Employers could face more organizing drives as social media use increases
Sophisticated unions are using social media tools like Facebook and Twitter to reach out, and not just to their members.
“I think the biggest impact we’ve seen so far, and will probably continue to be the biggest impact, is in organizing because it allows unions to quite easily set up a mode of communication with employees that doesn’t rely on anybody physically being at the workplace,” said Erin Kuzz, an employment lawyer at Sherrard Kuzz LLP in Toronto, a management-side law firm.
Use of social media sites like Facebook, a social networking site, and Twitter, a microblogging service, will probably increase the number of union organizing drives in workplaces, Kuzz said, but she added she isn’t sure it will mean more organization in the end.
“Whether it ultimately increases the level of unionization has yet to be determined, and I say that because while it does provide easier access for unions to reach employees, the practical reality is that the level of unionization in the private sector in Canada is consistently declining,” she said. “I don’t know that something like Twitter is going to fundamentally change that. I think it may mean that more employers have to deal with union drives, but I don’t know that it’s fundamentally going to make them more successful.”
The Alberta Federation of Labour (AFL) uses social media as a communications vehicle with its members. The organization had more than 1,600 followers on Twitter and more than 4,000 likes on Facebook when this article went to press.
“In terms of Twitter, we’ve been using it a lot to reach people who are not necessarily our allies or followers. There are a lot of journalists on Twitter, a lot of policy makers and we try to engage them in discussion via Twitter,” said Olav Rokne, senior communications director at the AFL.
The organization has had a lot of success getting people to events — like a recent rally against privatization of a public service — through social media, said Rokne.
Tweeting photos, so those who can’t make it to an event can still see what the union is doing, helps engage people in the union’s activities.
“I think, for us, it just shows that we are present,” said Ishani Weera, director of organizing and outreach at the AFL. “I mean we do wonderful work and this is another avenue for us to share that work.”
The federation just finished up a convention where they used social media heavily to convey the messages of the event to those who could not be there. They posted videos of speakers, tweeted and used social media tools to engage those who couldn’t attend.
“It’s been really helpful for things like rallies and events to let people know, but it’s also good for... educating people on more wide-ranging issues,” she said, adding the union’s Facebook group has become a place where people discuss greater labour issues.
It’s possible social media may also have an impact at the bargaining table, said Kuzz.
“I think the immediacy of the communication is something that we’re going to see play out in a different setting,” she said.
For example, if a union and an employer are at the bargaining table and the employer puts forward a proposal, it’s possible for a union to tweet the content of the proposal out to its followers very quickly, particularly if the parties haven’t agreed to a silence order, said Kuzz.
Possible legal pitfalls
“I think that employees and trade unions have to be aware that there can be ramifications in the workplace for things that they say and do outside the workplace,” Kuzz added.
If confidential company information somehow makes it into a tweet, that could be grounds for discipline or termination, she said.
As well, things said in the heat of the moment can live a very, very long time, she said.
“Social media sometimes encourages people to do things in a quick tweet that they might not ever say out loud or even put in an email, let alone publish more formally because it can be very emotional and reactionary.”
Unions will have to be careful not to be seen to be inciting any illegal strike action on social media sites, said Kuzz.
“If I’m in a union in Ontario and I’m not in a position to legally strike and, in order to be in that position, I have to go through a number of steps… but I encourage or induce people to engage in an unlawful strike, I’m breaking the law,” she said.
If a union representative were to tweet something such as, “I think everyone should call in sick today,” that’s something that’s arguably inducing people to unlawfully strike and there could be huge ramifications to that, said Kuzz.
But overall, Kuzz has found that unions have been a lot more sophisticated with their use of social media than employers have been.
