delegate meeting No increase in membership fees JESS HURD


rates… Think about the people who can’t afford to be here, the single mothers, the disabled members… it is becoming a luxury to be a member of this union.” Cordu Krubally-N’Diaye from the Financial Times (pictured)


said: “We are one of the smallest and one of the most expensive unions.” She said that when she talks to potential members ”they expect the rates of Unison and Unite and ours are almost double”.


Sian Harrison, who helped lead the recognition win at PA Media, said that the level of subs was an issue in getting more people on board. Laura Davison, general secretary, said: “I stood to be your


SUBSCRIPTION costs for membership of the NUJ are to remain the same for at least the next two years after a move by the National Executive Council (NEC) to increase them failed to achieve a necessary two-thirds majority vote. Any changes to the rates need to be decided by the biennial delegate meetings. There are three bands of membership. These are based on


income, with those in grade 1 paying £18.85 per month, those in grade 2 paying £23 a month and members in grade 3 paying £32 per month. The NEC called for a modest increase to ensure that the union


was fully funded amid a fall in subscription income because of a decline in membership. It had proposed raising the monthly rate for grade 1 by 57p, grade 2 by 69p and grade 3 by 96p. However, some delegates argued the rates were already a


barrier to recruitment with journalists feeling they were too high. Kitty Holland, from Dublin, said: “We can’t recruit on these


general secretary to build on the successes we’ve achieved… recruit on the bread-and-butter issues.” She said she wanted to boost organising and recruitment efforts at a crucial time for the industry “but we do need resources to do that”. Kevin Cooper, a photographer from Northern Ireland, said: “Small professional unions like ourselves need to be funded. I’ve been freelance for most of my career… we need to pay for the union we need.” Joyce McMillan, from Edinburgh freelance branch, said it was


“because we know and we care about [the cost of living], we have a system that ensures that the lowest paid contribute the least”. Delegates voted by 55.86 per cent in favour of increasing rates but the union’s rules state that subscription changes need a vote in favour of two-thirds. A composite motion that included a call by London Freelance


Branch for the introduction of a grade for members earning above £50,000 a year also fell.


JESS HURD The union helped me get my life back


NATASHA HIRST, the NUJ’s outgoing president, gave an impassioned thanks to the union for helping get her life back on track after she suffered domestic abuse. Natasha, who is deaf and a disability activist, praised


the power of the collective. She told delegates: “When I was a victim of domestic abuse and in a women’s refuge, I couldn’t fathom that I could be powerful, like I couldn’t when I played truant as a deaf child because I felt excluded from school activities. “Any [domestic abuse] survivor knows that justice is rarely achieved and sometimes the only justice we have


is to live our lives as fully as we can. The NUJ has helped me to do that. Once I realised I didn’t have to negotiate the world alone... it changed my world view... it’s so important for people to realise the power of trade unions to make a difference in our own lives and for others.” Natasha said that being president of the NUJ for the past two years had been busy and varied – one day she went to a picket line in the morning and a reception for local journalists at Buckingham Palace in the afternoon.


Can freelances afford to retire?


THE NUJ’S 60+ Council is to work with other unions which have a large proportion of freelance workers to help ensure that freelances save for their later life. The National Executive


Council has also been instructed to research “ways in which saving for retirement


can be made a more feasible option for many freelances than it is at present. The move comes following


overwhelming support for a motion from London freelance branch concerned about the low level of retirement provision for those in precarious work.


Jenny Vaughan of the


60+ Council noted that because many freelances were unable to set aside money for retirement, they “just go on working regardless”.


TUC pensions conference, page 19


theJournalist | 07 “


We have a system that ensures the lowest paid contribute the least


Joyce McMillan Edinburgh freelance branch


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