02 Informed


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the Central Arbitration Committee (CAC). This success marks a powerful affirmation of collective strength, offering renewed momentum for workers across the sector in journals, magazines and books. In early September I attended my


We must defend our members at the BBC and the principle of public service broadcasting.


Although there are big issues facing journalists at the traditional broadcasters and publishers - from AI to safety to governance – it is heartening to report successes, big and small, that show the power of our union and the strength solidarity can bring. In November I was delighted to join a social to celebrate recognition at Elsevier. Members secured this collective bargaining agreement in the wake of RELX, Elsevier’s parent company, derecognising the NUJ at LexisNexis and LexisNexis Risk Solutions, demonstrating the remarkable resilience and determination of our reps and activists. Inspired by the 2024 Springer Nature


pay dispute, NUJ members at Elsevier have since built two thriving chapels - Cell Press and The Lancet - within a year, culminating in both chapels now achieving statutory recognition through


first TUC Congress as general secretary as part of an excellent delegation of Fran McNulty, Natasha Hirst, Pennie Quinton, and Steve Bird. We worked well together as a team and I want to thank colleagues for their diligent and committed approach. We were able to intervene in a number of debates and the delegation made some powerful speeches. Our joint president Fran McNulty moved our motion on AI and the creative industries, which was composited with sister unions, with Congress unanimously supporting transparent labelling, protections for rightsholders, and new laws to stop AI copyright breaches. I moved our motion on international solidarity with journalists highlighting that the professionalism and commitment of our colleagues around the world should never mean paying with their lives. Whilst we were at Congress, the scale of Reach cuts was announced and we were able to raise this on the conference


floor and speak to journalists, trade unionists and MPs who were present. Other highlights for me recently


have included interviewing potential candidates for the George Viner bursaries. It was excellent that we were able to agree two awards for two clearly very able students starting courses this autumn. Another fascinating event was the Claudia Jones Memorial Lecture, which is covered in detail on page 10. I was really pleased that this was able to be co-hosted with the Guardian chapel during Black History Month in October and thank everyone for their work in making this happen, particularly Roger McKenzie and Saadeya Shamsuddin from the Black Members’ Council (BMC). We will be engaging further with our speaker Bell Ribeiro-Addy MP to seek to involve her in our parliamentary work. We were extremely proud to sponsor the Write to End Violence Against Women Awards, which were announced at a ceremony in London on 27 November. These annual awards celebrate the work of journalists and writers who report on violence against women responsibly, sensitively and accurately and I congratulate the winners. As our national organiser Nick McGowan-Lowe said at the ceremony,


NUJ


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