York Times. \u201cBut the gestalt around the country has been to turn an existential threat into an opportunity to engage with our members like never before.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Janus decision, along with the nationwide teacher walkouts earlier this year, has opened up the opportunity for union leaders to re-engage with members, writes\u00a0Alana Semuels<\/a> at The Atlantic.<\/p>\n

Or, to paraphrase Scheiber, unions might get smaller, but that doesn\u2019t have to mean they will get weaker. Particularly with mobile tools at their disposal, union leaders can connect with members more efficiently than previous labor leaders could have imagined.<\/p>\n

Bradley D. Marianno and Katharine Strunk<\/a> at EducationNext point out that one response to \u201cmembership and revenue declines\u201d can be to return to \u201cthe founding purpose of the unions: to give voice to a set of workers.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a phrase, the Janus decision presents both a challenge and an opportunity to union leaders.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnion viability will be measured by how well union leadership adapts to this significantly-altered playing field,\u201d writes\u00a0Callum S. Morris<\/a> at Lexology. He goes on to say that union leaders will need to \u201cdemonstrate to the rank-n-file and to prospective members that union membership continues to provide measurable benefits to members.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is precisely where digital union engagement comes in.<\/p>\n

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Leaning In: The Importance of Going Digital with Engagement<\/span><\/h2>\n

No matter what membership looks like, union leaders will always have the responsibility of listening to and representing their members.<\/p>\n

Robert Lavigna<\/a>, Director of the Institute for Public Sector Employee Engagement, points to the importance of continued engagement, saying that union leaders will \u201ccontinue to have important roles as spokespeople for their members,\u201d no matter what.<\/p>\n

To boost this kind of engagement, leaders can leverage a variety of digital and mobile tools.<\/p>\n

Communication Technology Helps Reclaim Labor\u2019s Position as an Innovative Force<\/span><\/h3>\n

Tech innovation isn\u2019t just for Silicon Valley giants or Fortune 500 companies. It can also benefit unions, their members and their leaders.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs entrepreneurs use advances in information technology to build the sharing economy, enterprising workers use the same technologies to provide workers with the information they need to negotiate a fair share of the revenue they help create,\u201d writes Thomas Kochan<\/a>, co-director of Institute for Work & Employment Research at MIT.<\/p>\n

For Kochan, the question isn\u2019t whether unions are beneficial to the workforce. They are. Instead, he says the question is this: \u201cCan labor adapt to a changing workforce and economy and once again become the innovative force that helped build a strong middle class?\u201d<\/p>\n

Redefining Union Engagement \u2014 and Backing That Up With Data<\/span><\/h3>\n

The first step is for union leaders to understand what kind of tools they have at their fingertips and what powers of engagement these tools provide.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen defining engagement, associations need to look past transactional data,\u201d the\u00a0American Society of Association Executives<\/a> says. Transactional data include meeting attendance or time volunteered. \u201cThat information is important, especially because it is easily tracked and measured, but other activities that provide meaning and purpose to members can be equally significant.\u201d<\/p>\n

In contrast, Maddie Grant<\/a> at WorkXO, in a presentation alongside members of the American Nurses Association (ANA), encourages a more authentic understanding of union engagement. Their definition focuses stakeholder interests and a recommitment to the idea that it\u2019s people who matter. For Grant and the ANA, member engagement is \u201cthe investment of time, money, attention and participation by both the association and its members, in order to provide meaningful, long term mutually beneficial experiences and relationships.\u201d<\/p>\n

An Important Case Study in Digital Engagement<\/span><\/h3>\n

So, what can digital union engagement do for this understanding? Quite a bit.<\/p>\n

Semuels\u2019 article in The Atlantic gives a fantastic example of what digital union engagement can look like. Harris v. Quinn in 2014 did for home-care worker unions what Janus did for all public unions. United Domestic Workers of America<\/a> (UDW) responded to the ruling by doubling down on their engagement efforts. After learning that wage bargaining was not enough to gain and retain members, UDW took a new approach.<\/p>\n

Semuels writes: \u201cThe union deployed technology to reach members, sending out staffers with iPads to go to worksites and talk to members about signing up. They used software that allowed potential members to join via voice authorization after a phone call discussing union membership. They created a mobile app to help members do their jobs, track their paychecks, and appeal for more hours of care for their clients, and started targeting potential members with Facebook ads.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Re-Imagining How Labor Movements Are Built<\/span><\/h3>\n

Earlier this year, Vox ran a fantastic piece by Dylan Matthews<\/a> on how the challenges facing the American labor movement can translate into an opportunity for unions. The key, according to many of the experts Matthews quotes, is to completely overhaul the current system of organization. Within that overhaul is a shift in how unions communicate with their members, and vice versa.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe 20th-century model is dead,\u201d said SEIU Local 775 president David Rolf<\/a>. \u201cWe need fundamentally different ideas of how to build a labor movement.\u201d<\/p>\n

Want an example of success? Ruben J. Garcia<\/a>, co-director of the UNLV Workplace Law Program, points out that the success of unionization on the Las Vegas Strip is due largely to house visits, worker-to-worker contact and social media strategies.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s more, demographics might be on labor\u2019s side. According to John Schmitt<\/a> at the Economic Policy Institute, three-quarters of new union memberships in 2017 were from millennials, workers aged 34 and younger. The EPI notes that this could be due to increasing workplace insecurity. By engaging new members from the start, union leaders can make it clear that the benefits of union membership are manifold.<\/p>\n

Putting it Into Practice: Your First Steps Toward Digital Union Engagement<\/span><\/h2>\n

With the shifting landscape in 2018 and coming years, this is more of a roadmap of the right approach to take rather than a step-by-step guide. But we also want to leave you with a few practical insights for where to go from here.<\/p>\n