TUC digital Archives - Page 8 of 14

New digital tactics behind our key workers’ pay rise campaign

As MPs stood on their doorsteps and clapped, offered platitudes and had their pictures taken – there was a glimmer of hope for the millions of overworked and low-paid key workers who are keeping the country going during the pandemic. Many of us could be forgiven for assuming that these public displays of support might translate into meaningful improvements in pay and conditions for our hero key workers.

So when the chancellor decided to freeze the pay of public sector workers, to keep the minimum wage at a measly £8.72 and to continue letting companies use exploitative zero-hours contracts, it was clear that this government’s words and Tweets would not equal any significant action.

Making a virtual out of a necessity: NASUWT online conference 2021 case study

Organising a fully virtual and democratic trade union conference. By NASUWT’s Sammy Connell and Chris Weavers.

The NASUWT held its centenary Annual Conference at the ICC Belfast Convention Centre over the Easter weekend in 2019. A celebration of the success of the union over the previous 100 years, often in the face of adversity. Little could we have anticipated the challenges of the next two years.

Testing your union’s new digital services by prototyping

Prototyping is a very important tool when it comes to designing new digital systems. As non-profits, reliant on members’ contributions, unions have to be careful to get the best returns out of any digital spend. Yet the costs for new digital development can run into thousands of pounds.

Building a prototype – the most basic version of your solution that you can test with real users – lets you check if you’re on the right track, and reduces the risk of costly project failures.

Discover, define, develop: A model for designing for change in unions

Last year, we launched a new module in the TUC’s leadership development programme, Leading Change. It expands our long running course to also look at how digital can support (and challenge) senior union officers in managing change in their areas of work.

Unions and digital disruptors

TUC Digital Lab report

In recent years, new digital start-ups have changed the faces of whole industries. New entrants have risen to dominance in their sectors and previously major players have collapsed. The pace of change has only intensified with the digital-first response to Covid-19.

Unions aren’t commercial businesses but as organisations we don’t exist in a vacuum. We too can find our position eroded by disruptive innovation if we fail to understand how it works or adapt to it.

Online joining in unions – current and best practice

New Digital Lab report

In 2021, people expect good quality digital interactions with all companies and organisations. Unions are no exceptions – prospective members will expect to be able to easily and immediately join online.

Producing union digital conferences

As Covid-19 stopped mass gatherings in person this year, many unions had to make a choice whether to cancel their big conference events or to quickly rework long-running formats for a digital medium.

Delivering for “different” in 2021

This year’s been longer than usual and mostly awful, but it’s given us all some time to think.

One of the things we’ve been reflecting on is the immediate future of work, whether the “new normal” just becomes “normal” for millions of workers, and how unions should adapt to this.

Improving your video call presence – a how to guide

Since the lockdown, video conferencing has become second nature for our team meetings and one to one calls. And more of us are giving presentations online to union conferences, rallies and meetings, or being interviewed in our homes for media or training webinars.

When you’re doing this kind of presentation, you control a lot more about the way you’re seen on screen than you would have done at a physical event that had been set up by somebody else. You are also viewed much closer up than usual, so the little things about your presentation can get more scrutiny.

Recruiting hard-to-engage workers on digital during Covid-19

TUC Digital Lab case study with BFAWU

Coronavirus is changing how people work and how unions organise. Face to face contact in every sector is being reduced due to social distancing measures, more employees working from home, workplaces opening and closing due to government lockdowns and significant portions of workers on furlough.