All the union news that's fit to blog...
At the TUC Digital Lab, we get most of our good ideas from the unions we collaborate with. One such need we found recently was for unions to know more about the various IT tools that other unions were using. The ideas was that by compiling a shared list of tools, unions could see where … Continue reading Union tech survey 2024 – some thoughts on the results
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To launch our new report on cyber security for unions, author Simon Parry presented to a TUC Digital Lab webinar on the subject. This 30 mins video is a great introduction to some specific threats to trade unions, and where current trends are heading in cyber crime and responses to it. And if you’d like … Continue reading Video: Cyber security challenges and strategies for unions
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On 7th March, the TUC Digital Lab held our first workshop on generative AI for unions at the NUJ’s offices in King’s Cross. Over 40 colleagues attended from across TUC affiliated unions, showing the deep interest in a topic that’s causing so much hype, but also concern, for both union members, and unions as organisations. … Continue reading What could AI do for unions? And where should we start?
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Cyber security underpins everything we do in unions to build up our digital systems and create a better digital experience for our members. Without the trust that our data is safe from attack any union would be severely compromised. As data storage has moved online, this has seen an increase in the scope of digital … Continue reading Cyber security for unions
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In recent months, technical standards for all bulk email have been tightened. It’s started as a response to changes in the US, but as of this month will be affecting everyone. At the TUC, we’re seeing some cases of union email not getting through to the members and stakeholders we want to communicate with. That’s a … Continue reading Why recent email authentication changes matter to unions, and what we should do about it
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A TUC Digital Lab practical guide Your CRM contains the heart of your union’s data. It manages your key interactions with members and your intelligence about what’s happening to the union over time. As such, migrating your data from one CRM to another absolutely must succeed in a way that keeps the integrity of that … Continue reading Migrating your union’s data to a new CRM
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Back around April 2022, our Senior Deputy General Secretary kicked off a big review of IT at CWU. It was a chance to look across the union at what we needed to do, including our core membership tools. I thought the challenge of our old membership system contract coming to an end in 18 months … Continue reading Moving to Dynamics at CWU: a case study from discovery to delivery
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2024 marks the fifth year of our shared journey into digital change for unions, with the TUC’s Digital Lab programme. Since we started, we’ve tackled best practice in digital on many areas of union activity, and we’ve worked directly with many unions to test new ways of working. And unions have done some brilliant work … Continue reading Four tech trends for unions in 2024
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Accurate member data is essential for a trade union of any size. If the purpose of a union is to build power and improve members’ experiences in workplaces, it is fundamental that it is clear who members are, where they work and how to get hold of them. This is especially true in the context … Continue reading Checking member data with commercial data cleaning services: NASUWT case study
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The TUC Digital Lab held a webinar on how unions can run the most effective online campaigns to switch members from check off dues deduction to paying via direct debit. The context The government have laid secondary legislation to implement some of the remaining parts of the 2016 Trade Union Act that they were unable … Continue reading Digital tools to run check off to direct debit member switching campaigns
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More than 100 civil society organisations from across the UK and world have branded the government’s AI Summit as “a missed opportunity”. In an open letter to Rishi Sunak they warn the “communities and workers most affected by AI have been marginalise…Read more…
Making first contact with non-member workers in a new workplace is getting steadily more difficult for unions. Our changing economy has for a long time meant that there are increasingly industries with higher union density, and others with little or none. Changing work patterns towards casualisation have made it harder for workers to meet each … Continue reading Engaging childcare workers online – case study
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In early October, the Digital Lab met to discuss digital aspects of member retention. UK union membership fell overall in both 2021 and 2022, and now stands at the lowest level since records began in 1995. Colleagues from a dozen unions joined our workshop to consider together why members might leave, and what unions can … Continue reading How do we retain more members in our unions?
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Our membership within the Royal College of Midwives consists of a very specific workforce – midwives and maternity support workers, and there’s a clear pathway into that workforce through midwifery students. We’re lucky to have the opportunity to engage and recruit them throughout their course and before qualification; however some work needed to be done … Continue reading Using peer-to-peer SMS to have real conversations aimed at member retention – RCM case study
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Since the start of the TUC’s Digital Lab project in 2019, my NEU Joint GS colleague Mary Bousted and I have shared the newly created role of lead members for digital change on the TUC’s Executive Committee. We’ve talked with other union leaders about this on many occasions, as well as trying to take forward … Continue reading Five lessons on leadership for union digital change – Kevin Courtney
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Member engagement is a big priority for the CSP. It gives value to our members for being part of the community. It really helps with recruitment as well, because happy, engaged members are really good advocates for future CSP membership. And an engaged membership helps the union be better informed, more active and more influential, … Continue reading Measuring and analysing member engagement levels at the CSP
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At Equity, we’ve started a programme to use the Net Promoter Score measurement in our member engagement work. It should help us understand better how members are feeling about their union, and also give us tangible pointers for where we can improve their experience with us. Net Promoter Score (NPS) is a concept that was … Continue reading Scoring engagement to improve the member experience at Equity
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Deploying new technology can often be challenging. But deploying technology that will change organisations and how the people within them do their work is generally a lot more complicated than just the technology itself. As distributed organisations, with many stakeholders and complex democratic structures, unions have a lot to consider. Those projects that don’t address … Continue reading Managing big tech changes in UK unions
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Every year, the TUC hosts the Union Campaigns and Communications awards, which highlights good practice in comms work across TUC affiliates over the year. Winning this year’s category for best communications with reps and activists was the NEU’s Pay Up! campaign, which developed a dedicated portal for activists, giving them insight into how the unions’ … Continue reading Award-winning digital tools for reps: NEU case study
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WhatsApp is the most used app in the world, with an estimated 30.1 million users in the UK alone. While it’s best known as a messaging service, it also includes audio and video calls, voice messages, and sharing for photos, files and links. The service allows group communication as well as marketing communication. Shared conversations … Continue reading Using WhatsApp in union organising and communications
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