Communications Department

Communications Department

Status: Policy Passed: 2012-11

Reviewed: tba

1 Remit

1.1 The Communications and IT Department will fulfill the following remit:

  • Oversight and co-ordination of internal communications and external communications between the union and the general public or other organisations.
  • Fulfilling the information and communication responsibilities of the Regional Administration (RA) as laid out in its rules and policies.
  • Maintenance and development of the union’s IT infrastructure;
  • Ensuring consistency and effectiveness of communications across the union;
  • Supporting the RA’s organising agenda and revolutionary industrial unionism;
  • Supporting transparency, clarity, member participation and union democracy;
  • Ensuring union communications meet all other needs of the union, its aims and principles, its ongoing work and its structures;
  • Maintaining the department and any sub-committees as necessary to fulfil the remit of the department.
  • Liaison with all other bodies of the union to support the above.

 

1.2 The Communications and IT Department will have responsibility for carrying out and/or commissioning the following specific work in line with the union’s rules, policies and procedures:

  • Production of the Internal Bulletin*;
  • Production of internal and external RA communications materials and media* (including but not limited to fliers, posters, stickers, booklets, stationary, merchandise, bunting, digital or analogue audiovisual media, etc.) and materials and media commissioned by branches and other eligible bodies of the union;
  • administration, coordination, processing and keeping records of all RA press releases, announcements and other external correspondence and communications (including but not limited to electronic and hardcopy correspondence and communications).
  • Maintenance, development and securing of the union’s technical and IT infrastructure and data, including but not limited to the union’s membership database*, website, email lists, forums, online tools, hardware and social media presence;
  • Maintenance, moderation and development of all IWW communications channels including but not limited to email lists and forums, website(s), social media presence*;
  • Administration of access and administrative privileges for the union’s technical infrastructure as necessary and as determined by the union’s rules and policies.
  • Creation and development of a union Communications and IT Strategy, policy, rules and guidelines, including branding & design guidance (subject to the Union’s democratic approval for new proposals).
  • Identification, creation and development of volunteer job roles (including estimated time commitments, skills needs and skills to be learned) within the Communications and IT Department to facilitate the above and recruitment of volunteers to fill these roles.
  • Creation, development and delivery of support, guidance, tutorials and training to fulfil the above remits, and:
    • to support branch/campaign communications in meeting the union’s aims, principles, policies and needs;
    • to encourage and allow branches and members to make full use of the union’s communications and IT infrastructure, and participate in and develop the union’s Communications and IT Strategy as practicable;

2 Structure

2.1 The Communications and IT Department will consist of the following:

  • The Department Chair**;
  • All Branch Communications Officers;
  • The RA GLAMROC Liaisons**;
  • The RA International Solidarity Officer**;
  • An IT Committee;
  • Such other volunteer job-roles and committees as necessary to fulfil the Departments remit and responsibilities, as determined by the Department.

2.2 The Department Chair’s roles and responsibilities are as follows:

  • The remit of responsibilities of the Communications Department Chair corresponds to the remit of the Communications Department.
  • The Chair is responsible for the Department’s work to the RA and Union membership.
  • Overseeing the Department’s implementation of a Programme of Work on the basis of which the Chair has been elected to the post.
  • Co-ordinating the work of the Department and ensuring all work is consistently and satisfactorily done;
  • convening any meeting of the Department or parts thereof at any time as required;
  • Ensuring the Communications Department is staffed as per the above;
  • Identifying training needs and other developments within the Department and ensuring these needs are met.
  • Submitting a report to each Internal Bulletin or as requested by the RA, with the assistance of other Department members;
  • The Department Chair is given full administrative access and privileges to the RA’s Communications [at] iww [dot] org [dot] uk email account, and full read and write access to the Database for the entire duration of her/his time in office .

2.3 Department Committees shall elect their own secretaries by committee members’ majority vote, with the exception of the IT Committee Secretary whose mode of election is described below.

2.4 Committee Secretaries may convene Committee meetings as necessary and are in charge of all the secretarial duties of their Committee.

2.5 The RA International Solidarity Officer, the GLAMROC Liaisons, and all Committee Secretaries will each submit a quarterly report of their work / their Committee’s work to the Chair, before each IB deadline.

2.6 The IT Committee is responsible for the work described in sections 1.2.4, 1.2.5, and 1.2.6, as well as all matters pertaining to IT as regards sections 1.2.7 and 1.2.9.

2.7 Election, roles and responsibilities of the IT Committee Secretary:

  • Candidate(s) for IT Committee Secretary must stand only from among already existing members of the IT Committee who already have full IT access and administrative privileges;
  • IT Committee Secretary elections follow the same rules as RA Officer elections;
  • The IT Committee Secretary is given full administrative access and privileges to the RA’s Communications email account, RA email-lists, and RA IT infrastructure for the entire duration of her/his time in office.

2.8 Composition and role of the Department Selection Committee:

  • The Department Selection Committee will comprise the Chair, the IT Committee Secretary, the RA International Solidarity Officer, The GLAMROC Liaisons, and Branch Communications Officers.
  • The Selection Committee will be convened by the Chair, and with a minimum quorum of five participants, will recruit or remove volunteers to/from the Department by majority vote.

2.9 Any member in good standing can apply to fulfil any vacancy advertised by the Department. Successful candidates will be chosen by the Department Selection Committee based on their technical suitability for the role (considering relevant skills and experience and ability to meet the time commitments and other needs of the role and nothing else).

2.10 The Communications and IT Department will hold plenary meetings (physical or online) at least once every quarter, which will require the presence of five members of the Department to be quorate. Any member of the Department can submit agenda items for Department meetings.

2.11 The Communications and IT Department will make all decisions affecting the whole Department by majority vote, and all other decisions will be made by the committees (by majority vote) and/or volunteer/s responsible within their job remits, with the following exception:

  • Agenda items for plenary and Committee meetings may be prioritised or de-prioritised by the Department Chair.


2.13 Minutes should be taken for each Department & Committee meeting. A copy of meeting minutes is to be circulated among the Department members, and forwarded to the Department Chair. The Department Chair will keep archives of minutes as a record of their Department’s work.

3 Financing

3.1 The Communications Department will primarily be financed through its annual budget set by the RA each year.

3.2 The Communications Department is further encouraged to increase its finances by fundraising.

* These items are RA Constitution requirements and/or vital to the day to day running of the union. On this basis, in the event that no volunteers can be found to staff the department, the Communications Department Chair will be directly responsible for ensuring this work is done.

** These role holders are elected according to the same rules as those for RA Officer elections;