Branch July 2020


Welcome to the July edition of NUJ Branch, a special newsleter providing information and news for branches during the present crisis. Michelle Stanistreet, general secretary, gives an update on her work supporting members facing redundancy, government-level talks on journalist safety and a dirty deal denying our members their human rights.


bad. As redundancy announcements build, this is definitely a challenging time for many and it’s important to remember your union has your back. Tere will be many of you who have


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slogged your guts out to put out stories and information about the pandemic, whilst juggling work with lessons for your kids, caring for a relative, or worrying about a parent all alone in a care home. It’s been tough and unremiting. And now some of you have been rewarded by a leter from your employer saying your job is at risk. It’s been the realisation of worst fears for many people put on furlough, who’ve lost sleep at being plunged into a no-man’s land which felt like the waiting room for redundancy. Te NUJ is here to fight for your. job and – as we have already done – make employers come up with more reasonable redundancy deals and timetables, and secure commitments to any job losses being on a voluntary basis not compulsory, ensuring equality impact assessments and stress tests are carried out, forging guarantees about workload for staff who will remain. Special reps’ training is taking place to support chapel commitees through this difficult time.


Te list of journalist cuts outlined on page 2 makes for sober reading. I know


s the voice of journalists and journalism, the NUJ prides itself on being there for its members through good times and


all of you in your chapels and branches have been there for each other. Tanks to everyone who’s helping in that work – writing to your MPs, fighting for your colleagues’ jobs and building support for the NUJ’s Recovery Plan. Turning around the fortunes of the media industry is vital – we want this crisis to mark a turning point. All of this work, is what makes the NUJ tick. Tat’s also why it is outrageous to see how NUJ members at Iran International have been so shabbily treated by an unprincipled and hapless organisation, the British Association of Journalists. A dirty sweetheart deal clinched behind closed doors with management has denied our chapel – the overwhelming majority of editorial workers – the collective voice they have been working to secure. Over the past three years the NUJ has supported them with a range of workplace issues, but also over the outrageous harassment and intimidation they and their families have suffered at the hands of Iranian state officials. Mathew Myat, BAJ general secretary, claimed to an NUJ official that he had been surprised by the offer, but justified it by saying it was like walking past a sweet shop when the owner comes out with a big bag of sweets and offers them to you for free. “Of course you’re going to say yes.” Yep, this is a man who sees journalists, under threats from the Iranian authorities and denied their human rights by an organisation purporting to be a trade union, as akin to pick ‘n’ mix.


Te chapel wrote to BAJ to say: “As a chapel of minority ethnic workers, our voice has been completely taken away from us by an organisation that pretends to stand up for workers.” Following my invitation to join the


government’s newly-launched National Commitee for the Safety of Journalists, I atended its first meeting this week, chaired by John Whitingdale, the minister for media and data, alongside representatives from the press, police, prosecution services, civil service and media freedom groups. I gave a presentation of the range of challenges facing journalists. Te aim is to develop a much-needed national action plan to ensure journalists can operate without fear of violence or abuse. Te government is very keen for the NUJ to play a strong role in creating a framework to protect journalists from the worrying increase in atacks and harassment they face, and we’ll be consulting with members in the coming weeks about how this can be best achieved. Funnily enough BAJ weren’t invited.


In Solidarity,


Michelle Stanistreet


NUJ


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