The internet, employment and Polish migrant workers: Communication, activism and competition in the new organisational spaces

This article discusses the content of Polish community administered websites and trade union engagement. It is based on three sources of data, firstly semi-structured interviews with Polish web administrators and trade union officers in the north of England. Secondly, audits of the location of Polish administered UK websites undertaken in April 2007 and 2008. Lastly an in-depth thematic questionnaire which was undertaken of websites in November 2008. The key findings are that the Internet is an increasingly systematic feature of new migrant politics, facilitating a constant point of reference for developing social networks. Whilst the trade union movement it is not ‘at odds’ with these new independent and virtual forms of communication and representation. It does pose questions of how to combine and co-ordinate these and create a more meaningful and sustainable dialogue based on a politics of empowerment.