I'm in Dublin taking part in the interviews for the new Irish Organiser - but I can't tell you who were appointing yet.
I'm also taking the opportunity to meet with reps from RTE where the unions are fighting a major battle over the future of the staff pension scheme. The NUJ have already scored a huge yes vote in a ballot for industrial action and yesterday Irish Secretary Seamus Dooley was at the Labour Court with union reps helping to make our case. We await the result.
On the way over I judged the entries to the National Union of Students student journalist of the year award. It was a tough choice given the standard of entries - certainly beats the cut and paste fanzines we did when I was a student - but i can't tell you who won yet.
So in summary - lots of things i've done but i can't tell you about. Really useful this blog isn't it?
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Monday, May 26, 2008
Go Fozzy...
Spent Saturday in the sunshine on the York picket line - the sun always shines on the righteous (or so I'm told!). There's a fantastic spirit about the strike and a determination to win a fair pay deal. I was happy to be able to deliver a show of support for the strikers and importantly pledge cash to them from the union's fighting fund.
The picket line rocked to the strike song with Fozzy and the Fozettes in fine voice. Next we hit the town centre to leaflet and get signatures for the petition.
Find out more about the strike and how you can help here.
At the end of last week I joined BBC World Service staff for a branch meeting to discuss further campaign plans in our battle against the offshoring plans they are facing before heading down to the front of the building to add new flowers to the gates outside Bush House, a symbol of our fear that the plans will spell the death of the World Service as we know it.
I also met with Carl Roper from the TUC Organising Academy, Suzanne Ashley from Skillset to discuss the union's participation in the new Publishing Sector Skills Group, Mike Holderness to consider future campaigning around copyright issues before rushing to the TUC for a special General Council meeting to consider the proposed deal with the Government and CBI over agency workers.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Flower power!
What a sight - more than 100 BBC World Service staff pouring out of the building armed with flowers and a banner to launch their campaign to Save the World Service. Staff fear plans to offshore work will undermine the credibility of their journalism and are angry that staff at the South Asia service are being forced to make a choice - lose your job or accept worse terms and conditions in India or Pakistan. Union members are only too keen to point out to the BBC World Service that they are effectively saying 'get back to where you came from'.
It was great to join the staff at the flower power protest.
On Monday I also had the pleasure of being one of the judges of the Amnesty International Media Awards for both consumer periodicals and newspaper supplements. It was incredibly difficult, the standard was so high but the judges, including Ian Hislop and Isabel Hilton (via a link to Beijing) reached a good consensus. To be honest we could have given them all an award.
I also had some contact with management at York where NUJ members are to strike from midnight tonight. Sadly no significant movement at this stage. I wish the strikers the best of luck and applaud their determination.
Yesterday I and BECTU General Secretary Gerry Morrissey had lunch with BBC Director General Mark Thompson to discuss the future of the BBC and in particular the licence fee and the threat of top-slicing.
The afternoon was taken up with other meetings with Bectu and with our reps at World Service.
Today it's budget day. Groan! It's that time of year when I start the process of putting together the union's budget for October 2008 to September 2009. It starts today and ends on 25 July when the NEC consider. In between it is scrutinised and debated by various committees and the national officers.
I also attended parts of the BBC/ITV reps meeting - a chance to discuss strategy and for them to say goodbye to John Fray who has worked so closely with most of them over the years.
It was great to join the staff at the flower power protest.
On Monday I also had the pleasure of being one of the judges of the Amnesty International Media Awards for both consumer periodicals and newspaper supplements. It was incredibly difficult, the standard was so high but the judges, including Ian Hislop and Isabel Hilton (via a link to Beijing) reached a good consensus. To be honest we could have given them all an award.
I also had some contact with management at York where NUJ members are to strike from midnight tonight. Sadly no significant movement at this stage. I wish the strikers the best of luck and applaud their determination.
Yesterday I and BECTU General Secretary Gerry Morrissey had lunch with BBC Director General Mark Thompson to discuss the future of the BBC and in particular the licence fee and the threat of top-slicing.
The afternoon was taken up with other meetings with Bectu and with our reps at World Service.
Today it's budget day. Groan! It's that time of year when I start the process of putting together the union's budget for October 2008 to September 2009. It starts today and ends on 25 July when the NEC consider. In between it is scrutinised and debated by various committees and the national officers.
