Branch December 2020


What a year it has been – and what an amazing job our branches have done in carrying on the vital grassroots work of the NUJ at a time when members needed support, solidarity, and a friendly face more than ever, says Michelle Stanistreet, general secretary.


ensure that, as far as possible, branches continued to function. Our branches and chapels have always been the beating heart of the NUJ and never more than during this unprecedented crisis. It has been particularly heartening to see how that move to virtual has actually persuaded many more members to engage, to come along to meetings, and hear what their branch and union is up to and is achieving on their collective behalf. It’s also made inter-branch contact more easily achievable and helped NEC reps and other commitee and council members get along to meetings away from home. If improved diversity and atendance is a knock-on benefit of a weird and unexpected year, at least that is a silver lining of 2021, and a lesson we can reflect on and find ways of sustaining when face to face meetings are once again an option. For many members, it’s clear that geting along to a venue at a particular time in the evening is simply not doable, and I know that many branches are already considering ways of continuing to make meetings as accessible for as many members as possible. Branches have played an important


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role this year lobbying to build awareness and support for our NUJ News Recovery Plan. Our industrial work has been flat out and top-notch despite the challenges


ur excellent team of staff and officials, NUJ branch officers stepped up to take the plunge into remote working in order to


of Covid-19 – supporting chapels, fighting and achieving recognition (with a great victory at Cogora just this week!), batling redundancies and pay cuts, securing improvements to pay and conditions, winning victories against discrimination and stamping out unequal pay. Ensuring that our members know we have their backs, and are not on their own, no mater the challenges they face. We’ve launched initiatives on safety and tackling the targeting of journalists, on reforms to ensure a Fair Deal for Freelances, a robust defence of public service broadcasting, at the same time as continuing to liaise with and support our sister unions, standing up for press freedom at home and around the globe. We have truly punched above our weight this year, standing up for issues that mater to journalists and journalism. Te work of our charities is also a


brilliant testament to the spirit of the NUJ. We have selected an incredibly impressive and talented bunch of students who we felt sure will go on to become great journalists and a credit to the George Viner Memorial Fund (GVMF). Te work of NUJ Extra has demonstrated just what a difference this charity makes – ensuring that members struggling through this pandemic have had a safety net offering practical and financial support and assistance. Tanks are owed to Jim Boumelha, chair of the GVMF, and Chris Wheal and Francis Sedgemore, chief and vice chair respectively of NUJ Extra. Special thanks also for our network of commited


branch welfare officers and of course to our administrator Leyla Yusuf, who has been the compassionate voice at the end of the phone for countless applicants this year. We know this year has been a tough one, and that is why we are about to repeat our all-member survey which took place earlier in lockdown. Assessing the impact of Covid-19, the lockdowns and ongoing restrictions are a vital tool in helping the NUJ continue to press politicians and policymakers about the need for intervention to support the news industry. Knowing the impact – financially, emotionally, physically and mentally – on our members and their livelihoods, provides powerful testimony and information to back up our work and campaigning. If all branches can promote this survey and encourage members to participate, it will help inform that work’s resumption in the New Year. As the year draws to a close, I wish you


and yours a safe and happy Christmas, and let’s all look forward to a beter 2021 ahead. Take care. In Solidarity


Michelle Stanistreet


NUJ


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