EU: a broad switch to telework is presenting trade unions with both challenges and opportunities to reconnect with their grassroots

‘Telework is here to stay and unions need to learn how to organise workers online and address their concerns.’ With this in mind, IndustriAll Europe, the European industry trade union federation has identified both challenges facing the trade union organizations as they strive to continue keeping in touch with workers and recruit new members, as well as fresh opportunities to reinvigorate by capitalizing on some new methods that were deployed during the pandemic. The union federation message has drawn on a report by Unions 21 (a UK trade union forum that has been studying the challenges facing trade unions), which presented the content of several interviews carried out with To support its message, it relays a study carried out by Unions 21 (a forum of British trade unions that reflect together on the challenges facing trade unionism) based on several interviews with a wide range of trade union staff and representatives and surveys on best practices that have been developed during the pandemic.