Branch July 2024


June has been a super-busy month for the NUJ, hosting a conference of international journalist union leaders, holding strike action at Springer Nature and dealing with more bad news of job cuts, but also good news of the release of Julian Assange.


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here are times, however, when you know all the hard work and anxiety has been worth it. Aſter a four-year struggle we won recognition


at the Press Association. Te Central Arbitration Commitee, which oversees union recognition bids, ruled that we had proved our case and there was no need to force the ballot the management wanted. Mingled among the tears of joy were those of sheer relief. It has been a huge slog against a management which has fought us at every step, but whose heavy-handed approach – including sending leters to the homes of staff telling them to resist recognition – played into our hands. It’s a huge tribute to the tenacity of our reps and officials during this drawn-out and roller-coaster ride, the grinding bureaucracy and endless hoop-jumping involved in the process. Looking forward, the chapel said: “We now want to work with the company to improve things within our workplace to make PA the best it can be.” We also hosted the International


Federation of Journalists’ executive commitee and its annual general meeting late last month. In my speech I emphasised the importance of trust – research shows it is becoming eroded as social media influences vie for eyeball time with the regulated press and recent studies reveal the underfunding and undermining of public service broadcasting around the world. I gave a sneak preview of our updated News Recovery Plan, ahead of its unveiling and endorsement at our NEC last


weekend. It takes in new threats to the industry, such as the development of generative AI – which alongside its opportunities presents threats to public trust, journalists’ rights and jobs – and proposes a set of practical measures to


Aid for Gaza


Journalists in Gaza need your help to do their job in desperate circumstances. Te IFJ is supplying vital equipment and aid. Please donate to its safety fund. Branches can email jackiec@nuj.org to transfer from their


management allowances. DONATE NOW


shore up public interest journalism. I hope branches take up the revised News Recovery Plan as enthusiastically as they did when it was first published. You can read our AI expert panel’s thoughts on page six. During our international colleagues’ time in London, they visited Belmarsh prison to protest against the incarceration of Julian Assange – a solidarity visit just days before his release aſter a deal between the US and Australian government. Whilst his release is clearly welcome, the laws that allowed this still exist, and still pose a threat to journalists and journalism. IFJ members also extended solidarity and support to our members at Springer Nature, visiting the picket line on day one


of their strike action – a busy day that ended with a reception in the House of Lords hosted by the NUJ’s Parliamentary Group vice-chair Baroness Bonham Carter. Can I alert you to the election of the


next editor of the Journalist magazine. You can find out about the candidates and election details on the NUJ website. Last but not least – all branch


colleagues will have received my email to members on Friday, aſter I informed the NEC that I would be stepping down as the NUJ’s general secretary and facilitating the election of my successor. It has been and continues to be a privilege to lead the NUJ and to ensure the union has remained an independent campaigning trade union that punches above its weight as the voice for journalists and journalism across the UK and Ireland. It will be some months yet before I leave, but I want to pay tribute to the vital role that branches – and the activists that form their beating heart – play in our democracy and look forward to seeing as many colleagues from branches up and down the union as possible before I hand over the general secretarial baton.


Michelle Stanistreet


NUJ


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