Author Archives: Rachel Hanretty

Trade Union Rights

22/11/2009

Motion 149 was carried, instructing the National Executive Committee (NEC) for a change in the law to ensure that if employees are in the midst of a dispute with a company the employer is not allowed to outsource during the dispute.

It is a matter of human rights said Leeds branch, proposing the motion.

Leeds’ motion 150 aims at making all employers aware of the legal requirement in the United Kingdom which allows trade union representatives to get paid time off to carry out their duties. Guidelines from the legal department will be on the website within the next few days. The motion was passed unanimously.

Supporting Our Members

Manchester proposed motion 151 which instructs the NEC to give full backing to members who have been discriminated against because of their membership.

This motion is present because the branch believes that these members have not always been supported fully – but stress they are not calling for more financial help. It is merely about the way members are treated and welcomed by the NEC.

Jeremy Dear of NEC withdrew an NEC amendment to the motion saying that the NEC now better understood the intentions lying behind the motion.

He concluded: “It’s not about whether or not we support them it’s always about how we best support them.” The motion was carried.

Using Historical Media Campaigns As Examples

Using the 25th anniversary of the miners’ strike as a platform for motion 152, ADM instructed the NEC to aid the campaign to defend standards in local and regional media. Those in favour told ADM it was appalling to no longer have national coverage of the daily working life of British people. The motion was passed.

Late Motions

Late motion 2 was proposed by Edinburgh and District branch and calls for support to the campaign in Scotland to fight against the poor handling of the Chamber’s Harrap closure in Edinburgh by the Hachette group.

It urges the NEC to do everything it can to to see if at least some part of the redundancies and Chamber’s name and brand as well as skills can be maintained for Scottish publishing. The motion was carried with no objections.

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Order Paper for Organisation re-opens

21/11/2009

A delegate from Bristol branch spoke to put forward motion 68, covering 69, which asks for a Photographers’ Industrial Council and a seat on the NEC for photographers.

East Yorkshire supported the motion but Tom Dawson from NEC stepped forward to achieve a remission over the wording and review of how to present the motion.

Motion 160 aims to encourage younger members into the union to make the NUJ relevant to them and develop a strategy for the next generation of activists.

The motion was put forward by Leeds branch and Deputy Secretary Michelle Stanistreet spoke to tell delegates about new money to fund a project which starts next month. Branches will be asked for ideas on this new project which will help younger members including assigning mentors to new members.

Missing Delegate, Quickly Passed Motion

A Netherlands branch delegate was missing and motion 72 fell. The motion aimed at investigating what would be required to create virtual branches to allow more active participation in cases where distance, particularly in foreign branches, makes regular meetings, impossible.

All rules and up-to-date procedures of legal grievances and appeals should be clearly available to members on the website. This is the summary of motion 73 which was put forward by Manchester and was passed by ADM. It is hoped to achieve closer scrutiny of Union legal issues.

Motion 74 stood to amend policy statement to enable members’ appeals to the NEC to be made in person in respect of legal assistance in specific circumstances. Despite opposition, the motion proposed by Manchester branch was carried.

Newspapers and Information Industrial Council sought permission to withdraw motion 75, which was granted.

Birmingham and Coventry branch told delegates motion 76 was self-explanatory and it was quickly passed.

Changing the name of the Northern Office to that of the Northern and Midland Office was also agreed by conference without any opposition.

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Motion 57: Brains and Breasts

21/11/2009

If anyone was tired this morning Motion 57 soon woke them up.

The motion was put forward by the Equality Council suggesting that the NUJ must address the gender imbalance between male and female representation on elected councils.

With a 40% female membership it is deemed embarrassing that only 2.5 seats on elected councils are occupied by women.

As previously reported on this site, Bristol branch put forward the successful amendment to stop quotas being introduced for gender-balanced nominations. However, were some arguments not verging on rather silly?

For example, “What if there is only one position open in my branch, do I give it to the woman or the man?” Well, if the woman has been nominated that is sufficient. What seems to have been lost is that the motion complete with quota proposal only wanted more female nominees. It was not calling for direct elections of women members.

Looking Forward

Although the Equality Council wanted to withdraw the motion completely after the amendment saying they would be back next year, it must be remembered the motion still contains action and it did not fail. The NEC must put into practice the mentoring and support of women members in chapels and branches as well as recognising the difficulties women still face. Not everything has been lost.

As a student member and first time ADM attendee, I do not feel ready or fully informed to give a complete opinion on this outcome. However, I would like to think in the future that should I become an elected member of an NUJ council, I will have been elected as a brain who happens to have breasts and not as breasts with a brain.

What other people say:



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Organisation Across the Union

21/11/2009

Annual Reports were proposed and seconded by the ADM and the debate began with a heavily contested amendment to motions 57, also covering motion 58.

Scrutineers, Challenge the Chair and more, “OH MY!”

For motions 57 and 58, the Equality Council proposed steps to take in order to address the gender imbalance present in NUJ elected council positions.

Bristol branch’s amendment created controversy with eight delegates speaking against the amendment and six for. The amendment challenged the wording of the motion which suggested a quota to create gender-balanced nominations for councils and delegations.

Areas of confusion derived from the anxiety that if only male members stand in some branches, they will not be appreciated by wider councils. Mindy Ran wanted to make a point of order in the midst of voting. In order for the point of order to be passed, it had to be agreed by conference. ADM was divided about allowing this, a challenge to the Chair followed, Mindy Ran was allowed to speak. However, after scrutinising, 70 delegates voted for the amendment and 42 against.

