Re-Branding the Labor Movement: A Post-Election Lesson

If last week's elections proved anything, it proved that the labor movement would be well advised to focus on creating change from within, rather than trying to create it by hitching our trailer up to a politician's vehicle and hoping they'll have enough horsepower to advance us forward.  In case you haven't noticed, we have yet to go anywhere in the last few decades.  We're actually rolling in reverse on several fronts.  It's time we put all of our money into an F-650, and let the politicians hitch up to us.  Perhaps then, when they actually win an election, we'll get much better results from our investments.


So, how do we begin building the F-650? Well, as you can probably imagine, there are many, many components required, both mechanical and technological.  The F-650 is a powerful vehicle, and it's pretty overwhelming to figure out how to transform a travel trailer into one of these monsters.  It's no wonder why it hasn't been done before.  However, if you focus on one piece at a time, the upgrading process is much more palatable.


One piece that I believe is of utmost importance to the labor movement is that of public relations/marketing/advertising/communications - however you want to categorize it.  It is the most ignored, overlooked, underfunded and/or ill-conceived yet fundamental element within the labor framework.  The labor movement is by and large made up of those in skilled trades - not media experts and public relations consultants - so it's no surprise that this is an area of need.   Labor needs to figure out how to fulfill it - and fast.


This is not to say that advancements haven't been made in this respect.  There are very positive examples here and there of labor organizations and individuals that are starting to get it.  It's time  that labor organizations, from internationals to locals and everyone in between, start constructing well written, organized and purposeful strategic communication/public relations plans that address not only our members, but the general public as well.  If we don't take measured steps to proactively control our image and brand awareness by focusing on brand strategy development, then the Tea Parties, Glenn Becks and Sarah Palins of the world certainly will - as they already have.


Hold on one second - brand strategy development? What the *@$#? This is not a phrase commonly heard at the hall over coffee among the retirees, at the monthly union meetings, or in apprentice classes.  If it is discussed, it's probably limited to the upper echelon of the AFL-CIO and the Internationals, who desperately need to develop and provide educational resources that can arm their locals with an arsenal of branding tools that impart a consistent message throughout the country.  Examples include: Instruction on how to develop and implement a communication/marketing plan; the importance of having an online presence that provides value through a quality website and social media profiles; how to significantly improve internal communications so that members become more invested in their local's efforts. However, in order to provide these types of resources and guidance, the upper echelon needs to figure it out for themselves first.  


In private industry circles, particularly those with names that end in Inc. or Corp., a "brand" is not simply a product name. It's an intangible impression of thoughts and feelings about your organization that can be indelibly left on a person.  

"Whatever your business, your brand is who you are, what you do, and how you build relationships with customers, prospects and influencers. Your brand is how you motivate your people. Your brand is how you fulfill the promise of your company and its products. Your brand is how you define customer experiences, make them memorable, and build brand value." (The Latham Guide, Latham and Company, LLC)

Further, your brand has significant power over your ability to shape your organization and its future - or lack thereof.  Organizations of all types spend large sums of money every year to develop, improve and  protect their brands - organizations that in some cases are much smaller, have much less at stake, or provide significantly less value to society. Consider this: Kentucky Fried Chicken spent millions to "rebrand" their image to become KFC.  Which has more societal impact?  Fried chicken or labor unions? If we based our answer on public relations budgets, the Colonel would win, hands down.

You're probably thinking that labor doesn't have the kind of money that a re-branding campaign would require.   Remind me again how much the AFL-CIO spent on election campaigns this go-around with very little to show for it?  Over $200 million?  Is it really cost effective to use union dues in the 11th hour for an election that most people felt was a waste of time anyway?   Perhaps if the international unions and the AFL-CIO had dedicated a chunk of change towards waging an intensive re-branding/marketing/communications campaign years ago, aimed at the general public and designed to introduce the 21st Century Labor Movement to the masses, it would have made life a little easier come election time.


Bottom line: Perception is everything, whether it's true or not.  The public's perception of Labor needs to change, but this will never happen unless labor organizations realize how vital public relations efforts are today for the existence of our unions tomorrow.

Why Should Unions Care About the Online Labor Movement?

