Unions
Give members a real voice before the vote
Loomio gives union members a shared place to understand an issue, hear one another, and shape the mandate before a formal ballot.
Qualifying unions can access our nonprofit rates. See pricing.
A ballot records a choice. It does not create a mandate.
Members need time, context, and a way to hear each other before consequential questions are reduced to yes or no.
Members receive information but cannot deliberate
Broadcast email can explain an offer or campaign. It cannot give a large membership a focused, manageable way to question it and learn from each other.
Representatives need an informed mandate
Delegates and elected officials need more than a snapshot poll. They need to understand members’ priorities, concerns, and conditions for support.
Work makes participation difficult
Shifts, caring responsibilities, dispersed workplaces, and branch geography should not determine whose voice reaches the decision.
NZEI Te Riu Roa · 28,000 members debating industrial action
“Our membership is a large, diverse, geographically scattered and busy group. We wanted them to be able to interact with each other to share views and debate ideas rather than just being sent information from our offices.”Jane Porter, NZEI representative
28,000 teachers debate strike action and win historic pay rise
850 teaching positions unfilled, a profession in crisis — and 28,000 union members who needed to debate strike action and reject government offers together.
- 28,000 members debating strike action
- Scattered members included via email
- Member-led campaign direction
- Secret ballots informed by open debate
A shared place for the work before the formal decision
Use Loomio alongside branch meetings, representative structures, bargaining processes, and the voting systems your rules require.
Discuss offers before the ballot
Put the offer, bargaining context, and supporting documents in one place. Give members time to ask questions, test arguments, and understand the choices.
Test support and surface concerns
Use proposals, polls, and sense checks during development to find where members agree, where they do not, and what needs to change before a formal vote.
Shape campaigns with members
Develop demands, decide campaign priorities, coordinate public positions, and involve members in choices about collective action.
Keep the reasoning with the outcome
Preserve the questions, member input, decisions, and next steps so representatives and future office holders can understand how the mandate was formed.
One union, many places to participate
Reflect the structures members already know
National leadership, branches, workplace delegates, bargaining teams, committees, and campaigns do not all need the same conversation.
Use a main group for union-wide communication and member deliberation, with focused subgroups for the people responsible for particular workplaces, regions, negotiations, or campaigns.
Whole membership
Union-wide priorities, major offers, campaign direction, constitutional questions, and matters that need a broad mandate.
Branches and workplaces
Local issues and decisions stay with the members they affect while remaining connected to the wider union.
Delegates and bargaining teams
Private preparation, document review, negotiation updates, and representative decisions with a clear record.
Clear division of responsibility
Keep formal ballots where they belong
Loomio helps members deliberate and helps representatives understand the mandate. If legislation, union rules, or an election requires a certified or independently administered secret ballot, continue to use the approved voting process for that formal decision.
Related ways groups use Loomio
Give members room to form an informed mandate
Start with one bargaining update, campaign decision, or issue your members need to work through together.
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