Sowing the Seeds of Unionisation? Exploring Remote Work and Work-Based Online Communities in Europe during the Covid-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Virtually all trade unions are primarily focused on the workplace for recruiting and organising members. There is little doubt that this locus will continue to be of significance for them. It is at the workplace where they have the most control over the social norm of union membership. Remote work challenges this locus since it is likely to hamper workplace-based organising and the union norm. This chapter focuses on the work-based online communities as potentially fertile ground for engaging and organising remote workers. Remote work in the pandemic context has instituted and promoted new online channels to communicate and forge communities among workers. Such channels open new potential for unions in an era of fissuring workplaces. Put differently, in a Polanyian way, remote work has probably deteriorated the connection between workers, yet it has simultaneously offered new channels or ways to connect.

Keywords: remote work, trade unions, organising, union norm

JEL Classification: J21, J51, J81