coronavirus
“The work done by our colleagues in London in lobbying through the TUC for financial support for freelances has been invaluable, but there is no doubt that the true effects of this crisis have yet to be seen,” says McGowan-Lowe. “The cancellation of the Edinburgh festivals and Fringe will have a huge effect on our arts writers, almost all of whom are freelance. A significant number of our freelance photographers depend on shifts covering football matches, which have all been cancelled.” Other branches have had issues with journalists feeling pressured into going into the office when they have vulnerable family members at home. One employer wanted furloughed staff to give up part of their holiday entitlement. The only NUJ member in the office persuaded colleagues to stand together and got the plan reversed. In Northern Ireland, journalists have faced difficulties in getting information on the numbers of people testing positive for coronavirus and about a PPE audit from the Western Health and Social Care Trust and at checkpoints crossing the border. The Bristol NUJ branch has been trying to locate vulnerable members to offer help. They have also set up a WhatsApp group for Covid-related issues and fortnightly branch meetings on Zoom. “We’ve tried to keep them shorter and less formal, and focused on Covid topics – eg difficulties in working outside from police or public,” says Bristol NUJ chair Paul Breeden. “We are also campaigning for public sector advertising to support local publishers. So far, the NUJ has been successful at
NUJ Contacts
Newspapers, news agencies and new media Laura Davison (national organiser) Andy Smith (organiser)
publishing@nuj.org.uk
Freelance Pamela Morton (national organiser) David Ayrton (organiser)
freelanceoffice@nuj.org. uk
Magazine, book, PR and communications Fiona Swarbrick (national organiser)
mbprc@nuj.org.uk
Legal and equality officer Natasha Morris
legal@nuj.org.uk;
equality@nuj.org.uk
negotiating NHS adverts for national and regional press, but not the weeklies or hyperlocals. In Bristol, we have the Voice network of 18 monthly hyperlocals which are now in jeopardy. We are hassling MPs to get them to ask for national and local adverts, from the NHS and councils, to support local media, particularly the smaller players at risk of collapse.” Chris Wheal, chair of the union’s charity NUJ Extra, says requests for application forms are up nearly tenfold compared to a normal month and continue to rise. The charity is initially offering support for two months and requires examples of work volumes from before and after lockdown. “If we pay out £500 a month to an individual with no dependants, it takes only a few hundred applications for us to have spent half a million pounds,” says Wheal. “We stand ready to do that – and more if necessary.” The charity has received nearly £30,000 in donations since
March 24, including from nearly 200 individual NUJ members who donated nearly £12,000 between them. “This is trade unionism at its finest,” he says. Amid the turmoil, the union has seen a lot more
engagement from members as well as non-members. Ann Shuttleworth, mother of chapel at Emap, says: “I can’t remember a time when we’ve had this much visibility with journalists, the wider company and senior management. We’re all stuck in this mess. It’s a big opportunity for unions to show what they can do.”
Broadcasting Paul Siegert (national organiser)
broadcasting@nuj.org.uk
Scotland John Toner (national organiser) Nick McGowan-Lowe (organiser)
nujscotland@nuj.org.uk
Manchester Chris Morley (senior organiser, northern and Midlands) Jane Kennedy (organiser)
nujmanchester@nuj.org. uk
Ireland Séamus Dooley
theJournalist | 11
(Irish secretary) Ian McGuinness (organiser)
info@nuj.ie
NUJ Extra
extra@nuj.org.uk (see
www.nuj.org.uk for guidelines)
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