06 Informed Update


Pay talks get sticky as cost of living rises


With the sharp rise in the cost of living hiting pockets and inflation due to increase further, NUJ reps are fighting a desperate batle with media companies to win fair pay rises for members. Latest talks with Reach hit the buffers when the company refused to go beyond its offer already on the table – 3 per cent or £750 minimum, whichever is the greater. Te NUJ had put in an 8.5 per cent claim. Te employers also refused to add 1 per cent to the company pension contributions. Anger among the reps was further fueled by a 600 per cent pay package boost for its chief executive, Jim Mullen, worth more than £4m. Reach reps are holding an indicative ballot for industrial action to assess members’ views. Tey will use the Reach shareholders’ meeting


on Tursday 5 May to highlight their disgust with the derisive pay offer. Chris Morley, Northern and Midlands senior organiser, said: “A large majority of Reach journalists are now working from home, saving the company £8m. If the board’s deal for Mullen was based on the company’s performance, there must be a just setlement for the journalists.” At JPI Media, the vast majority of chapels have rejected a 3 or 3.25 per cent offer, and Newsquest members are holding a mass online meeting on Wednesday 27 April to discuss pay and other maters. Te Guardian chapel accepted a pay


offer worth 7.5 per cent up to £3,800 for staff below the average editorial salary, and 5.5 per cent up to £5,500 for those above. Freelance lineage rates will be increased by 5.5 per cent and photography rates raised by 5.5 per cent on space rates, 3 per cent on day rates. BBC members will be asking for a pay rise that reflects inflation. Members in the magazines sector at healthcare and education publisher and marketing services provider, Cogora, setled for a 6 per cent rise with a minimum of £1,800, but staff at scientific publisher Springer were forced to take their pay negotiations to the arbitration service, ACAS, when their claims for 5 per cent and then 4.5 per cent were rejected by the management which refused to budge from 3.5 per cent.


Gender Pay Gap As the deadline came and went for companies to post their data on the gender pay gap (GPG), figures collated by NUJ officials did not make for encouraging reading. UK companies with more than 250 employees must provide the relative pay and bonuses of men and women to the government and post the details on their website. AtNewsquest women earn 90p for every £1 that men earn when comparing median hourly pay. Tey occupy 39 per cent of the highest paid jobs. At JPI Media women earn 90p for


every £1 that men earn. Tey occupy 37 per cent of the highest paid jobs. At Reach the mean pay gap is 13.6 per cent lower (and median 11.7 per cent) with women making up only 28 per cent of the top earners. Women at Te Guardian earn 95p for every £1 that men earn. Tey occupy 40 per cent of the highest paid jobs. At Te FT, women earn 87p for every £1 that men earn. Tey occupy 39.9 per cent of the highest paid jobs. Women at Te Telegraph earn 79p for every £1 that men do. Tey occupy 37 per cent of the highest paid


jobs. At News UK (publisher of Te Sun and Te Times) women earn 79p for every £1 that men earn. Tey occupy 36 per cent of the highest paid jobs. At Tatler’s Conde Nast


women earn 76p for every £1 that men earn. Tey occupy 54.6 per cent of the highest paid jobs. At Future women earn 92p for every £1 that men earn. Tey occupy 48 per cent of the highest paid jobs. Women at DC Tomson women earn 83p for every £1 that men do. Tey occupy 36 per cent of the highest paid jobs. Hachete women earn 82p


for every £1 that men earn. Tey occupy 64 per cent of the highest paid jobs. At Penguin Books women earn 88p for every £1 that men earn. Tey occupy 68 per cent of the highest paid jobs. BBC women earn 95p for


every £1 that men earn. Tey occupy 41.9 per cent of the highest paid jobs. At ITN women earn 84p for every £1 that men earn. Tey occupy 41 per cent of the highest paid jobs. Now is the time to discuss the GPG with your employer. Go to the NUJ’s campaign page for useful information: htps://bit.ly/37oRAyJ


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