What we're reading Archives

The rise of 21st-century unions

In 2020, a new kind of union will rise to fight for the rights of workers in modern workplaces, predicts innovation charity Nesta’s Jack Orlik.

Unions, social media and young workers—evidence from the UK

Academics Andy Hodder and David Houghton analysed tweets sent by unions’ young workers sections. They found potential for engagement but also a risk of an echo chamber, where those already active become more active, and reach ultimately diminished.

Which unions are the most influential on Twitter in 2019?

Simon Parry has compiled an 8th annual league table of the most influential UK union Twitter accounts.

FOI helps reveal the new surveillance tools deployed by police

MySociety’s Myfawny Nixon interviews Privacy International’s Camilla Graham Wood about her research into the range of digital surveillance being used currently by police forces. As well as being used in investigating crime, there is concern growing that this stuff could have an impact on surveillance of protest and activism.

Online Petitions: A way forward for unions?

Unions21’s Henry Skewes writes on some of the learnings from the first stages of their online petitioning project.

Can digital help rejuvenate Britain’s trade unions?

A decade of precarity for young workers has changed perceptions and expectations around the labour movement. TechWorld’s Tamlin Magee asks whether digital can the tools they need to boost engagement?

The new world of work: report warns of an unprecedented rise in workplace activism

Employers’ law firm Herbert Smith Freehills interviewed 400 global company executives about their predictions on worker activism. Their concerns are an interesting view from the other side of the bargaining table. An increase in digital worker activism is predicted, more driven by networked individuals than union co-ordination.

Engaging members in new ways

Unions21’s blog on Prospect’s use of Thoughtexchange – the survey and outreach tool that UNI Global Union’s Young Workers’ Lab is testing in unions.

Why the UK needs a national strategy around AI and work

The UK has an opportunity to benefit from early adoption of technologies like AI, writes Prospect’s Andrew Pakes for New Statesman. But if we don’t talk about power and the imbalances it creates in work and society, then we won’t get ethics right or start to deal with distrust.

Catalonia has created a new kind of online activism. Everyone should pay attention

Wired reports on Catalan independence group Tsunami Democràtic, which is leveraging social media and peer-to-peer technology to orchestrate massive protests.