Improving Unions' Websites

Here is an article that I wrote for the new issue of Off The Rails about improving union websites. It is specifically about the rail unions' websites, but I think many of the points apply to other unions' sites too. Actually, I think the rail unions' sites are better than some of the others, but, of course, not beyond criticism!

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New communication technology opens massive opportunities for rail workers and our unions to get better organised. But it offers employers those opportunities too - and at the moment, it is the employers who are making the most of it.

Many rail employers are now using the 'Connect' intranet system, giving them a voice in every signal cabin, depot, station and other workplace, through which they provide regular reports, friendly blogging from the Chief Executive, and web forums where the minority of anti-union workers vent their spleens at will.

But while some people's reaction is to demand that these forums be shut down, the answer is rather that the unions should compete more effectively in the information war. Activists should get on the forums and argue with the scabs. After all, even if the employers agreed to shut down the forums (which they won't - why should they?!), then scabs will just spout their anti-union nonsense round the messrooms unchallenged. Better to get their 'arguments' out in the open and pull them apart.

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Our national unions' own websites leave a lot to be desired. The basic problem is that each one comes across as an online glossy brochure trying to 'sell' the union rather than what a union website should be - an online resource for activists and members, and a site that convinces its visitors of the union's case. It is usually easy to see what the union wants you to see, but a lot harder to find out what you want to know. How can I get representation? How can I tell the union about an issue in my workplace? What's the union's answer to management latest propaganda?

One reason this happens is that the unions don't seem to have grasped that a website is not just a magazine on the internet. Most items on the RMT, ASLEF and TSSA sites are articles that were written for something else - the union's journal, a press release, a circular - and then put on the website. While these things should be on the website, there should also be other content that is designed for the website itself.

When the union does recognise the power of the technology available to it, it can be dazzled by the flash stuff but ignore the basics. So, for example, it is great that RMT members can watch webcasts of the union's conferences - but what about being able to contact your rep? or look up your rights? or find out accurate information as to where you branch meets?!

The websites need to be fast-moving and up-to-date. Particularly during a dispute or important talks, the union’s website is the easiest way to get minute-by-minute reports. After every session of talks, our negotiators should post reports - management will be circulating their version! During the shipyard strikes by Solidarnosc in Poland in the ‘80s, workers gathered outside the building to hear the negotiations broadcast live over a public address system. Website technology enables things like this to be done much more widely.

On a brighter note, some union branches and similar groups have set up their own websites, which tend to be more responsive to the needs of members. But they do tend to rely on one enthusiast, and if s/he moves on, the branch can struggle to keep the site going. The key to preventing this is to motivate and train others within the branch to get involved in administering the site.

An effective union website would involve its rank-and-file reps in running the site. The current national unions' websites are not as effective as they could be partly because the unions are not using the technology to best effect - but partly because unions remain bureaucratic organisations which tend to fear too much membership involvement, and don’t actually want us to know too much.

Check out these sites:
RMT
RMT Platform
TSSA
RMT on Arriva Trains Wales
RMT Bristol Rail branch
RMT LU Engineering branch
RMT Finsbury Park branch
TSSA TfL branch
ASLEF
ASLEF Ramsgate branch
ASLEF Waterloo and Nine Elms branch

And of course:
Off The Rails
Workers' Liberty's rail unions page

RMT AGM and New Website

I'm off to RMT's AGM (conference) today. I'm not sure what access I will get to the internet while I'm there, so will make no promises on blogging.

In the meantime, my fellow RMT London Underground station and revenue staff reps and I last week launched our new website, RMT Platform. It is primarily aimed at our members, but I think other trade unionists and lefties should take a look too. It is always worth seeing what each other are doing with this kind of thing, to compare notes and get ideas. Register for an account and you can get an even closer look.

I have to say that I am really quite excited about this website. I'm even more excited about the fabulous strike ballot result that our Tube cleaner members delivered on Thursday, which you can read about on the RMT Platform website!

Second Life - how about a virtual revolution !

Now I spend too much time on the Internet as it is, so I have avoided Second Life. I have enough trouble sorting out my first life and keeping my imagination in check as it is. Recent reports though have caught my attention. But first for those who have not heard of it, a little introduction :


Second Life (abbreviated as SL) is an Internet-based virtual world launched in 2003, ... developed by Linden Research, Inc (commonly referred to as Linden Lab). A downloadable client program enables its users, called "Residents", to interact with each other through motional avatars, providing an advanced level of a social network service combined with general aspects of a metaverse. Residents can explore, meet other Residents, socialize, participate in individual and group activities, create and trade items (virtual property) and services from one another.
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While Second Life is sometimes referred to as a game, this description is disputed.
... It is a semi-structured virtual environment where characters undertake activities for the purpose of personal enjoyment.

In all, more than seven million accounts have been registered, although many are inactive, some Residents have multiple accounts, and there are no reliable figures for actual long term consistent usage. Despite its prominence, Second Life has notable competitors, including There, Active Worlds, and Red Light Center (albeit more "mature" themed).

I'm curious about this, though not enough to pop over and get caught up in it. Is it escapism, is the real world so crap for people they want to inhabit this virtual world? How much does the real world impinge on it? Well on the last one it seems more and more. I read a few weeks back about the business community, the large corporations, buying up islands and space there.

So no escape from the business world, and now no escape from god bothers . Yep, the Catholic Church sees it as a chance to snap up some new recruits . A report in The Times (via New Humanist Blog) states :

Roman Catholic missionaries must reap a virtual harvest of cyber-souls in the kingdom of Second Life: this is the new instruction to the faithful.

It appears in the Jesuit journal La Civiltà Cattolica, a Rome-based publication approved by the Vatican Secretariat of State, in an article by the academic priest Father Antonio Spadaro.
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Father Spadaro urges Catholics to go out into the simulation game of Second Life, to lead the cyber-embodiments of their fellow men and women out of the many temptations that exist there.
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Amid the virtual towns, however, sin has flourished. Freed from the constraints of their real lives, many occupants indulge in random fornication, and prostitution is flourishing. Gambling is widespread and, although occupants are free from the ravages of alcohol and drug abuse, they are vulnerable to mindless consumerism.

“It is not possible to turn a blind eye to this phenomenon, or offhandedly pass judgment glorifying or condemning it,” says Father Spadaro.
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As in any society where sin flourishes, so does religion – of every kind. There are already hundreds of churches, synagogues, mosques and temples serving the faithful, many of whom regard it as their latest virtual mission to save Second Lifers.

Father Spadaro cautions the uninitiated that “the erotic dimension is very present” in Second Life.

While the virtual world might be a refuge for some people seeking to flee the real one, it is also full of people seeking something more from life, including, possibly, religious enlightenment, Father Spadaro says. “Deep down, the digital world can be considered, in its way, mission territory. Second Life is somewhere where the opportunity to meet people and to grow should not be missed. Therefore, any initiative that can inspire the residents in a positive way should be considered opportune.”

Admitting that the anonymous nature of the site means a person’s virtual appearance can be open and honest, he adds: “On the other hand, one can also get caught up in a spontaneity that knows no limits or discretion.”



So one sniff of people having fun and there they are, butting and in preaching. Pah, is there nowhere the puritanical god bothers won't go.

So, where is the left in all this? Perhaps we should all pile in there and recreate all the sectarianism and infighting.We could recreate all the groups, sell virtual papers and have virtual meetings. Would we ever all agree ?

Hey, wonder what the line is on Second Life?