8 Redundancies at Donegal Democrat


Three staff members, all NUJ members, have been made redundant at the Donegal Democrat. T h e o w n e r s , I c o n i c


Newspapers, refused to engage with the union on the issue and proceeded to target three staff members for redundancies.


Journalists at the newspaper


had already been struggling with a heavy workload.


NUJ Irish Organiser, Ian McGuinness, said: “The Donegal Democrat is a vital part of the county’s democracy. It is pivotal in informing local people about what is going on in politics and current affairs.


“Cutting staff in the Donegal Democrat will increase the workload and stress on the journalists that remain, and will hurt the quality of journalism in Donegal as it is bound to negat ively impact on the newspaper’s reporting ability.”


NUJ Irish Secretary, Séamus


Dooley, added: “This is a per fect example of why


government needs to convene a Commission on the Future of the Media in Ireland. “Whi le we have always


advocated the establishment of a Commission because of problems with diversity and media ownership in Ireland, we also need to address the drastic


cuts that have been, and are still being made, to local media. “Cuts directly impact on the


media’s ability to cover council meetings, court hearings, and current affairs in the locality, as well as the local impact of d e c i s i o n s ma d e i n t h e Oireachtas.”


Zero hours comments spark concern


The National Union of Journalists has strongly criticised comments by Jon Williams, managing director of news and current


affairs, RTÉ, regarding zero hour contracts. Irish Secretary Séamus Dooley said the


comments have caused concern among staff on a variety of contracts within RTE. In a recent interview with the Sunday Business


Post Williams compared zero hour contracts to the long standing industry practise of freelancing. He is quoted as saying that working arrangements are essentially the same as when he started his journalistic career in 1988. Séamus Dooley said: “As managing director,


news and current affairs Mr Williams is a member of the executive board. At a time when the NUJ has been exposing bogus self-employment in


RTÉ I am gravely concerned that someone in his position would appear to seek to minimise the impact of zero hour contracts. “His comments have already been ‘clarified’ but


may be reflective of an attitude at senior management level. “In looking back to his own early days in


journalism he is ignoring or unaware of significant advances in employment law since 1988, including the Working Time Act 1997, the Terms and Conditions of Employment Act 1994 – 2014, the Protection of Employees (Fixed-Term Work) Act 2003 and the Protection of Employees (Part- Time Work) Act 2001. Freelancing and casual working arrangements


are part of the employment mix in most media organisations. It is not helpful to confuse freelancing working and zero-hour contracts.


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