I also attended parts of the BBC/ITV reps meeting - a chance to discuss strategy and for them to say goodbye to John Fray who has worked so closely with most of them over the years.
Monday, May 19, 2008
Getting ready to save the world....service
It's non-stop at the moment with a number of major issues set to come to the boil this week. Later today we've got the launch of the Save BBC World Service campaign at Bush House, followed on Wednesday by the start of Shiv Malik's appeal against the production order granted against him, followed on Thursday by the first day of a 5-day strike planned in York.
But first a catch-up on last week.
Tuesday we carried out a disability audit in Headland House, the union's London office and I met later in the day with three photographer members to discuss the surveillance of journalists by the Met's FIT team.
Wednesday morning I did an interview with Channel 4 on the Shiv Malik case, then met with Bectu, Napo and the GFTU to discuss the possibility of sharing a building. Had a meeting with Alex Pascall then went to Parliament with President James Doherty and Jim McNally to meet MPs Katy Clark and Pete Wishart to discuss the planned cuts at The Herald in Glasgow. Good response from them both. I also had a quick chat with Angus Robertson MP who pledged his support for our campaign to defend quality journalism.
At 7pm it was to BBC World Service and a meeting with the South Asia service staff who are facing the offshoring of large parts of their work. It was an excellent meeting with plans drawn up for some high-profile activity in the coming weeks. Left there about 10pm.
Thursday and Friday were largely taken up by our Officials Meeting - held twice a year to bring the union's full time officers together - we covered disability equality issues, handling stress cases as well as discussions on legal, finance, staffing and some of our key campaigns over the next 12 months or so.
But first a catch-up on last week.
Tuesday we carried out a disability audit in Headland House, the union's London office and I met later in the day with three photographer members to discuss the surveillance of journalists by the Met's FIT team.
Wednesday morning I did an interview with Channel 4 on the Shiv Malik case, then met with Bectu, Napo and the GFTU to discuss the possibility of sharing a building. Had a meeting with Alex Pascall then went to Parliament with President James Doherty and Jim McNally to meet MPs Katy Clark and Pete Wishart to discuss the planned cuts at The Herald in Glasgow. Good response from them both. I also had a quick chat with Angus Robertson MP who pledged his support for our campaign to defend quality journalism.
At 7pm it was to BBC World Service and a meeting with the South Asia service staff who are facing the offshoring of large parts of their work. It was an excellent meeting with plans drawn up for some high-profile activity in the coming weeks. Left there about 10pm.
Thursday and Friday were largely taken up by our Officials Meeting - held twice a year to bring the union's full time officers together - we covered disability equality issues, handling stress cases as well as discussions on legal, finance, staffing and some of our key campaigns over the next 12 months or so.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Don't tell anyone but we're meeting the Tories...
Had a day off on Friday to attend my sister's graduation - she's gone back to college to complete her degree and become a teacher. It was great to be there. I'm really proud of her - I just pity the kids!
Like many unions we've had a formal approach from the Conservative Party seeking to establish a dialogue. David Cameron has appointed a former Labour MEP Richard Balfe as his Envoy to the Trade Union Movement. While many unions will refuse to meet them as a non-affiliated union we will take the opportunity to set out our position on the future of public service broadcasting, on employment legislation, on copyright, on the safety of journalists, on media ownership and much more. I don't pretend there will be any agreement but it's worth us knowing their thinking on the issues affecting members and important they know ours. I wrote back on Monday saying the union would meet with them in June.
It was one of a number of letters I fired off Monday morning before a meeting with Geoff Martin and a cup of builders tea in Tooting Market. We were discussing ways we could work together at festivals like Glastonbury and others to attract more young people to trade unions and to recruit amongst the hundreds of media personnel working at each of the festivals.
On to a meeting with Sue Harris our National Organiser in magazines, books and pr and Fiona Swarbrick the assistant organiser in the department to discuss the latest recognition issues at Pearson in Oxford and our other work in the sector.
Then it was off to Parliament for a meeting with John McDonnell and other unions to discuss how we can better co-ordinate our work on issues which affect several unions - in particular employment rights.
