Delegate Chris Youett from Birmingham and Coventry NUJ gives a very full report of the NUJ delegate meeting recently held in Southport

Order paper one

The delegate meeting (DM) narrowly voted down a motion to force the NEC to hold annual conferences by 74 votes to 63.  All previous attempts by the NEC to change conference frequency from annual to bi-annual had been heavily defeated in the past. Conference also instructed the NEC to look at ways of increasing the diversity of delegates and preserve trade union culture and to consult branches, national committees and geographic councils.  The NEC is to report back to the next DM.

Order paper two (Broadcasting)

Conference agreed to measures speeding new members into membership and to give branches better information on those who are planning to leave or be lapsed. Conference passed a Motion of No Confidence on BBC Director General Mark Thompson.  Journalists throughout the British Isles at the conference were fed up with his giving into governments, making bigger cuts than Prime Minister David Cameron expected, and trying to close the final salary pension scheme. Delegates were also concern over government threats to the future and quality Welsh language channel, S4C.  The NEC was instructed to campaign with other broadcasting unions and elected representatives to retain staffing levels and programme quality

Order Paper 3 (Equality).

Conference roundly condemned the rise of the Far Right.  In particular the apparent one-sidedness of the police where there are counter-demonstrations.  Journalists, particularly photographers, were increasingly targeted, equipment seized and serious charges brought which were later quietly dropped.

The NEC was instructed to look for ways of improving gender balance, particularly in DM delegations.  It was ordered to report back to the next conference.  There was also concern over the lack of robust government data about working disabled people – and NEC was instructed to campaign for better representation.

Order Paper 4 (Trade Union rights).

Conference passed a joint Fleet Street-Brum & Cov branch motion on trade union rights.  This included instructing the NEC to campaign for the full implementation of Articles 2, 4, 5 & 6 of the European Social Charter, which sets out trade union rights of all European citizens.  A copy of this was circulated. Trinity Mirror Group Chapel’s motion on condemning the increasing use of management contracts to exempt staff from collective bargaining agreements was passed.  The NEC will produce a model policy for all future chapel negotiations.

Oxford Branch’s motion on joint deals with other unions was also passed.  This opposed “sweetheart deals”, endorsed the use of the TUC for arbitrating disputes and extending the hand of solidarity to other workers in the media, including those in Unite.

Order Paper 5 (Discipline)

The NEC is to carry out a review of the union’s disciplinary procedure as the current rules can delay justice being given.  This will include complaints sent to the Ethics Council.

Order Paper 6 (Finance)

Conference instructed the NEC to modify to union’s rules covering members working in the Euro zone.  This is to stop them being unfairly penalised due to changes in the value of the Euro.  The union’s investment policy will also be revised so that it can be used to promote the core values of the NUJ.

Order Paper 7 (Government policies)

A long composite motion was passed condemning government policy and encouraging all trade unionists and their families to oppose the cuts.  Conference agreed that it was wrong for the poorest members of society to pay for a crisis caused by greedy bankers – and that the NEC should lead the campaign against the cuts.  This included a call for a one-day general strike (most likely 30 June). Conference heard that research by the public sector union, PCS, showed that up to £120,000 million of taxes were unpaid and uncollected.  A 20% tax on the nation’s millionaires would enable the National Debt to be paid off in one year.

Conference was very critical of the UK Border Agency’s disgraceful treatment of Charles Atangana (Cameroon, Charles has now one his case), Alieu Ceesay (Gambia) & James Fallah-Williams (Sierra Leone).  All three had sought exile in the UK because they faced death at home.  The President invited all three to address the Delegate Meeting.  The NUJ was one of the first unions to campaign against forced deportations – and will continue in its work and will fight appeals and ensure that exiles are properly represented at a tribunal system that often skimps on British Common Law rights.  The NEC will continue its campaign to let exiles work via the wider labour movement – as well as campaigning for better control of private security firms such as G4S and the bringing to justice of the killers of Angolan refugee Jimmy Mubenga.

