The National Union of Journalists’ (NUJ’s) annual delegate meeting (ADM) is where members from the UK, Ireland and Europe make decisions about the NUJ’s future policy and rules.
Delegates are elected by:
- Branches – usually regional groups of members
- Other tabling bodies – such as industrial councils, which cover a specific sector (magazines or newspapers) and various special-interest committees, such as the Ethics Council.
All delegates can propose motions and speak for or against proposals. Only those elected by branches can vote.
The National Executive Council
The union’s National Executive Council (NEC) is also present and can propose and speak for or against motions.
The NEC is made up of members from geographic and industry-sector seats (such as broadcasting). They are elected by ballots of members in those areas. The NEC is in charge of the union between ADMs. NEC members do not have a vote at ADM.
Other elections
ADM delegates also elect members to a range of committees that carry out specific tasks for the union, such as the Professional Training Committee (ProfCom), which covers training and everything to do with students. These committees are usually elected every three years.
And delegates decide who will represent the NUJ on various delegations, such as the Trades Union Congress (the UK’s over-arching organisation for trade unions).
Motions in order?
Motions (proposals) to be discussed, were submitted months back. Branches will have voted to submit them or committees will have put them forward. Motions set the union’s policies for the coming year or change the union’s rules.
A special group called the Standing Orders Committee (SOC) recommended whether these were OK to go forward or needed improving. This was published as the preliminary agenda (link opens new window).
All tabling bodies then submitted amendments and a “final” agenda (link opens new window) followed.
Not the final agenda
After publication of the final agenda members still have two further chances to submit motions. If an event occurred after the deadline for submitting motions then branches may submit a late notice motion. And during ADM itself, an event can trigger an emergency motion.
Even without these (and there is usually both) the printed final agenda is not what is debated on the floor. Motions on the same subject may be merged into one larger “composite” motion.
This involves a bit of “horse-trading” as delegates try to get the bits of their motions that are most important to them high up the composite.
The order of motions may also change. If the effect of passing one higher numbered motion would effectively cancel out another lower numbered motion, then the later motion will be taken first. If that is passed, the earlier motion will never be debated (it will fall).
Horse-trading
The sessions that debate the final order papers take place in a back room where the Standing Orders Committee (SOC) meets almost continually throughout ADM.
Although many of these sessions are straight-forward, a few end up being major debating and bargaining arenas, hence the horse-trading label.
SOC produces a guide to how ADM runs in the actual conference hall. It also holds a training session for new delegates – essential unless your delegation has an experienced old-timer who can explain it all to you.
Held to account
ADM is also where the leadership – full-time officials, the National Executive Council (NEC) and all other committees and councils, report back on the past year or so in the form of a draft annual report (link open new window). Delegates can question any of them and either approve their reports or not (refer them back).
This produces a final, printed annual report.
ADM also invites guest speakers to detail their own struggles and experiences. And ADM is a chance to celebrate NUJ activists with awards, prizes and praise.
On the fringe
Many organisations take the opportunity to organise fringe meetings at ADM, in the lunch breaks or early evening. These vary in subject and format but add a huge variety to the conference.
On the floor
Proposers act early to secure votes. Apart from lobbying prior to ADM itself. Proposers will try to secure delegates votes in advance of their motion coming up on an order paper.
As a minimum you must secure a seconder. Motions have fallen in the past just because nobody seconded them. You may even be able to secure votes by pledging to support a later motion of another branch, for example.
The NEC appoints a whip to each order paper, whose job it is to make sure the NEC member proposing (or opposing) the motion is ready and that a seconder and supporting delegates are lined up as necessary.
Scrutineer
Most motions require a simple majority to pass and the chair (the president or vice-president) will judge from the show of hands if the majority was reached.
Some motions require a two-thirds majority. Some are taken in chunks or line by line (seriatum).
If the chair cannot decide whether the required majority has been achieved, scrutineers are called. These are delegates elected at the start of ADM whose job is to accurately count votes. Scrutineers also count the ADM ballots.
Free votes?
Not every delegate who can vote actually votes for or against motions from their own free choice. Some branches instruct their delegates which way they are to vote.
- Some do this for specific motions that the branch has already discussed
- Some go through the whole agenda
- Some branch delegations go through the agenda and vote as a block
- And some branches will promise their votes to another branch’s motion in return for the same in return
- Only a few branches allow their delegate complete free choice
That means the debate is often pointless, as the majority of delegates may be mandated in advance which way they are going to vote, no matter how convincing the argument.
Er that’s it
There’s loads more: political in-fighting, sex in corridors caught on CCTV (well there was once), hush-ups over Orange order beer, drunkenness, demos and protest marches, all sorts. Enjoy it.
Links (open new windows)
