unionwide

unionwide is a digital platform and interoperability standard designed to connect labor unions and allied organizations across geographic and sector boundaries. It provides a shared infrastructure for membership databases, credentialing, event management, training resources, and collective bargaining workflow, enabling cross-union campaigns and coordinated strategy. By standardizing data formats and workflows, unionwide aims to improve data accuracy, reduce duplicative work, and support more effective organizing across borders.

The project originated from a coalition of labor organizations and technology partners in the mid-2010s, with the goal of fostering collaboration while preserving union autonomy. The platform is modular, offering core services such as identity, membership, and authentication, alongside optional modules for bargaining templates, resource libraries, and analytics. It emphasizes open standards and data portability to allow unions to adopt components selectively and interchange information with compatible systems.

Governance for unionwide is designed to be representative and multilateral. A council composed of member unions oversees policy and roadmap decisions, relying on consensus and rotating leadership to balance interests. Technical governance emphasizes security, privacy, and transparency, including role-based access control, encryption, and audit logging. Data-sharing agreements govern how unions exchange information and protect member privacy in accordance with relevant laws and union policies.

Impact and reception of unionwide have been mixed. It has seen adoption by a range of national and international unions, facilitating joint campaigns, streamlined credentialing, and shared training materials. Critics raise concerns about centralization, potential vendor lock-in, and privacy risks, while supporters argue that the platform reduces administrative overhead and strengthens transnational solidarity.