Order Paper 8 (Ethics)

There was much concern from conference over the way the European fiscal crisis was being covered.  Media outlets tended to ignore calls for more effective tax collection, whether the cuts were necessary or the impact on the poorest members of society.  Conference also called for an end to attempts by Trinity Mirror to introduce call centre culture via the back door, blogging networks should conform to the Code of Conduct, the need for more impartial coverage of immigration and asylum issues and whether the media should give the Far Right a platform.

There was much anger over the failure of the Press Complaints Commission to deal with the News of the World bugging scandal.  Owner Rupert Murdoch has allocated £80 million to settle cases out of court.  Conference was also appalled that former NoW Editor Andy Coulson was subsequently appointed as No 10′s Director of Communications.  He has since resigned.  There was also the question of his firm’s relationships with the Metropolitan Police who are supposed to be investigating alleged illegal bugging by the paper’s staff and agents.  The NEC is to initiate debate within the union about the future of media regulation and whether the PPC should be spiked and replaced with a more independent & effective regulatory body.

Delegates also urged all members to stand up for balanced reporting standards, particularly where disabled people are being portrayed as “scroungers”, violence by a small minority of protesters at recent demonstrations against the cuts and ignoring the alleged treatment of protestors Alfie Meadows and Jody McIntyre.

Order Paper 9 (Relations with other organisations)

Delegates voted to make it easier for branches to affiliate to their local trades councils. An initiative from members from Ireland to encourage fellow trade unionists & their families to stay at unionised hotels was welcomed.  This is the Fair Hotels Campaign.  Web: www.fairhotels.ie.   It instructed the NEC to encourage UK members to do the same. The Woodcraft Folk was also commended for promoting trade union values.

Order Paper 10 (Organisation)

Much time was spent debating the union’s structure, the make-up of the NEC, whether industrial councils had any relevance or should they be increased, and how to make branches more active with the NEC given the task of looking into ways of reviving branch structures. There was also a call for a Welsh organiser and backing for members over the age of 60 to get involved with the National Pensioners’ Convention.  DM also debated a long composite motion to force all branches to elected a membership official who would be encouraged to attend organising and recruitment courses, ensuring that chapel officers received regular updates on leaves & lapsers, anyone supporting candidates in national elections should publish their membership numbers on election material.

Conference expressed its displeasure that Minutes of NUJ national bodies were still not being posted on the password-protected section of the union’s web site within six months.  There was also concern over the breakdown of relations between Thompsons Scotland and the membership in North Britain.

Order Paper No 11 (International)

The session opened with Colombian journalist Claudia Julieta Duque talking about being a trade unionist in the world’s most dangerous country.  More trade unionists are killed in Colombia each year than in any other country on the planet. There was widespread condemnation of the Israeli Far Right towards attacks on journalists and attempts to stop humanitarian aid getting to Gaza.  This included attempts by Israeli officials to seize material from international journalists so that only the official version could be published.

The Federation of African Journalists was thanked for its work in putting the safety of its members at the heart of the peace and conflict resolution agenda.  There was concern over the Republic of South Africa’s attempts to use laws of the apartheid era as the foundation for its media and information bills.  Conference also condemned attacks on the media in Iran, attacks on civilians in Western Sahara by the Moroccan government.

Conference applauded the work of US unions to oppose attempts by the state legislatures in Wisconsin, Ohio & Indiana, etc to strip public sector works of their collective bargaining rights.  It also warmly applauded the Egyptian workers for forcing Mubarak from office and condemned attempts by the state to close down the media and Internet – and violent attacks on media workers.  The NEC will be working with our sister union in Egypt to improve training for local journalists and help set up an independent broadcaster.

Order Paper 12 (Wages, Payments & Conditions)

A long debate on pensions rejected the main conclusion of the Hutton Review into public service pensions that public sector workers should pay higher contributions.  There was widespread anger over suggestions that most public sector workers enjoyed gold-plated pensions.  In reality, most earned under £25,000 a year, which was was reflected in their low occupational pensions. Trinity Mirror Group Chapel proposed that the Hutton Report’s recommendations should apply to all, not just public sector workers.  This includes a new “double liability” rule to link bonuses to exceptional performance plus better disclosure in annual reports.

