Informed NEWS FROM THE NATIONAL EXECUTIVE issue 24 August 2018
Recruitment drive is key to NUJ’s future
Te national executive council has thrown down a challenge to all members to help boost the union by supporting a major recruitment drive. A massive campaign is required if the union is to provide the services its members have come to expect following the Delegate Meeting’s decision to vote against a subscriptions increase. Michelle Stanistreet, general
secretary, told the NEC the union would need 2,000 new members above its normal recruitment levels to offset the subscription-fee shortfall. “Recruitment must be a priority of all councils and commitees if the union is to sustain its level of services – which set the NUJ apart – and preserve its democratic structures plus maintain staffing levels, including filling vacancies,” she said. “Tis must be driven and led by the lay structures of the union and prioritised in
#longest lunch
Chapels were encouraged to organise lunch breaks outside their offices on Tursday 21 June, the longest day of the year, to remind members of their legal right to breaks and the health benefits of having a proper meal rather than eating sandwiches or snacks at the desk. It created a great buzz, said Guardian rep Kathryn Whitfield, while the Leeds branch and Yorkshire Post journalists (pictured) enjoyed a picnic and the NUJ chapel shared cake and fruit.
Also in this issue:
Michelle’s Message Page 2
Press Review Page 7
Action Plan Page 8
the coming months if we are to avoid making cuts and taking difficult decisions in a year’s time. Many activists at DM called for the union to use recruitment to boost income, rather than raise subscriptions for existing members, and we need to work together to see that commitment crystalised.” Expenditure in the coming cycle includes updating the union’s website and database and funding the full programme of campaigns and events agreed at DM, which included a regular contribution to the International Federation of Journalists’ safety fund (see page 8). Te NEC voted for a motion which
noted that there would have been no subscription increase for six years by the next DM. Te UK Consumer Price Index had increased 9 per cent during the past
four years and was likely to rise. Tis has resulted in a £400,000 shortfall in income for the coming two-year cycle. Te motion said maximum growth
was needed in the next financial year to avoid cuts in 2019-20 and instructed the general secretary to produce a recruitment pack, create targets for every chapel, branch, sector, region and nation and present a progress report to the first NEC meeting in 2019. Tis session was the newly-elected NEC’s first full meeting since DM, with president Sian Jones in the chair. Members were told recruitment was already being boosted by equal pay and gender pay gap campaigns in broadcasting and publishing. Te union had a number of successes
to celebrate, including Al-Jazeera’s threat of strike action which led to a 9 per cent pay increase over 2 years, and a back-down by STV on cuts following robust action by the chapel. Te union is winning compensation for women with equal pay claims at the BBC and other members’ claims on a number of industrial issues.
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