I was delving into the Digg and Squidoo sites just now. If you're not familiar with them, think of Digg as a 21st century e-version of the "recommendation letter" (http://digg.com) that's also informative. You see little Digg buttons or widgets all over the web. The idea is that if you read something that you like/love/support you click on the Digg button (usually at the top or bottom of the article). The Digg site tracks the number of Diggs each article gets, and as the number of Diggs grows, so does the prominence of that information in search engines, like Google.  There are many labor-related items to be searched via Digg.

Squidoo is different. It is similar to Digg in that it's content can be provided by anyone by developing a "lense". Here is their explanation of the site. "Squidoo is the popular publishing platform and community that makes it easy for you to create "lenses" online. Lenses are pages, kind of like flyers or sign posts or overview articles, that gather everything you know about your topic of interest--and snap it all into focus. Like the lens of a camera, your perspective on something." (http://www.squidoo.com) The user gets a complete overview of a specific topic that includes an article/summary along with any and all relevant links that support it. It is widely popular, and according to the site, gets close to a million hits per day.


So, I proceeded to search union-related terms.  Union. Labor movement.  Labor union.  Trade union.  Guess what the two most popular results were?  One lens about Jimmy Hoffa, and another that was anti-labor.  There was surprisingly very little on the site about labor unions.  Yet the one lens that came up time and time again was anti-union.  What's wrong with this picture?


I also tested Urban Dictionary (http://www.urbandictionary.com) for labor-related entries.  For those of you that aren't familiar with it, this is a site that definitely appeals to a younger crowd.  It is an online dictionary of all words and phrases slang, and anyone can submit definitions.  A few examples include: 

• Aluminum Digger - A younger version of a gold digger.
• Thanksgiving Beard - An unintentional beard started over the 4 day Thanksgiving weekend, where you're too lazy to shave it off monday morning. Usually continues until Christmas or New Year's Day. Also known as a Holiday Beard.
• Textpectation - The anticipation one feels when waiting for a response to a text message.

It should be pointed out that many of the entries can be considered raunchy, but there are many that are not slang.  When I searched the word "union" there were four pages of results, but the majority were anti-union.  However, the pro-labor view was represented more here than on Squidoo.  You may think this site is ridiculous, but it has a huge following by teens and young adults.  

My point is this.  There is an online labor movement as well as offline.  It's out there, it's growing, but the non-union proponents are online as well, and much more vocal.  Labor leaders, whether you're ready for it or not, the internet is yet another battlefield that needs your troops on the front line to protect and advance us forward.  You need to strongly encourage your members to help spread the word online, to comment on articles and blogs that warrant a union viewpoint.  (For example, check out this article, "Labor Agreements Make No Sense," posted last weekend on Boston.com, and read the comments in particular.)  Labor organizations at all levels need to get involved, because here, online, we have access to untold numbers of the U.S. population that we don't traditionally have.  Think about it for a second and let that sink in.  We need to see the internet for what it is, and what opponents have already figured out.  It's an open mic!  We can recruit new members! Attract new contractors and employers!  Voice our opinions in so many different online communities that it's mind boggling!  And think about this.  Can you imagine how the internet could have a huge influence over organizing campaigns?


Don't get me wrong.  I don't think that the web is the answer to all of our problems by any means.  However, it might just be the key to exerting enough unbalanced force that the pendulum can begin to swing the other way.  That won't happen, though, unless every union organization from Seattle to Miami understands this concept and takes steps to get involved in the online labor movement.  Locals, I'm talking to you, because you can't expect the internationals to do it for you.  An online labor movement is a grassroots effort, just like every other campaign we're involved with.  It's simply a new component of our traditional efforts - with the potential of being a very, very powerful one.  There is certainly pro-labor activity online.  We're slowly seeing more and more locals with their own websites, there are union fan pages on Facebook and we're tweeting to a degree, but not nearly enough.  


I have one more point before I call it a night.  Internationals, you're doing pretty well.  Most of you are out there with good websites (although some are better than others, but that's a blog post for another day), you're tweeting, etc. - but you have to help your locals get to where you are.  I urge you to start thinking about developing a component of your local leadership training and organizing curriculum that addresses new media outreach tactics: Email, text messaging, blogging, quality website content and design, social network websites.  Give your locals the tools and training to ensure that they grow familiar with all of these mediums.  These all define "new media" and it is imperative that you begin to make utilizing them a priority method of outreach and advocacy.


  


(For those that might already be doing this, I applaud you.  I'd also like to hear all about it, so email me or comment below.)