"It takes organization and struggle to give real meaning to rights."
Elaine Bernard - Harvard Labor and Worklife Program
"Imagine There’s No Labour Board"

Talking About Organizing: A Series

This is an active online archive of commentaries and stories, first published in Our Times, about the experience of union organizing: what works and what doesn't. It's also the place where you'll find Our Times' columnist Derek Blackadder's WebWork series archived; articles about online resources for union activists.

"Organizing is important," writes labour educator Elaine Bernard in "The Power to Change Things." "But it needs to be more than simply signing up new members. Rather, the future of unions and their power rests with an informed, committed membership who understand that they are the union and that the power of the union rests with them."

Vol. 32 | Issue 2 | 2013
WEBWORK: Take Back the Net
By Derek Blackadder
Always implicit, and sometimes embarrassingly explicit, in the online utopian screeds of the '90s was the hope or assumption that nastiness like racism and sexism were ideological impositions on workers and that, once free of corporate media, we'd be free of that, too. Nice sentiment.

Vol. 32 | Issue 1 | 2013
WEBWORK: Educating for Equity Now, and Always
By Derek Blackadder
It looks like our efforts to fight racism and xenophobia in the workplace, to build solidarity amongst our members, could use a little energy and a lot more support.

Vol. 31 | Issue 6 | 2012/1013
WEBWORK: A New Year Round-Up
By Derek Blackadder
Another tidal wave of how-to articles on using social media in organizing was generated by two announcements this past year: 1) Facebook now has more than 1 billion users, a number rising almost as fast as FB's share price is dropping, and 2) during the coverage of the American elections, polling seemed to have fallen out of favour and been replaced with Twitter-follower and FB "friend" counts. Australian union communications guru Alex White provides a nice antidote to this online frenzy.

Vol. 31 | Issue 4/5 | 2012
WEBWORK: Labour Wikipedia Initiative?
By Derek Blackadder
At least a couple of national unions and more than a few local unions have been the victims of attacks on their online reputations by way of their entries on Wikipedia. Now and then, it seems that unions are the victims of organized attempts to damage them. But we have bigger problems. The portrayal of workers and unions scattered all over Wikipedia is more than occasionally problematic.

Vol. 31 | Issue 3 | 2012
WEBWORK: Leadnow's Great (Internet) Leap Forward
By Derek Blackadder
In early June, Leadnow organized actions at the constituency offices of over 80 MPs, demanding that they commit to breaking up Bill C-38, the budget implementation bill, to allow for proper debate.How did Leadnow manage this? How did they build a bridge from cyberspace commitment to meatspace action?

Vol. 31 | Issue 1 |
RETAIL WORKERS MAKE HISTORY
By Kendra Coulter
On October 6, 2011, workers at the trendy fashion chain H&M in Mississauga's Square One mall, in Toronto, voted to join UFCW Canada (the United Food and Commercial Workers). In doing so they made history by becoming the first H&M in Canada to organize. They also sent out a strong message about the need to improve retail work and retail workers' lives.

Vol. 31 | Issue 1 | 2012
WEBWORK: New Model Website
By Derek Blackadder
Is it time for a New Model Website and a lot more dynamism in union website content? Is it time for an end to trade union feudalism?

Vol. 30 | Issue 6 |
WEBWORK: Facebook's Making Money
By Derek Blackadder
It's always worth a bit of time to check in with the opposition to see what they're doing and perhaps learn a few things in the process. What corporations are doing with platforms like Facebook is more than a little instructive, even if you don't face them across the table.

Vol. 30 | Issue 5 | OCTOBER-NOVEMBER 2011
WEBWORK: Top Ten Tips for Unions Online
By Derek Blackadder
In the current issue of Our Times, now in bookstores, you'll read about some exciting stuff that's happening out there as unions and members grab hold of the new media, especially social media, and run with it. But, somewhere, we need to be reminded not just of the great things we're doing, but the ways in which we're falling behind, if not down. So why not here.

Vol. 30 | Issue 4 | CURRENT ISSUE 2011
WEBWORK: Facebook Needs a New Button
By Derek Blackadder
Unions are (mostly) defensive organizations. Employers act, we react. Mostly, we react to nasty things, which means we're too often the bearers of bad news. So, maybe we need a global campaign to get Facebook to add an "I think this is important" button, as an alternative to "like."

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