Like many unions we've had a formal approach from the Conservative Party seeking to establish a dialogue. David Cameron has appointed a former Labour MEP Richard Balfe as his Envoy to the Trade Union Movement. While many unions will refuse to meet them as a non-affiliated union we will take the opportunity to set out our position on the future of public service broadcasting, on employment legislation, on copyright, on the safety of journalists, on media ownership and much more. I don't pretend there will be any agreement but it's worth us knowing their thinking on the issues affecting members and important they know ours. I wrote back on Monday saying the union would meet with them in June.
It was one of a number of letters I fired off Monday morning before a meeting with Geoff Martin and a cup of builders tea in Tooting Market. We were discussing ways we could work together at festivals like Glastonbury and others to attract more young people to trade unions and to recruit amongst the hundreds of media personnel working at each of the festivals.
On to a meeting with Sue Harris our National Organiser in magazines, books and pr and Fiona Swarbrick the assistant organiser in the department to discuss the latest recognition issues at Pearson in Oxford and our other work in the sector.
Then it was off to Parliament for a meeting with John McDonnell and other unions to discuss how we can better co-ordinate our work on issues which affect several unions - in particular employment rights.
Thursday, May 08, 2008
Putting an end to vulnerable employment
If the Government wants a way to get unions back on side they could start by tackling the issues raised in the TUC's latest report Hard Work, Hidden Lives. The report is the culmination of the work of the Commission on Vulnerable Employment - and a powerful indictment of what is happening in too many workplaces.
I went to the launch last night with Michelle Stanistreet who helped put together material for the union's submission while she was President.
This morning we've issued a statement welcoming its findings which took on board some of the concerns we raised - particularly about bogus self-employment - the practice of denying casuals and others their employment rights by pretending they are freelances so they get all the disadvantages and none of the tax advantages.
But we shouldn't expect rapid action. Alastair Darling who spoke at the launch said he was aware of the problems but could offer no real hope of any solutions in an uninspiring speech.
Before heading off to the launch I took part in the shortlisting for the NUJ's Irish Organiser vacancy and sent letters to management at Trinity Mirror in Merseyside accepting the new pay offer and to our sister union in Canada.
On the Tuesday afternoon I'd been called back to the ACAS talks about The Guardian/Observer after we got caught up on negotiating one aspect of the new Disciplinary and Grievance procedures. It took three hours but we got there again - and now it looks like 16 months of negotiations are just about at an end!
I went to the launch last night with Michelle Stanistreet who helped put together material for the union's submission while she was President.
This morning we've issued a statement welcoming its findings which took on board some of the concerns we raised - particularly about bogus self-employment - the practice of denying casuals and others their employment rights by pretending they are freelances so they get all the disadvantages and none of the tax advantages.
But we shouldn't expect rapid action. Alastair Darling who spoke at the launch said he was aware of the problems but could offer no real hope of any solutions in an uninspiring speech.
Before heading off to the launch I took part in the shortlisting for the NUJ's Irish Organiser vacancy and sent letters to management at Trinity Mirror in Merseyside accepting the new pay offer and to our sister union in Canada.
On the Tuesday afternoon I'd been called back to the ACAS talks about The Guardian/Observer after we got caught up on negotiating one aspect of the new Disciplinary and Grievance procedures. It took three hours but we got there again - and now it looks like 16 months of negotiations are just about at an end!
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
FIT for purpose
A sunny bank holiday Monday - who'd have thought it?
Not that I saw any of it as I was stuck in a cellar decorated like a bordello sat across the table from the Guardian/Observer management and an ACAS conciliator- for 11 hours!
It was a very successful 11 hours of negotiations though. The prospect of seeing some daylight clearly spurred us all on to resolve most of the outstanding issues on the new House Agreement part of the ongoing implications of last year's multimedia working agreement. Again it has been a painstaking process negotiating our way to bring together two existing agreements and ensure things are levelled up not down, with us having to be ever vigilant, but we're almost there. And at the end of it we will have one of the best agreements that exists in the industry - a testament to the commitment of the chapel and negotiators.
Last week seems like a nightmare. I'm sure I dreamt that Boris Johnson had become mayor of London.
So what else happened last week? I was at the TUC General Council on Wednesday with a major discussion about the next steps in the battle over temporary and agency workers' rights. On Wednesday evening I attended the Rock Against Racism gig at the Brixton Academy, part of the Hope Not Hate initiative which I'm proud to support.