The Equality Council then tried to withdraw the motion completely, arguing that with the amendment the motion was useless. Conference objected and did not allow this withdrawal. They voted in favour of the motion as amended.

Reviews, Minutes and Over 60s

Motion 59 proposed by Irish Executive Council urged a review of all councils to identify ways to cut costs and improve efficiency. The motion was passed but stressed it is simply putting the review on the agenda and does not know what the outcome might be.

Bristol and East Yorkshire branches brought attention to missing minutes and records of decision making bodies within the NUJ on its website. The 2006 ADM instructed the NEC to make minutes available on the website but hasn’t followed through with all records. The NEC apologised. It said some records were missing but they are dealing with the situation and a remission was accepted.

Despite arguing that it is good quality for money, Motion 63 by Portsmouth branch to elect an over-60 NEC member was not passed by conference.

New Media, Wales and Cutting Down

The New Media Council proposed a motion to gain representation on the Irish Executive Council and vice versa. This motion fell.

With Motion 65, Wales Executive Council instructed the NEC to bring forward rule changes so that Wales can have more representation across the union’s bodies. This motion derives from the fact that there is a Wales representative on some councils but not all and is very confusing. The NEC stepped forward to suggest a remission which was accepted by the Wales Executive Council.

Motions 66 and 67 actually proposed actions to save the union money and were barely contested. The former called for reducing the Ethics Council to only twelve members and the Disabled Members Council to seven members.

Call to Adjourn the Debate

Chair and President James Doherty decided to take a break after motion 67 to continue with the standing orders for Organisation at a later time. It is the only section of the ADM which has gone over time.

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The Journalist’s Editorial Advisory Board

20/11/2009

After her successful election as editor of The Journalist, who is there to support Christine Buckley in her role? The Editorial Advisory Board met her on Friday afternoon to let her know she does have a sounding board for her own bright ideas.

The Advisory Board meets four times a year to critique the previous issues, suggest ideas for the future and provide alternative opinions, valuable in times of potential legal dispute. Obvious in its title, the board can only advise the editor and not tell the editor what to do.

Outgoing editor Tim Gopsill suggested an advisory board twenty years ago after he was elected for the first time. So as well as the magazine, Gopsill leaves Buckley a support structure. First of all the board will have to start using the feminine pronoun in recognition of the female power in editorial. No longer “He the Editor…” as one board member promptly self-corrected.

Plans on the horizon

Much of the first informal meeting with the new editor concerned the use of the website. According to Union rules, material created solely for the internet no longer belongs to The Journalist. It becomes completely independent of the Union and can no longer claim the The Journalist title .

Members worry that an online version would wield too much power to the Editor as there is freedom for complete independence. With two months to go until she takes up the post fully, Christine Buckley has plenty of time to think about this as well as asking her board – soon to be re-elected at ADM.

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Parlez-vous franglais? Motion 50.

20/11/2009

What happens when the wordsmiths of an NUJ branch are embarrassed over using a word not in the English language?

Naturally, it blames it on its bilingual roots – or at least, that’s the case for NUJ Paris branch.

The branch, which covers all of France, put forward motion 50 to call for Union help with the monopoly being run by WHSmith Travel only selling Penguin travel guides.

However, the inclusion of the word ‘competitivity’ in the motion was heavily questioned in the Agenda, marking out NUJ Paris as a confused branch.

The clear explanation is that the French for competition is ‘compétitivité’ and branch members were caught between two languages when dictating the motion.

At conference the motion was not passed and a remission was called for by the NEC.

There is doubt over whether the motion requires financial help which the NEC cannot afford: notably to cover an appeal to the European Parliament, after the Office of Fair Trading in the UK rejected complaints from the NUJ and other writers’ bodies.

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Future of the Media

20/11/2009

General Secretary Jeremy Dear introduced the Future of the Media debate saying there “could not be a more crucial time” to talk about the future. It is predicted that half the country’s newspapers will close between now and 2013.

Motion 14 was passed, as was Motion 17. Motions 18 was passed with debate and one remission to an amendment. Both 25 and 26 were successful and Motion 27 was passed to conclude the debate.

For Motion 14, which covered 15 and 16, the National Executive Council (NEC) proposed that there be a high-profile campaign to fight for media jobs and against management greed. South Yorkshire, Portsmouth, Leeds and London Central branches all spoke to support the motion and it was passed unanimously.

Public money to aid Local Press

Motions 18 (covering 19 to 24) discussed the demise of regional and local press and how public money can maintain publishing these titles. Manchester branch proposed an amendment to investigate the possibility of local authorities funding independent local press. This was opposed by Nottingham Branch who insisted The Nottingham Evening Post would be worse off with this proposal. Following support from the Northern Ireland branch, the amendment was carried.

The Wales Executive Council suggested an amendment for the NEC to research involvement in pilot projects to run a local newspaper. The NEC said the amendment needed to be revised before it was carried and conference agreed to a remission.

Black Members Council called for support to ensure Black press is still represented following redundancies at The Voice. The motion was passed to ensure that defensive action for regional papers will include ethnic minority media.

Identifying how media is regulated and organised

Members from London Freelance spoke to defend selected motions 25 and 26. Both were passed. They draw attention to how media is currently being regulated as digital media is merging all aspects of journalism and governments are bowing to large corporations. The NEC is instructed to produce a report and be at the forefront of advising a Royal Commission investigating all aspects of Britsh media and its implications on society and politics.

The Edinburgh and District branch put forward Motion 27 which was carried by conference. It instructs the NEC to set up a media commission in Scotland to safeguard the Scottish press which is seeing the current crisis escalate faster than in other areas.

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