Kristin Blom Campaigns Officer International Trade Union Confederation kristin.blom@ituc-csi.org

Bad communication Or No communication = bad image Why is communication important for Unions? Bad communication or no communication is one of the reasons of the current poor image and low attraction of trade unions amongst young people and people in general. This image is of the reason of the downfall of union members in a lot of countries. Unions have an old-fashion image amongst the general public and the Medias. Sometimes it is true, sometimes it is not. But to change this image, to attract young people, to gain new members, they need to change the way they communicate with their members and the general public. Good communication also tells the members and the authorities about the work and the representation of workers that we have. It is also a way of making our importance grow in the public mind.

Selling the Union product The ITUC since its creation has changed its approach in relation with the graphical image of its communication tools. From an internal, classic, old-fashion trade union graphical image, we have been in contact with representatives of the advertising world in order to integrate the advertising approach to our work. Like products, unions have to “sell” their work and they should try to integrate a balanced marketing approach in their communications. Example: Posters 8 March – Women’s Conference What can you do? Get in touch with advertising companies sharing the trade union values and willing to make a (financial) effort to work with you.

Classical communication questions

1. What is a campaign?

What is the subject of your campaign/site? 2. What is the subject of your campaign/site?

What is it you want to achieve? 3. What is it you want to achieve?

4. Who are you targeting?

How are you telling your message? 5. How are you telling your message?

When are you campaigning – timing? 6. When are you campaigning – timing?

Actions for the campaign? 7. Actions for the campaign?

8. Political lobbying

9. Media campaigning Channels that you have and can use! Social Media Corporate website Campaign Website Newsletter Email lists Posters Meetings

10. Organising members Channels that you have and can use! Social Media Corporate website Campaign Website Newsletter Email lists Posters Meetings

From the outside in – not the inside out Internet From the outside in – not the inside out Very important to think about the fact that a web site is for those who don’t know you and your organisation, not for you and your colleagues. It must be easy to find things there. You must think about where and how you organise the information. This is not the site where you and your colleagues find your daily information, you must try and keep this separate. Do not make the organisation of your web site the same as your internal structure. Look at good web site and get inspiration and information. Use professionals. This is your most important PR tool! A modern web site is about communication (two ways) and not information (one way). Texts should be extremely to the point and not longer than half a A4 in Word. Ever. The shorter the better. Long information is to be put in PDFs or other documents attached to the information. If you want to engage your members in a proper dialogue think of how to build communities and such.

Keep it short ! It is not only the visuals, but also the written communications. The writing should be adapted to the audience and, when possible avoid being too long. In most of the cases, it is hard to get attention with reports of hundreds of pages. Example: CFDT – They have progressively reduced the length of their press release because they have realized that the attention of people receiving emails is limited.

Promote your work Promote your work Lack of communications is also a brake to promote union’s work. If you don’t promote your work, nobody knows that you’re doing a good job. A good visibility of your work is as much important as the quality of your work. We can not report about your actions if we don’t know what you are doing! Examples: Huge demonstration in South Africa against rise of costs of food and fuel. Thousands of people in the streets - NO PHOTOS TAKEN BY UNIONS! ITUC had to buy photos from photographers! World Day for Decent Work: Big event in Seoul, South Korea, hundred thousand people in the streets. They did not inform us. We learned it 6 months later, by mistake!

New communications: The traditional way to reach out to young people Make things different helps get media attention and young people’s attention. The ITUC and some of its affiliates are now using new Medias and new communications in their work to reach out to young people, change the image of unions amongst the general public and of course attract new members. What are these new Medias? All of them are online, multimedia and interactive: videos (YouTube), social networks (Facebook, Twitter), blogs, photo sharing,…

Blogs Blogging is a good way of telling stories that are more complicated and can’t be made in 45 words like Twitter, or for example that follows a path of action. Maybe there is a process going that can be documented. Blogs can be of interest because of a leader writing it (the Swedish foreign minister has a blog for example), or because someone has an important story to tell (a worker in a factory for example) or by many people as in a subject (Like the ITUC blogs; Forced labour, Young workers, Green jobs, Financial Crisis and Women Workers). A blogger can be open or anonymous. There are many free and good blogger tools, my personal favourite is Wordpress.

