Communication Technology

ACAS has printed a probe paper on the implications of internet two.0 technologies (e.g. Facebook, LinkedIn, blogging, etc.) for employment relations.

The paper is named Workplaces and Social Networking: The Implications for Employment Relations.

It is written by Andrea Broughton, Tom Higgins, mountain Hicks and Annette Cox of the Institute for Employment Studies.

The aim of the paper is to answer the subsequent questions:

● however intensive is that the use of social media in kingdom workplaces?

● What challenges and opportunities do social media gift for management of employment relations?

● What will smart observe during this space look like?
Click here to access the paper.

A new report from ACAS comments on Web 2.0 and how such technology could have an effect on the future of workplace/employment relations.

For employees the following is discussed in the new report:

The use of social media by unions to reach both a younger generation and a more dispersed workforce is already well underway.

Commentators believe that the unions are moving from the services model of the 90s through the organising model of the noughties to the more sophisticated social movement model with its greater appeal to a younger audience.

Web 3.0 technology with its seamless integration between data bases will enable
much greater interactivity between users and the web.

This will enable trade unions to refine their recruitment practices where individuals can be attracted to a social movement website first and then directed to trade union sites.

For employers:

As the virtual workplace becomes more prevalent, employers will need to give careful thought to the management of a dispersed workforce where employees may have infrequent face-to-face contact with their colleagues...

For more details and concluding comments see The Future of Workplace Relations - An ACAS View.

According to a conference organised by ACAS: "the rise of social media could see more and different forms of unofficial unrest used in future disputes."

It was argued that "the accessibility and speed of tools such as Twitter, YouTube and Facebook mean that workers can be mobilised quicker than ever before."

For more details see Social media needs to be taken seriously warns Acas.

A discussion paper released by ACAS this week recognises the use of Web 2.0 communication technologies in the organisation of industrial conflict.

Of particular note is a reflection on how tools such as Facebook appear to be an increasingly common organising and recruitment tool for "younger stewards".

The paper is entitled: Riding out the storm: managing conflict in a recession and beyond - click here for a copy.

Some details (p.5):

Unofficial action and alternative ways of organising

The ongoing decline in both collective bargaining as a method of managing employment relations and of collective action as a ‘managed’ expression of collective discontent shows no sign of slowing.

But if formal channels are closed off to employees there is likely to be a rise in unofficial expressions of discontent.

There are now more sophisticated methods of communicating with large audiences via social networking sites such as Facebook, and indeed there are already unions who are reporting younger stewards using this as a recruiting and organising tool.