On Thursday I met with John McDonnell and other unions to talk about how we can co-ordinate better our Parliamentary interventions to ensure trade union issues get a higher profile. Then I met with the union's bank to bring them up to date on our latest financial situation, met with the chair of our Magazine and Book Industrial Council Bill Mackeith and secretary of Oxford Branch Anna Wagstaffe before heading to the New Statesman offices to meet Shiv Malik and others to talk about the campaign around his legal case.
On Friday morning I spoke at the World Press Freedom Day event organised by UNESCO at the Frontline Club, debating the subject 'New Media is Killing Journalism'. Later on I met with officers from the union's Press and PR branch.
I am also preparing a couple of submissions - one to the Low Pay Commission to back up our call for a clampdown on the abuse of work experience in breach of the National Minimum Wage, the other with the help of some of our freelance photographers to the Joint Committee on Human Rights which is looking at the policing of protest - an issue which we have had a lot to say about recently - from my 'one-person demo' to the submission on managing protest around Parliament.
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM - 02.05.08. A civilian police photographer films and photographs working journalists outside City Hall on Friday 2 May 2008 in London, England. (Photo by Marc Vallée/marcvallee.co.uk) (c) Marc Vallée, 2008.
The issue has reared its ugly head again after evidence of NUJ photographers coming under increasing surveillance at the hands of the FIT (Forward Intelligence Team) teams. Don't these people have some real criminals to catch?
Read all about the issue here.
Or try these links for more info.
"Police 'spying' powers challenged"
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7377437.stm
"Judical Review"
http://andrewwood.members.gn.apc.org/judicialreview/index.html
"Police in court over pictures at arms protest"
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/apr/27/police.humanrights
Not that I saw any of it as I was stuck in a cellar decorated like a bordello sat across the table from the Guardian/Observer management and an ACAS conciliator- for 11 hours!
It was a very successful 11 hours of negotiations though. The prospect of seeing some daylight clearly spurred us all on to resolve most of the outstanding issues on the new House Agreement part of the ongoing implications of last year's multimedia working agreement. Again it has been a painstaking process negotiating our way to bring together two existing agreements and ensure things are levelled up not down, with us having to be ever vigilant, but we're almost there. And at the end of it we will have one of the best agreements that exists in the industry - a testament to the commitment of the chapel and negotiators.
Last week seems like a nightmare. I'm sure I dreamt that Boris Johnson had become mayor of London.
So what else happened last week? I was at the TUC General Council on Wednesday with a major discussion about the next steps in the battle over temporary and agency workers' rights. On Wednesday evening I attended the Rock Against Racism gig at the Brixton Academy, part of the Hope Not Hate initiative which I'm proud to support.
On Thursday I met with John McDonnell and other unions to talk about how we can co-ordinate better our Parliamentary interventions to ensure trade union issues get a higher profile. Then I met with the union's bank to bring them up to date on our latest financial situation, met with the chair of our Magazine and Book Industrial Council Bill Mackeith and secretary of Oxford Branch Anna Wagstaffe before heading to the New Statesman offices to meet Shiv Malik and others to talk about the campaign around his legal case.
On Friday morning I spoke at the World Press Freedom Day event organised by UNESCO at the Frontline Club, debating the subject 'New Media is Killing Journalism'. Later on I met with officers from the union's Press and PR branch.
I am also preparing a couple of submissions - one to the Low Pay Commission to back up our call for a clampdown on the abuse of work experience in breach of the National Minimum Wage, the other with the help of some of our freelance photographers to the Joint Committee on Human Rights which is looking at the policing of protest - an issue which we have had a lot to say about recently - from my 'one-person demo' to the submission on managing protest around Parliament.
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM - 02.05.08. A civilian police photographer films and photographs working journalists outside City Hall on Friday 2 May 2008 in London, England. (Photo by Marc Vallée/marcvallee.co.uk) (c) Marc Vallée, 2008.
The issue has reared its ugly head again after evidence of NUJ photographers coming under increasing surveillance at the hands of the FIT (Forward Intelligence Team) teams. Don't these people have some real criminals to catch?
Read all about the issue here.
Or try these links for more info.
"Police 'spying' powers challenged"
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7377437.stm
"Judical Review"
http://andrewwood.members.gn.apc.org/judicialreview/index.html
"Police in court over pictures at arms protest"
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/apr/27/police.humanrights
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