Facebook All ITUC news and actions goes on Facebook and Twitter. ITUC has several presences on Facebook: ITUC page Equal Times Play Fair Decisions for Life PERC gender equality Trade Unions and Climate Change Etc There are only circa 1700 people on the ITUC website, however, most of these are multipliers: so they represent a network where they can share too.

FlickR FlickR is a good tool to share photos online. You can set the rights in the Settings part of the website. You can set them as Creative Commons, which means that people can use your photos as long as they are mentioning your name when doing so. ITUC has a big number of people visiting our FlickR account – sometimes we have more visits on FlickR than on our website. 45 000 – 50 000 visits on the ITUC website a month 400 000 views in total for 4700 photos on the ITUC FlickR account.

YouTube ITUC has 254 videos on YT and the 3 most viewed videos: Hammerchild, 30 000 views Women at Work 20 000 views Joe the Dog 17 500 views 390 subscribers Some of are really good quality and some are more “home made”. And they all have different purposes. The good productions are there to raise the value of our brand. And others are there to make leaders feel part of the organisation and to encourage them, like interviews with General Council members etc. ITUC has its own channel which is free. Having all the videos put in one place also helps ourselves in organising our videos, and it is easy to embed them from YouTube in blogs, web sites or other social media.

Arab spring revolution and social media This is the girl whose video sparked the revolution in Egypt (this is not the original video). After four people had set fire to themselves to try and spark a revolution like the one in Tunisia, this girl made this video which travelled around the web. She is asking people to send this video to everyone they know, to share it on Facebook and everywhere they can. And to show up to the square and stand up for the people’s rights. Twitter, Facebook and Youtube were also important tools for the revolutions. Tunisia happened fast and there the authorities didn’t have time to block Internet, but in Egypt the Internet was blocked. This is when Google made a service where people could call in and leave a voice message which would then be transformed into a Twitter message. The different demonstrations and meetings for the revolution were made via Facebook and Twitter. People were making messages and videos and uploaded them directly with their mobile phones on Youtube and other sites. Blogs were also widely used to tell the stories of the revolution and the people making it. Most of these activists are young people without jobs, but with a good knowledge of social media. http://youtu.be/SgjIgMdsEuk

Videos Video!

World Day for Decent Work WDDW 7 october, first year 2008 2010: 430 actions in 98 countries. Report in activities!!! In any language!!! Photos and videos. Web site English, French, Spanish and German.

www.wddw.org Viral video: Joe the Dog Bad guys of the World of Work: Poster + flash game What can you do? Get involved in the youth campaign, use our materials

www.wddw.org 2012: 424 actions in 75 countries

The PlayFair Campaign Кампания «Играй честно» Campaigning on workers’ rights in the global sporting goods industry

The PlayFair alliance Альянс «Играй честно»

Corporate campaigning Deutsche Telekom – T-Mobile DHL

Equal Times Video!

Equal Times – Qatar campaign Video! http://act.equaltimes.org

“12 by 12” 12 ratifications of 189 in 2012 Video!

