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Rejuvenated chapel lodges first pay claim in over a decade at INM


The rejuvenated chapel at Independent News and Media has lodged the first pay claim at the media group in over 10 years. The NUJ submission was based on the Irish


Congress of Trade Unions’ Private Sector Committee’s recommendation for 2020 pay claims, which said they should be between 3.5 and 4.5 per cent. The claim, which was submitted recently, was retrospective to the start of this year. Employees at the Sunday Independent, Irish Independent, Herald and Sunday World took pay freezes and cuts of between 2.5 per cent and 10 per cent in 2009, as the recession was in full effect. The current claim is therefore the first step in rolling back those cuts; repairing some of the additional damage done to salaries by inflation over the last decade; and attempting to future-proof salaries against cost of living increases. NUJ chapel reps accompanied Irish Organiser, Ian


Lodge a pay


claim now! Journalists are being encouraged by the NUJ’s Irish Office to seek its assistance in lodging pay claims for 2020.


With a number of pay claims


actively being progressed at employers north and south of the border, the union is encouraging chapels to seek the Irish Office’s assistance in


McGuinness, and Irish Office official, George Kiely, to the negotiations. It was pointed out at the meeting that NUJ members had also worked with a significant amount of changes in recent years. Ian McGuinness said: “This is a profitable company


that has undergone a huge raft of changes in the past 10 years. Our members have done everything that has been asked of them – and more. All of those changes happened in the shadow of pay freezes, pay cuts, inflationary pressures and a reduction in staffing numbers. Now is the time for the company to show their appreciation for the NUJ members, whose commitment to their journalism has been unwavering.” George Kiely added: “We now have eight reps and


counting in INM, and the rejuvenated chapel structures are boosting confidence and determination. These talks are a golden opportunity for the new owners to boost morale and show how much they value their hard-working journalists.”


lodging their claims for this year. Those in workplaces with no chapel can also approach the office to seek assistance in establishing a chapel, as a precursor to lodging a pay claim. The Irish Office can assist in


researching and lodging the pay claim, negotiating on behalf of its members, taking claims to a third party, and advising on tactics. Irish Organiser, Ian


McGuinness, said: “We have a variety of employers in Ireland. They range from reasonable companies, to difficult employers who the union can nonetheless


deal with, through to the wholly unreasonable. “The Irish Office officials and


our lay reps at all levels are used to dealing with all these types of companies. We can’t guarantee that we will get everything that our members want but we can guarantee that our officials and lay reps will do everything in their power to improve the terms and conditions of our members.” Anybody seeking assistance in lodging a pay claim on behalf of their members should email info@nuj.ie or phone the Irish Office on 01 8170340.


Register for training in collective negotiations


The third stage in the NUJ’s suite of Reps’ Training courses will take place in Dublin on Tuesday, May 5th and Wednesday, May 6th. The course will, among other things, deal with collective bargaining and negotiations. Members who have done stages one and two of the


Reps’ Training courses should apply to attend the course. However, experienced reps at chapel, branch, IEC and NEC level are also eligible to attend in order to brush up on their skills.


Places on the course are limited and those seeking to


reserve a place should email info@nuj.ie as soon as possible. Further details, including the venue and relevant literature for the course, will be distributed closer to the event.


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