Unions issue call to arms by text message

Because of new media, Rotherham GMB is recruiting more members than it is losing

Unions and trade associations are dragging themselves into the 21st century by using new technology to communicate with members more quickly, as well as foster closer co-operation, gather new recruits and reduce costs.

Last month, the Rotherham branch of the 600,000-strong GMB union announced it has replaced monthly newsletters with a text message service, while the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) has been using Web 2.0 online collaboration and consultation tools to provide information to 120,000 members worldwide.

Sending text messages rather than posting documents saves the Rotherham GMB about £675 per mailing on the cost of stamps alone, equating to thousands of pounds a year. But the primary reason behind the implementation is that it means the union can instantly communicate with members and get quick feedback on its proposals, including strike action.

“It could be [an alert calling for a strike] but our powers are restric­ted by national government so we would have to have a ballot first,” said Lee Simpson, Rotherham GMB branch convenor.

“One of the great things about this is that we can send text messages inviting people to vote on various issues, then get instant feedback via the web site to see if we are doing the right thing.”

The union uses a hosted web service provided by Text Messaging Centre that allows representatives to log in from any client device via a web portal and send messages to specific groups or individual members.

Simpson said the service has also helped recruit new members to the union, especially those under 30 in local government jobs, help­ed in part by groups on Facebook.

“We are now recruiting more members than we are losing. Everybody these days has a mobile phone, and the dividend is the sheer number of people who are joining because of new media,” said Simpson.

Rotherham is the first GMB branch to use SMS to disseminate information to its members, and Simpson has been asked to present its experience to the union on a national level with a view to encouraging more local branches to follow suit.

The Liverpool branch of the Public and Commercial Services Union Department for Work and Pensions also offers a free text service to its representatives and members, for example, sending out messages about key issues, campaigns, negotiations and industrial action.

Elsewhere, RICS has recently started using Web 2.0 features within Inovem’s Inclusionware online collaboration and consultation software, with savings on postal costs and associated travel estimated to be £850,000 a year.

“We have been reasonably monolithic in our communications and very hard copy in our orientation, and we are trying to change that by creating an inclusive online environment. We have found that younger members are particularly good at adapting to this,” said RICS Land Group director James Kavanagh.

“We have had a web site and chat room for a long time, but this is different; it’s about engaging and involving members so they can decide how they interact with us and connect to document management systems rather than push big 40MB-100MB email attachments at them,” he added.

RICS previously used Microsoft SharePoint for the same purpose, but wanted to have a system that provided a discussion area that also connected to a document management system.

“We deal with lots of standards and guidance so it is important to know which version of any one document we are dealing with,” said Kavanagh.

As with the Rotherham GMB, the new software also allows RICS to quickly poll its members on various issues.

“We can run a quick survey of our members and perhaps only get about two or three hundred people responding, but that sort of professional input is still better than just having six people talk about it around a committee table,” said Kavanagh.

Other organisations using Inovem Inclusionware are the UK Department for Communities and Local Government, Hartlepool Borough Council, the UK Health and Safety Executive, the Legal Services Commission and South Gloucestershire District Council.