Informed NEWS FROM THE NATIONAL EXECUTIVE issue 32 Aug 2020


Union pulls together in time of Covid crisis


cuts proposed by the company. Te NEC passed contingency motions for possible strike ballots at Reach North Wales, Reach Merseyside and Bullivant Media – with the Midlands weeklies voting for two sets of 48-hour strike action this month. Te union lobbied hard when


freelances were leſt out of the government’s aid package for workers and has now lodged a legal challenge to get redress for those cast adriſt. Te NUJ has galvanised MPs to write to watchdog Ofcom and the BBC over the cuts to news and current affairs and has negotiated beter severance terms for members on former Local World titles now owned by Reach.


Te NEC commended the general Michelle Stanistreet (and cat): leading the NUJ from her kitchen table


Te NUJ’s first-ever virtual national executive commitee (NEC) meeting took place as the Covid-19 crisis ushered in a very different world since it last met, creating huge job cuts across the industry and a very different way of working for everyone else.


Michelle Stanistreet, general


secretary, said: “We are currently engaged in excess of 4,000 redundancy consultations in all sectors. Predominantly, those cuts and redundancies are targeted at grassroots journalism roles.” Despite the crisis, membership is


Also in this issue:


Michelle’s Message Page 2


increasing, particularly in workplaces facing cuts. Te union’s branches have risen to the challenge in supporting members, puting on extra meetings and providing advice via Zoom. Chapel reps have been working flat out supporting members through consultations, holding frequent meetings, atending NUJ training sessions and liaising with colleagues in other workplaces. Te Guardian held a 400-plus member


virtual chapel meeting to vent its anger at the newspaper for ditching 70 journalist jobs and closing magazines and sections. At Reach, chapels lodged a collective grievance against the 580 job


M’lud on Camera Page 8


secretary for not furloughing staff, as other unions have, so the level of service to members could be maintained during the pandemic and praised staff and reps for their hard work. Te union ramped up communications with members with a monthly magazine, NUJBranch, special additions of NUJ Informed and member surveys. NUJ training moved swiſtly online and has run numerous workshops and courses accessible for all members. Te NUJ holds regular meetings with


Oliver Dowden, Secretary of State at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, and the union’s News Recovery Plan has led to discussions with ministers and officials on how its measures, such as tax relief for media organisations and tax credits for jobs


for journalists, can rescue and reboot the industry. Michelle Stanistreet told the NEC: “On


a daily basis we are demonstrating the different kind of union we are and how we deliver for members. We are out there, challenging and engaging and fighting for our members across the industry.”


Giant Killers? Page 10


Tim Dawson


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