Media Unions

National Union of Journalists (NUJ), print unions, broadcast unions

Media workers need a culture of solidarity

Mike Jempson, the Director of The MediaWise Trust and a senior lecturer in journalism at the University of the West of England, spoke to Solidarity. The Murdoch scandal confirms what a lot of us have said for a long time — that there's a very unhealthy relationship between people in positions of power, including the police, and the media. Nothing that's emerged from the scandal has shocked me, with the possible exception of the statistic that of the Metropolitan Police's 45 press officers, 10 previously worked for News International. We've been advocating on behalf of the people most affected...

When Murdoch smashed the unions

In 1986-7 5,500 print production workers were sacked for striking against an attempt to impose new draconian terms and conditions at Rupert Murdoch’s new, then state-of-the-art, printing plant. The story is beautifully told — with first-hand accounts recorded shortly after the dispute ended — by former Times librarians John Lang and Graham Dodkins. This “warts and all” account, describing the humour, commitment and comradeship of the printworkers, is a great source of political lessons. In 1986 Murdoch, working closely with the Thatcher government, set out to smash the print unions. The story...

NUJ members meet to discuss Murdoch

By an NUJ activist AWL members intervened last week in a meeting organised by the National Union of Journalists (NUJ), entitled 'Really the End of the World?', looking at the state of the media in the light of the News International phone hacking scandal. The structure of the meeting was frustrating with six top table speakers talking for more than 90 minutes altogether, leaving only 10 minutes for contributions from the floor. However the speakers did make some insightful comments into the wider problems which affect the media. Of particular interest were discussions on media ownership and...

Strike against job losses at BBC

Members of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) in BBC news struck on Friday 15 July against compulsory redundancies. One hundred posts are due to go in the BBC World Service and BBC Monitoring. The strike was well supported with picket lines mounted at offices around the country, and flagship programmes including "Newsnight", "Any Questions" and "The World at One" off air. The union says that compulsory redundancies can be avoided; 387 posts are to go in all. NUJ general secretary, Michelle Stanistreet, said in a press release: "The massive vote for strike action by journalists across the...

All-out strike at South Yorkshire Times

Journalists at the South Yorkshire Times owned by Johnston Press began and all-out indefinite strike on Friday 15 July against job cuts. NUJ members at the title believe that union members, including the SYT's editor, have been targetted for redundancy. In June Johnston Press announced plans to cut 18 editorial jobs, as well as closing the Goole Courier's office. A single editor based at the Selby Times' office will now manage three of the company's titles. The background to these cuts is the debt incurred by Johnston Press undertaking an ambitious expansion programme. But that programme was...

Media unions and the Murdoch scandal

The closure of the News of the World and the redeployment – and possible redundancy – of around 300 staff provides the labour movement with an opportunity to re-unionise a workplace smashed up by the bosses in the '80s. Rupert Murdoch, who headed up News International in the 1980s, forced out print unions from all aspects of his company during the 1986-7 Wapping dispute when he moved his workforce from Fleet Street to the eponymous new centre. To keep the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) and other unions from re-claiming a presence the News International Staff Association (NISA) was created...

Newsquest journalists to strike

National Union of Journalists members working for south London titles of the Newsquest group will join strikes on 30 June as they begin a four-day walkout on 27 June. Despite the group continuing to make large profits (it made an operating profit of over £70 million in 2009), senior management have decided to make an as-yet unspecified number of editorial staff redundant. NUJ official Jenny Lennox said “We’ve had a very successful two-day strike … and … a dozen journalists have joined the union since the dispute began. This reflects the deep anger of journalists employed by Newsquest at their...

Tindle strike

Tindle Newspapers journalists are back at work after six days’ successful strike. They hope the unity and determination they showed will force their employer to concede an additional member of staff. The workforce has halved in the past few years, and the reporters, subs and photographers are struggling to keep up with their workload. The nine members of the Herts and North London NUJ chapel decided to strike after a year of negotiation had produced no shift by their boss. Ray Tindle owns more than 220 titles and his company made £3 million profit last year. The North London and Herts titles...

Support the Tindle Newspapers strikers

Nine NUJ members working for Tindle Newspapers are striking in protest against unfilled posts. They work for the North London and Herts arm of the newspaper group founded and owned by Sir Ray Tindle. The journalists produce nine titles, including the Barnet Press and Enfield Advertiser . According to its website, Tindle Newspapers now includes “more than 220 titles, with an audited weekly circulation of more than 1.4 million and turnover above £50m”. Last year, in spite of the recession, which has hit advertising revenues hard, the company made £3 million profit. The striking journalists’...

Media workers can fight

While I share and agree with many of the points made by Martin Thomas (“Floods of sloppy reporting”, Solidarity 3-189), I was disappointed that he provided no possible solutions or way to lead the fight against cost-cutting by owners. That’s something I’m all too concerned with, as a local journalist myself. Yes, much of a newspaper is made up of re-written press releases — sometimes I have even seen untouched press releases in our rival newspaper, having received the same original document myself. Journalists often are harassed, and occasionally uninterested, as the author notes. It is true...

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