Informed 09


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Independent Community News Network.


Dearth of diversity


Natasha Hirst, equality council, said the NUJ must to more to embed equality throughout all its structures. Chris Frost, emeritus professor at John Moores University, said during the past 20 years people from poorer backgrounds found it increasingly difficult to get on to journalism courses. Richard Edwards, Leeds and Wakefield branch, said he had been inspired by former George Viner scholar Shajan Miah’s speech, talking about how the bursary helped get his role as a BBC sports writer, but the union must persuade media organisations to reach out to recruit a more diverse workforce. Ann Galpin, disabled members’ council, said disabled journalists found it difficult to get work and were oſten shoe-horned into writing about only disability issues.


TUPE troubles A worrying trend of aggressive atempts to derecognise the union by the publishing and magazine industry was identified by Fiona Swarbrick, national organiser, magazines/books/press and PR. New Scientist had succeeded and


☞ Rough Guides was atempting to


remove union recognition. Liz Else, London magazine branch, blamed TUPE, the law used when members were transferred to another employer. DM voted to instruct the NEC to campaign for reform of the law, so collective agreements were protected, and to offer guidance to chapels undergoing the process. An atempt by Penguin Random House to ditch the NUJ was roundly repulsed by the union.


Other DM decisions DM agreed: to support the Women Against State Pension Inequality campaign and fight changes to the Irish state pension scheme; to give photographers a place on the ethics council; to campaign against laws which discriminate against part-timers on redundancy pay; that journalists should have access to immigration detention centres; to ask Ofcom to set equality commissioning targets in broadcasting; to lobby for access for photographers to National Trust land and against restrictions on privatised public spaces; and to protect members from cyberbullying; DM voted against seting up a political fund.


Pictures: Paul Herrmann


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