84 countries! 59. Austria 60. Belgium 61. Bulgaria 62. Croatia 63. Cyprus 64. Czech Republic 65. Denmark 66. Finland 67. France 68. Germany 69. Greece 70. Hungary 71. Iceland 72. Ireland 73. Italy 74. Lithuania 75. Netherlands 76. Norway 77. Poland 78. Portugal 79. Romania 80. Slovenia 81. Spain 82. Sweden 83. Switzerland 84. UK Mobilizing for a global ’12 by 12’ Action Day on 12-12-12 Dec. 12 2012 is a unique date to call upon governments to ratify C189 and an excellent opportunity to: • organise public events (marches, delivering a petition to members of parliament, forming a chain of 12 by 12 union activists and domestic workers etc.) • spread the message through (social) media on the need to respect and protect domestic workers’ rights in law and practice. ITUC will make available campaign materials and post updates on the ’12 by 12’ webpage, facebook and via the ’12 by 12’ email list. Please report your activities to: equality@ituc-csi.org There are over 100 million workers employed to do work in someone else’s house all over world. These domestic workers clean, cook, do laundry, provide care to children and the elderly and lots more. Their work is undervalued, underpaid, invisible, not recognised, and not respected. The great majority of domestic workers are women (82%) – many are migrants or children. In many countries domestic workers are excluded from labour legislation and social protection schemes. Many are denied the right, either in law or in practice, to form or join a trade union. As a result, mistreatment, exploitation, violence, and physical and sexual abuse are frequent and often go unpunished. In June 2011 the UN body that deals with labour issues, the International Labour Organisation (ILO), adopted Convention No 189 and Recommendation No 201 on Domestic Workers. ILO Convention No 189 recognises the right of domestic workers to collectively defend their interests through trade unions; it protects their right to a minimum wage in countries where it exists; it guarantees them a monthly payment and access to social security including in the case of maternity; and the Convention gives domestic workers one day off per week and regulates their working hours. In essence, Convention No 189 recognises domestic work as any other work and ensures that domestic workers are treated as any other worker under labour legislation. The Convention has entered into force now that more than two countries have ratified it.

Good practice from good unions

Zeal/Air New Zealand cabin crew union A cabin crew union EPMU in Zealand has a lot of young workers, only remotely accessible due to their job. They developed a Facebook private group where any worker can get information about his rights, check the latest news about the bargaining negotiations but also ask direct questions about his rights, his job,… to the members of the group. To create the group, they simply create a closed Facebook group (by invitation only) and invite all the members on their mailing list. Each member can receive updates via email. The group is a success and very well used – it is not costing money but time and involvement. Warning: Facebook groups can be removed at any time, keep double records of members! And think about the security issues. More info, check on epmu.ppt

Worksmart by TUC UK http://www.worksmart.org.uk The TUC has developed a special website www.worksmart.org.uk for union communication based on new Medias. It includes basic information about your rights, written in an easier way but also a blog, short videos, mini games, quizzes, tools… http://www.worksmart.org.uk

SAK Finland recruitment campaign Last year, SAK Finland organized a web campaign to recruit new members. All the campaign was a website based on a personalized video with viral feature starring Finnish celebrities The Dudesons. When clicking on the website - which no longer exists due to SAK contract with the Dudesons, there was a video intro where the Dudesons urged you to send them "to have words with your friend". Then there was a form which you had to fill out with info on your friend: sex, name, employment status (temporary or permanent, student or else), occupation (NGO, small firm, big corporation etc.), "marital" status (having kids, dating, single) and whether your friend lived on rent/with parents/in student housing etc. When you had given all the information, the site created you a personalized video where the Dudesons told your friend why he should join the union. The message was something like: "Hey Philippe, whassup?" - they actually said the name: the database covered 100 most common Finnish given names. "I hear that you are working for a NGO...", "Now you do have a job, but what about the future… The video ends with the campaign slogan "Only a jackass would not join the union". From the website you could click onwards to a site where you can search for the right SAK-affiliated trade union to join to. In the summer they went to rock festivals with marketing stands and laptops - people could watch and make the videos for their friends and in winter, they went to shopping mall. The results were pretty good: the number of members under 30 years of age increased by 14 000 (net),they gained a lot of positive media coverage and the site attracted some 120 000 viewers. According to SAK, after the campaign the youth were joining the unions more actively than before. Finally, SAK also won a Marketing award in Finland for effective marketing.

