TY - JOUR
T1 - Framing Unions and Nurses
AU - Cake, Susan
N1 - Funding Information:
The author disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This research was funded by a Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canadian Graduate Scholarship Doctoral from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council in Canada.
Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2023.
PY - 2023
Y1 - 2023
N2 - Union communication and framing are important for how union members, as well as how unions as organizations, are represented. In the context of declining union density and therefore fewer direct union members, unions’ daily communication material on social media may be one of the most common interactions people have with unions. This case study focuses on United Nurses of Alberta, the union for most registered nurses in Alberta, Canada, where unionization rates are among the lowest in Canada. This case study shows how United Nurses of Alberta uses two collective action frames, nurses-as-distinct and nurses-as-advocates, in their daily communication to members and the public. In creating and promoting these frames, United Nurses of Alberta draws from and pushes against the industrial relations framework under which they operate and the historical narrative of nurses as caring and self-sacrificing, which may reinforce common understandings of nursing and also limit United Nurses of Alberta’s ability to represent their members.
AB - Union communication and framing are important for how union members, as well as how unions as organizations, are represented. In the context of declining union density and therefore fewer direct union members, unions’ daily communication material on social media may be one of the most common interactions people have with unions. This case study focuses on United Nurses of Alberta, the union for most registered nurses in Alberta, Canada, where unionization rates are among the lowest in Canada. This case study shows how United Nurses of Alberta uses two collective action frames, nurses-as-distinct and nurses-as-advocates, in their daily communication to members and the public. In creating and promoting these frames, United Nurses of Alberta draws from and pushes against the industrial relations framework under which they operate and the historical narrative of nurses as caring and self-sacrificing, which may reinforce common understandings of nursing and also limit United Nurses of Alberta’s ability to represent their members.
KW - collective action frames
KW - communications
KW - nurses
KW - representation
KW - social media
KW - trade union
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85147512386&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/09500170221144525
DO - 10.1177/09500170221144525
M3 - Journal Article
AN - SCOPUS:85147512386
SN - 0950-0170
JO - Work, Employment and Society
JF - Work, Employment and Society
ER -