PurposeThis paper explores the ways in which a range of company-level trade unions based in Chile's food manufacturing industry engage with Internet technologies and social media.Design/methodology/approachThe research has a qualitative methodology with 69 semi-structured interviews conducted between 2015 and late-2019 with different level informants such as trade union leaders, human resource managers, line managers, labour lawyers, academics and field experts.FindingsThe findings suggest that these trade unions' engagement with social media was not widespread, using it to share communication of day-to-day activities with members. The article argues that even in contexts where there appear to be some radical union traditions, a trade unions' identity, as well as the nature of the employment relationship, can have a constraining effect regarding how unions use digital technologies and social media.Practical implicationsThe article suggests new ways for Chilean trade unions to take the opportunities offered by digital platforms and social media to enhance the representation of their workers' collective rights while advancing the labour movement's agenda.Originality/valueThe paper makes a direct contribution to the literature on Internet technologies, social media and the labour movement, while expanding the empirical evidence on the topic and looking at the limitations and constraints on the use of social media in this context. Given the current discussion in academic settings as well as within the union movement about the importance of social media for trade union revitalization, the present paper focuses on building empirical research in a less known context (i.e. Chile).

The present article explores the revitalisation strategies developed by a company-level trade union in the food manufacturing industry in Chile. Using qualitative research and building on a case study, the findings suggest that predominant renewal strategies were restructuring through mergers, a variation on the Anglo-Saxon labour-management partnership, and organising based on recruiting new members and legal mobilization. The article argues that these revitalisation strategies were implemented in relation to the deployment of the employer's trade union weakening strategies, this being the central feature that drove the renewal capabilities of the researched trade union. The article contributes to enlarge the understanding of the way employer strategies and regulatory contexts shape the union revitalization framework.

The article analyses a range of union-weakening practices developed in three Chilean workplaces. The findings suggest the existence of an ambivalent employment relationship between employers and trade unions where an ongoing informal labour–management partnership simultaneously coexisted with de-collectivising strategies. The article argues that the Chilean state has aided employers in the implementation of such union-weakening practices through the labour legislation. Sixty-nine semi-structured interviews with trade union leaders, human resource managers and field experts inform this research. The legacy of previous forms of state intervention that countered the processes of democratisation is found to be essential in the use of de-collectivisation.