Union Communications in the Digital Age

FAST AND TO THE POINT

In the past, traditional trade union media has not received due attention. Union members and workers who want to access information mainly have to rely on traditional media such as newspapers, magazines, radio, television, billboards, posters... and will have to wait a certain amount of time for these publications to be released.

Nowadays, with the advent of the Internet, information is updated quickly and viewers can access it easily, anywhere, anytime. Through smartphones and social networks such as Facebook, Zalo, as soon as the event is taking place, information and images have beenunion officialsdirect distribution to a large number of workers and laborers.

Nghe An trade unions at all levels have promoted the communication power of social networks in propaganda work. Photo: Screenshot

The active participation of union members in spreading the image of the union organization and the workers' movement creates a great spread, ensuring authenticity. However, a small number of people abuse social networks, leading to information that is not yet selected, complete and comprehensive, leading to a one-sided view of the union organization and the workers' movement.

To overcome this situation, union communications staff must know how to collect information and constantly update the situation. Have knowledge of technology and closely follow the functions and tasks of the organization.use social networksBe smart in selecting and promptly sharing information with the public, including cadres, union members and workers, contributing to bringing the image of the trade union organization and the workers' movement closer to the workers.

Launching the Nghe An Trade Union website. Photo: DT

The Nghe An Provincial Federation of Labor's website updates new news and posts quality articles every day. Photo: Screenshot

Each media product when released must not only ensure the voice of the organization, but also be concerned with and accurately reflect the needs and aspirations of the majority of employees.

To do this, union officials working in communications must grasp, be sensitive, and understand their organization, the hot current issues of businesses and workers. The communication works of the union organization reflect, illustrate, and clarify the unit's policies and operations in a timely manner, and at the same time express the voice, thoughts, and feelings of workers in the implementation at businesses, agencies, and units.

Besides reflecting the hot spots, difficulties and new tasks of trade union activities,workers' movement; delving into the reality of life and work of workers, there are also articles that are evaluative and predictive for businesses, trade unions and workers. The articles identify risks and challenges so that they can propose response plans.

SUITABLE FOR WORKERS

The target audience of trade union communication is mainly workers. Therefore, the method and form of communication must be appropriate for each target audience.

With the target audience being workers, due to the fact that they mainly work in shifts and have uneven levels of awareness, communication needs to be concise, easy to understand, and specific. Communication forms can be chosen visually and vividly, such as billboards, posters, leaflets, brochures, and SMS messages. Locations can be hung in places where workers can easily see them, such as cafeterias, workshops, entrance gates, internal newsletters of the unit, or texted by phone, via social networks like Facebook, Zalo, etc. The selection of communication content also comes from the needs of workers. Issues that workers are interested in include insurance, wages, and prevention of Covid-19.

Instead of dry texts, the propaganda content of trade unions at all levels is designed with concise, easy-to-understand graphics. Photo: Graphics

In the era of information explosion, workers have many choices. To attract the attention of union members, the important factor is to be attractive, interesting, and engaging. Therefore, union officials must seek to innovate so that the media product is vivid, attractive, and stimulates the curiosity and attention of viewers. In addition to the selected news and articles posted with current events that workers are interested in, it is necessary to renew the product with video clips, beautiful images, or create infographics, posters, banners, etc.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh Thuy - Head of the Propaganda and Women's Union Department said: The Provincial Labor Federation has signed a cooperation agreement with 04 media agencies to serve propaganda work (Labor Newspaper, Labor and Trade Union Magazine, Nghe An Newspaper, Provincial Radio and Television Station); launched the Nghe An Provincial Trade Union Information Website with a modern technical platform. In addition, directed all trade union units to establish Facebook and Zalo pages with a common interface for easy identification and information management. Accordingly, in the first 6 months of the year, on average, the Nghe An Trade Union Information page edited, posted and shared about 100 news and articles per month. The Nghe An Trade Union Facebook shared an average of 4 news/day. The established Zalo pages of trade union organizations are fully updated with news and photos of daily activities of the units. At the same time, this is also a place for two-way information exchange, capturing daily public opinion of trade union organizations with workers, district and industry trade unions with the Provincial Federation of Labor.

The Trade Union Television page with a duration of 30 minutes is broadcast regularly on the provincial radio and television channels every month. In addition to the news of the trade union's activities, the legal consultant has created and broadcast 6 reports with the following contents: Taking care of Tet for union members and workers; the atmosphere of starting production in the first days of the new year at enterprises; taking care of female employees in all levels of trade unions; Nghe An responds to the program“75 thousand initiatives, overcoming difficulties, developing”; implement Workers' Month and Occupational Safety and Health Month 2021 in district and industry units.

Ms. Thanh Thuy added: To increase the attractiveness and attract the attention of workers, the Provincial Labor Federation has closely followed the key activities of the year and the tasks of the trade union organization, creating many Infographics to propagate resolutions and propagate about Workers' Month, creating representative frames, creating video clips with many vivid images... which are highly appreciated by union members and workers.

Activities take place online to ensure safety in the context of the epidemic. Photo: DT

In the context of the epidemic, the province focused on urging, directing, and guiding trade unions at all levels to effectively deploy online competitions for workers to learn about the law on elections of the National Assembly and People's Councils at all levels. The online competition on elections organized by the Ministry of Justice and the National Assembly: Nghe An ranked in the top of the country, in which the main participants were workers. Union member Le Van Hung (belonging to the Nghia Hieu Commune Trade Union, Nghia Dan District Labor Federation) won the first prize. The online competition "Workers, civil servants, and laborers with the national holiday" organized by the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor: Nghe An ranked second nationwide. The Provincial Labor Federation directed 3 grassroots trade union units directly above the grassroots to coordinate in organizing online competitions at the district level. The competitions were organized online, so that workers could participate easily and conveniently, ensuring epidemic prevention.

Emphasizing the tasks in the coming time, Ms. Nguyen Thi Thu Nhi - Vice President of the Provincial Labor Federation said: "The Provincial Labor Federation will promote multimedia communication, make the most of the utilities of social networks in union communication, and at the same time focus on training and fostering a core team of staff to write news articles, improve the quality of news articles, and aim for effective communication products for workers."