To combat unemployment rates in the construction industry, the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT) turned to mobile communication to keep members up to date on potential job leads. The union developed a system of text alerts that connected employers with laborers by region and skill set so that those in need of work would immediately receive contract details relevant to them.
When the IUPAT saw that its members were struggling to find work during the recession, the organization filled this need by catering to the lifestyles of its members. Though job alerts had traditionally been sent by email and social media, many in the industry spent their days offline and got to the listings too late. Using zip code technology, the union created a more immediate way to send job details straight to the pockets of its members, by text.
In order to better match clients with certified workers, IUPAT added a reply component to its mobile alert system so participants received all the information they needed to accept or reject a contract on the spot.
To spread the word about the text alerts, business managers were educated on the program and then promoted it in newsletters, advertisements, merchandise, and at meetings. Adoption across the organization was executed by making the system simple and scalable so it could thrive on both a local and an international level.
The text system proved to be the union’s most effective means of alerting members to new jobs, trumping email and social media. By 2012, nearly 5,000 IUPAT members had found more work since the 2011 launch and 20 percent signed up for the union’s long-term mobile program.
Additionally, text job alerts will be expanding to Canada, due to its success and full implementation in the U.S.
