Telus union reaches out with Web 2.0

George Doubt, president of the national Telecommunications Workers Union (TWU-STT Canada), recently announced the union's launch of its own YouTube channel. This is part of an overall membership outreach strategy and a push into other Web 2.0 phenomena, such as Facebook, in order to improve internal communication and strengthen bargaining power. "We know that it's important to talk to all of our members, from all generations and across the entire country," Doubt tells Tech Media Reports. "We'll be using new media, everything we can to keep in touch with our members. This is a great way to communicate in real-time and build capacity." The TWU-STT represents over 16,000 employees across Canada. About 15,000 are employed by Telus Corp., with the remaining 1,000 having other certifications, including at Shaw Communications Inc. The union's embrace of Web 2.0 dovetails with its need to mobilize its members for a number of upcoming initiatives, including preparing for contract talks with Telus beginning in 2009. Dan Goy, membership outreach coordinator for the TWU-STT, sees the YouTube channel as a means for strengthening the union in a number of areas, particularly with younger members. "The union does labour education, shop steward and arbitration courses, we teach parliamentary procedures, and we'll be leveraging YouTube for this," says Goy. "People learn differently. There are the boomers like me, but then there are the generation Xs and the Ys." This is a polite way of saying what James Compton, associate professor in the Faculty of Information and Media Studies at the University of Western Ontario, puts more bluntly. "Using my students as an example, I can say that people in their early twenties don't read much," he says. "They're spending their time surfing the Web and on Facebook. This initiative is a good idea of you want to speak to these people." Compton offers the example of the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. lockout as an instance where Web-based technologies have been used by a union to improve its position. "The CBC workers put up their own web site. These are sophisticated people from a communications' perspective. They had their own podcast, a radio show, and used these to communicate with the membership." Compton goes on to observe that there is an academic distinction between a ‘transmission view' and a more engaged model, wherein communication technology is not simply a tool for transmission but can be considered ‘a ritual notion of communication'. Global examples include the use of Internet by the Zapatistas in Mexico and by organizations during anti-globalization events in Seattle, Genoa, and Quebec City. Perhaps the most celebrated use of YouTube from a union perspective was when an independent videographer caught agent provocateurs in Montebello during the Security and Prosperity Summit. The provocateurs were stirring up trouble to make it look like activists, many of them trade unionists, were willing to engage in violence. On the video, Dave Coles, president of the Communications, Energy, and Paperworkers Union of Canada, which represents workers at Bell Canada, outed the provocateurs as police officers. Michelle Walsh, communications' director for the CEP, says that the relevance of this experience was not lost on the union. "We got attention thanks to that video," she says. "It allowed us to put forward information. Now we have a lockout at Petro Canada in Montreal, and we're putting a lot on YouTube - it's being used to share stories of the collective bargaining experience." Goy from the TWU-STT says that his union is looking at a number of innovative and positive ways of using the technology to build awareness. "We are focussing on the Y generation, and are going to have a YouTube contest where the membership can make their own two or three minute videos. These short pieces can be anything from testimonials to comedies, so long as they support the union. We will assess by a combination of hits and evaluation by judges." Goy is hoping that initiatives like this will drive people to the site, whether they are members, friends, or co-workers. As comments are posted, more engagement will develop. And, as the familiarity increases, the YouTube channel can then be used for more direct, practical purposes, such as workforce mobilization and membership drives. "There are a number of people that work for Telus that currently aren't unionized," says Goy, "and this could help us to sign them up." As with any Web 2.0 technology, however, its very openness can bring risks. It's possible that the likes of Facebook or YouTube could reveal union strategy or internal communications, and also be prone to flaming by pro-management or anti-union rhetoric. This is certainly a concern given past dust-ups between Telus and its workers: in July 2007 Telus ordered YouTube to take down videos that showed the company in a negative light. Telus argued that some of the videos were its property and infringed on copyright, though many union activists felt this argument was really a cover to limit criticism of the company. As well, in 2005 Telus blocked 766 web sites in order to stymie access to one pro-union site. The dust has settled, but the union is gearing up for the next round of negotiations in 2009. What's next for the TWU-STT? "We want every local to have its own Facebook page," says Goy. "We'll also be using blogging and podcasts - these are especially useful during conventions, to keep the membership informed," he says, adding that education is important for the membership to understand the historical relevance of the union, and the importance of solidarity when entering negotiations. "We're not into collective begging," he says, "we're into collective bargaining."

Telus union reaches out with Web 2.0

Broadcast | May 12, 2008

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