02 Informed


Michelle Says


Despite being a union of communicators, it would be fair to say that sometimes we’re not fulsome enough in trumpeting our many successes and wins.


After lots of hard work and organisation on the part of Local Democracy Reporters across Newsquest, the Central Arbitration Committee decided this week to grant NUJ recognition without the need for a ballot of members. It’s a great result, and means that Chris Morley, the NUJ’s Northern and Midlands Senior Organiser who has led the effort along with our reps, can focus on populating and agreeing the recognition agreement over the coming weeks – a house agreement that acknowledges that LDRs across the business are a distinct bargaining unit that will have rights to negotiate over


pay, hours and conditions from now on in. Our members and reps deserve praise for their doggedness and determination, ploughing on in the face of the usual shenanigans from the company, to achieve this victory. Something positive to focus on is the launch this month of our new campaign for a Fair Deal for Freelances – with its ten point Charter, this is the NUJ’s response to the unvarnished failures of the government to cast its safety net across all workers during this crisis. Never has it been clearer that reforms are needed for freelances. This campaign will be a vital one, and something that all NUJ members, whatever their employment status, should support. The need for freelances to have the best chance of getting work and commissions back up and running is something we’ve highlighted in the course of our discussions with government, over the need to grant quarantine exemptions for journalists having to cross borders in the course of their work. Despite support from DCMS it’s been a slog getting traction with the Cabinet office but we’re hopefully heading in the right direction. We’ve proposed using the UK Press card and the IFJ press card as a key mechanism in identifying appropriate newsgatherers who could qualify for such an exemption. The important role of the press card – and with that, the need for journalists to use it appropriately – has been reaffirmed during this crisis. When officers at the recent lockdown protest in London wrongly told reporters and photographers that if they didn’t have authority from the Met press office, they would be treated as members of the public at an illegal gathering – the NUJ sprang into action. Within hours we held a meeting with the Met, and liaised with the National Police Chiefs Council – receiving assurances that fresh guidance would be issued to all police officers to remind them of the vital role of the media, and to ensure that our members can go about their work unimpeded.


We’ve reminded all newsgatherers to carry their press card, and print off the NPCC guidelines from the NUJ’s website to serve as a reminder to any officers who claim not to have seen the memo. All those newsgatherers who have


kept the show on the road throughout lockdown and ongoing government restrictions across the NUJ’s nations and regions deserve our collective thanks, not least for reinforcing the role of journalists in the suite of essential public sector workers.


“Something positive to focus on is the launch this month of our new campaign for a Fair Deal for Freelances – with its ten-point Charter, the NUJ’s response to the unvarnished failures of the government to cast its safety net across all workers during this crisis. ”


That’s why we’re continuing to


lobby hard around all of the measures contained within the NUJ’s News Recovery Plan. We’ve been brilliantly supported in that by the new chair of the NUJ’s Parliamentary Group, Grahame Morris MP, who has been working hard to raise awareness of our plan, and seeking meetings to build support for the changes we’re seeking. A meeting of the group is planned later this month to set out our key priorities. As well as our work on safety and the Freelance Charter, a significant focus will be on protecting public service broadcasting.


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