5 RTÉ: IT’S YOURS, SAVE IT!


Dooley says RTÉ cannot pin the blame on workers


RTÉ presenter Sinead Kennedy lends her support to the campaign with Michelle Stanistreet and Séamus Dooley. Photo: Maxwell.


The Irish Secretary of the NUJ, Séamus Dooley, has strongly defended working practices by journalists in RTÉ and has described as “tired tropes” the demands for work practice changes in the organisation, as part of restructuring. He told BDC delegates: “The NUJ has never been found wanting when it comes to embracing technological change and in this regard I want to deal with one of the tired tropes which have been trotted out over the past week by the Chair and by members of the Executive Board. “The term ‘work practice’ changes has been


thrown around with the clear implication that trade unions have been a barrier to change,” he said. “Let me clarify that this union has cooperated with every proposal for work practice change tabled by management. “We make no apologies for defending the


interests of our members and will continue to do so. We will continue to negotiate through our collective agreements and we will not be railroaded into accepting changes in terms and conditions of employment. “As a union we have negotiated work practice changes at local level in RTÉ, constructively and through dialogue. You can count on one hand the number of times we have had to seek the assistance of the Industrial Relations Tribunal, RTÉ’s internal disputes mechanism. Inevitably where disputes have arisen they have been motivated by concerns for the protection of editorial standards and the service to listeners and viewers.” In proposing the emergency motion, he said RTÉ is “operating on the edge” because of the


failure of successive governments to honour their public service broadcasting obligations. “Even if workers were to accept every pay cut and cost reduction proposed by management, RTÉ could not survive without Government action.” He told delegates: “There is also a management crisis in RTÉ and as trade unionists we cannot accept responsibilities for the organisation’s failure to address many of the problems which have confronted the organisation. As part of the RTÉ Trade Union Group we accepted a framework document, Guiding Principles, which allows RTÉ management to table proposals for change, an opportunity which has not been utilised by the organisation. “We have been down this road before,” he


said. “As a union we opposed the closure of the RTÉ London office and the withdrawal of the post of London correspondent. Who now can say that we were wrong in our prediction that this was a wrong decision? “We as a union will not ask our members to


carry the can for government or management's failure. Even if we accepted every cost cutting measure thrown at us it would not be enough to solve the problems if the Government continues to ignore the fundamental crisis.” The Irish Secretary said: “The NUJ stands


ready to enter into meaningful negotiations and all we ask of RTÉ representatives, at executive and board level, is that the good faith shown by this union - and our sister unions, is recognised.“


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