A union Internet café in Ouagadougou The CNTB union in Burkina Faso has recently opened an Internet café in its headquarters. The café is open for free to all CNTB members. Since the opening of the café, more young people are joining the union.

www.workpower.nl www.jobcircle.nl FNV Youth websites The youth branch of FNV has developed 2 websites for young people. The first one is www.workpower.nl where you can find everything that has to do with the labourmarket (how to look for a job, internship, money, rights, student job,…) The website has been set up by young people for young people. The second one is www.jobcircle.nl an online FNV network for young people in a labourmarket, a mix between social network and information. The interesting tool on this website is the Work Wiki where users can fill in tips and information about the labour market and the workplace rights at work. Wikis are tools that should be more used by unions. WIKI = What I Know Is = Information sharing Best example: Wikipedia www.workpower.nl www.jobcircle.nl

Hungarian flash-mob helps Pakistanian workers In Hungary when union activists learned about the situation workers at the Lipton/Brooke Bond tea factory in Khanewal, they decided to support the campaign to change the unjust state of affairs in his workplace. Despite working at the Unilever-owned tea factory for more than 20 years some workers still had not been given a permanent contract and the benefits associated with permanent status. Creative activists decided to head to the Unilever Budapest head office to show their solidarity with the Lipton Khanewal workers. The Hungarian Trade Union Federation (MSZOSZ) and the Metal Workers Federation (VASAS) staged a symbolic action: they drank a Lipton tea toast to the Pakistani worker activists who had been trying to improve their working conditions, then they threw the tea bags into a trashcan and handed it to a Unilever representative, together with a written demand from the Hungarian Unilever workers’ union that the company "Make the Khanewal casual workers permanent through direct negotiations with the Pakistan Union.“ Unilver to finally sign an agreement with the IUF to set up more permanent jobs at the Khanewal workplace. With the new agreement, workers are no longer barred from joining a union and negotiating for fair working conditions.

BWI campaign on IKEA in the US In December 2010 the Building and Wood Workers International started a campaign in IKEA in the US. IKEA needs to respect the rights of the workers who produce their furniture! Send a christmas card to the CEO of IKEA! A few years ago, IKEA’s subsidiary Swedwood, opened a factory in the small town of Danville in the state of Virginia in the USA. Swedwood is 100% owned by the IKEA group and has its headquarters in Sweden, the home of IKEA. Swedwood is the company which produces more wood furniture products than any other for IKEA.   Soon after the factory was opened, it was clear that some things were not right. This has been pointed out to both IKEA and Swedwood several times. From what workers were saying, there were safety problems at the factory. Many workers have said they would like to join a union, but the company has refused the union entry to come and talk to the workers and explain to them that they could choose to join and help each other to improve their working conditions. The company has been was asked on many occasions to open its doors to allow a union in to be a able to talk to the American workers and ask if they would like to join the union and negotiate a collective agreement. Many workers have said that they want to join a union to protect their rights. Surely, that is not too much to ask of the furniture giant IKEA, which has reported over 3 billion francs in profit, and 31 billion francs in sales, to allow 300 workers in one factory the opportunity to hear and decide themselves. When you are visiting a IKEA store, please sign the card and give it back and we will send it or hand this information to an IKEA employee and ask them to pass on the message to IKEA’s head office. 

Wisconsin crisis US 2011 Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and other Republican Party state governors including in Indiana and Ohio have launched a major assault on the rights of public sector workers to union representation and collective bargaining, with heavy pay cuts and new obstacles to freedom of association. Demonstrations have took place in several US states beginning of the year, as opposition grew to the coordinated anti-union onslaught, which has its roots in the ultra-conservative “tea party” movement. Lots of people demonstrated outside the governors office in Wisconsin. They were there 24 / 7. A pizzeria in Wisconsin decided to only produce pizzas to deliver to the demonstrating people. Soon news about this initiative started spreading all over the world and people started calling in to buy pizzas, paying with credit card over the phone, to support the struggle of the workers. This is also an example of how news travel fast via the new social medias. This is the sign of thank you in the Pizzeria in Wisconsin.

Thank you!