The Irish Journalist Tell us


what YOU want from your union


By Bernie Ní Fhlatharta


What would it take for you to turn up to a branch meeting? When was the last time you attended and can you remember what was discussed or if it was of any


relevance to you. If you haven’t been to a branch meeting in a


while, you are not alone but seriously, the dwindling numbers turning up to meetings around the country is . . . well what? Worrying? But despite poor turnouts at branch meetings,


our union has never been as active with industrial issues, campaigning nationally on a number of issues or representing our members across the island in a number of personal cases. Obviously for confindential and privacy


reasons, our reps can’t tell us about these cases but their growing number appear to be taking up a lot of our officials’ time and energy. Time was when personal cases were taken up


by lay activists at chapel level and if that didn’t work, the matter was brought to the branch and if that failed, the union official was brought in. More often than not, these cases were sorted


locally, thanks to a strong chapel and branch network where trust played a huge part and union members expected to step up to the plate to help colleagues. So what happened? It’s hard to say exactly but


the good times happened and suddenly many of us stopped depending on the union. Sure, we thought we would never need to strike again or even threaten management with any type of industrial action. Oh yeah, we believed we were on the pig’s back. The drink driving laws certainly put an end to


the social aspect of branch meetings but I believe improved wages and working conditions — all


negotiated by strong chapels — made us complacent union members. Then came the Internet and mobile phones and


we even stopped leaving the office to get stories. We got out of the habit of interacting, of meeting people, of networking. It seemed very few had the time or the interest in attending branch meetings anymore. Most of us now communicate via social media


whether by text messaging, on Facebook, LinkedIn or the various other ways we ‘talk’ these days. To me nothing beats personal interaction. I


learned how my union works at branch meetings and if I was too shy in the beginning to speak publicly about an issue, I knew I could always talk to someone afterwards, usually an older, wiser member of my branch. In the West of Ireland, Tuam would be


considered the geographical centre but honestly after a hard day’s work in now overworked and understaffed and probably underpaid newsrooms, it’s understandable why the thought of attending a branch meeting 25 or 30 miles away would be unattractive. And that brings us back to what would attract


people to branch meetings again? A crisis? Expert speakers? Or an opportunity to upskill? But whatever about branch attendances, it is crucial that chapels stay organised.


PS. If you have any opinions about the


contents of this article please send them to me at irishjournalist@nuj.ie


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