A talk on how striking regional journalists secured a living wage pay deal will form part of a union event on campaigning for better wages.
The National Union of Journalists is hosting a ‘Pay Day’ on 31 October, to discuss how to negotiate and campaign for better wages and fair working practices for staff and freelances.
The event will feature a talk on how Newsquest journalists in South London, who took industrial action in July over plans to place 16 weeklies under a single group managing editor.
The plans put 14 senior roles at risk of redundancy but three new roles were created and those at risk of redundancy were also considered for 11 other vacancies.
Following the strike, talks between Newsquest and the NUJ saw a deal reached over the restructure, which resulted in six journalists leaving and an agreement to pay the London Living Wage to trainee reporters.
An announcement on the upcoming event by the NUJ aims to help campaigns for better pay “as job titles change and the clickbait culture starts to bite”.
Other talks will be held on how to use restructuring talks to negotiate new pay rates in digital newsrooms, how pay campaigns can be used to boost recruitment and ow to counteract the “clickbait culture” among other topics.
The event will be held at the UCL School of Pharmacy, 29-39 Brunswick Square, London WC1N 1AX. Registration will begin at 9.30am on the day.
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The NUJ is dead, when I was going through redundancy they were useless and offered no help at all. Don’t waste your money on NUJ membership it’s as useful as one of £5 coins you see advertised often (that can only be spent in Jersey).
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I have been a member of the NUJ for over 50 years and am now a life member, virtually retired but still working part-time. Throughout I have always found NUJ officers and staff members helpful. But it must be remembered they can’t do the impossible and always win what one hopes for, although they always strive for the best outcome. Chris Morley, regional organiser for the North and Midlands, is undoubtedly one of the best and knows his job inside out. People in difficulty have to help themselves and not sit back and expect union officials, and volunteers at branch and workplace level, to work miracles and do everything for them.
The NUJ is far from dead.
I suspect John is probably one of those people who has never put anything into the union (apart from subs) but expected everything from the NUJ in times of difficulty. If I’m wrong, I apologise.
Long live the NUJ! I will always be indebted to the likes of Chris and his colleagues and still do what I can to promote the union. Being in it together is the best option…strength in numbers.
I’ve always found in times of difficulty that one’s subs are more than repaid (so to speak) thanks to help from the NUJ team.
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Agree with John. Only ever asked for help once and they couldn’t (wouldn’t) help. After leaving the profession I left the NUJ after 35 years membership. Didn’t even get a ‘thanks’ for all those years of subs and commitment to the cause. As far as they were concerned once the direct debit ended I disappeared off the face of the earth. My one regret in a long career is that I joined the NUJ.
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