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At the “Fighting for Freelances” seminar were (left) Niamh Parsons; Lord Mayor of Dublin, Micheál Mac Donncha; Bernie Ní Fhlatharta; Karan Casey; and Bláthnaid Ni Chofaigh; and (right) Ethel Buckley, Deputy General Secretary, SIPTU; Joe Cunningham, General Secretary Designate, SIPTU; Lord Mayor of Dublin, Micheál Mac Donncha; Ian McGuinness, NUJ Irish Organiser; and Michael Doherty, who heads the Department of Law, Maynooth University.


Celebrating Connolly with new campaign


The NUJ joined with other trade unions to mark the 150th anniversary of the birth of James Connolly by launching a campaign to assert the rights of freelance workers across the arts and media.


Held in the Mansion House in Dublin in June, the “Fighting for Freelances” seminar was organised jointly by the NUJ, SIPTU, the Musicians Union of Ireland and Irish Equity. The event was held on the first anniversary of legislation that enabled trade unions to represent freelance workers, following a campaign by the NUJ and SIPTU that was backed by ICTU. “This seminar celebrated the contribution of


freelance workers, who make a huge contribution to the Irish media and arts sectors,” NUJ Irish Secretary, Séamus Dooley, said. “That contribution is frequently overlooked and freelance workers are


shamefully treated by many media organisations. “Behind terms such as ‘atypical worker’ or ‘precarious employment’ are many workers who struggle to survive,” Séamus added. “Our joint union campaign will highlight the plight of freelance workers and will focus on the need to organise freelance workers so that they are properly remunerated and treated with dignity and respect.” Speakers included Micheál Mac Donncha,


Lord Mayor of Dublin; Séamus Dooley; SIPTU General Secretary Designate, Joe Cunningham; Michael Doherty who heads the Department of Law, Maynooth University; and Bláthnaid Ní Chofaigh chaired a panel that included Conor Mullen of Irish Equity, Niamh Parsons of the MUI, singer Karan Casey of Fair Plé campaign, and Colin Murphy and Bernie Ní Fhlatharta of the NUJ.


The seminar drew a full house to Dublin’s Mansion House in June and among the speakers was Séamus Dooley, NUJ Irish Secretary.


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