Conference endorsed Irish calls for the new government in Dublin to restore full collective bargaining rights to Irish freelance journalists.  The Republic’s Competition Authority banned such rights years ago.

Delegates condemned moves by employers such as Northcliffe Media and Johnson Press for making unnecessary cuts while introducing “bleeding edge” computer systems such as Atex, which often do not deliver the benefits quoted in the sales literature.  However, the Limerick Leader chapel was able to successful defeat such a proposal.

The Delegate Meeting noted with interest the growth in “pay walls” as this showed that good journalists are a high-value commodity.  It re-asserted that both staff and freelance journalists should share in the profits from such ventures, as was the case in Sweden.

The NUJ will also try  regulate so-called “internships” to ensure they were giving benefit to students, rather than being used as free labour.

Conference agreed to help members in the academic & scientific publishing sector fight off-shoring and out-sourcing of work.  This followed the successful public meeting organised by Oxford Branch that shewed there was widespread concern in academia about declining standards of editing.  This was pushing extra workloads onto the shoulders of stretched academics.  This industry is unusual in that most publishers get their copy for almost nothing and then sell it back in book form for very high margins.

The final motion on this Order Paper was to instruct the NEC to campaign for a public commission of inquiry into the future of the BBC.

Order Paper No 13 (Media Freedom)

DM instructed the NEC to work with the Campaign for Freedom of Information to oppose any attempt by the UK and Irish governments to introduce charges for the supply of information, changes to any Acts that would impose limits on the numbers of requests for information and redundancies among those currently employed to respond to requests for information.

Conference expressed wide concern over the continued growth and influence of the Murdoch media empire.  In November, 2010, News Corporation notified the European Commission that it intended to bid for the remaining shares in BSkyB.  A number of media employers have publically shared the NUJ’s concerns. The NUJ will continue to support calls by Will Hutton and others for a Media Commission to examine UK media ownership rules, campaign against further expansion via Westminster and work with organisations like 38 degrees and the Campaign for Press & Broadcasting Freedom (CPBF) for tougher & clearer rules on media mergers.

News International owner Rupert Murdoch pays little or no tax in the UK and has “special arrangements” with the HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) that are only given to the very rich.  These largely untaxed profits are used to service the bank loans that finance the rest of his world-wide empire.

The DM welcomed the highly-successful campaign by the union’s photographers “I’m a photographer, not a terrorist” campaign to stop the growing trend by the police to treat all media photographers as potential trouble-makers.  Too often they are targeted via blanket bans under Section 44 of Anti-terrorism legislation.  Photographers are regularly stopped & searched at ports and airports with film and equipment seized.  Conference was shown a short film highlighting the issue.  The campaign’s web site and other social networks has now attracted 28,000 supporters throughout the UK.  The union’s lawyers were also commended for their help is resolving these cases.  There is also a growing trend to try to force photographers to pay for permits to film on the public highway and council-owned land.  Bristol City Council was a particularly bad offender.  Conference believes that photographic access should be free.

The union is to organise a Press Freedom Day on 3rd May, 2011.  This includes issuing a NUJ-Home Office “credit card” giving rules of engagement to all constables. The rules for the issuing of Press Cards will also be tightened up to ensure that only bona fide journalists are issued with them.  This will include a new photograph being supplied with every application.

On the issue of “net neutrality”, conference congratulated whistle-blowing sites on their work but was disappointed that the UK minister responsible, Ed Vaizey, has abandoned these goals.

Order Paper No 14 (Quality of Journalism)

Conference said it regarded local news services as important and highlighted the union’s successful “Stand up for journalism” campaign as playing a key role in ensuring democratic accountability.  It also welcomed the creation of a new training course on reporting the NHS. It attacked Tory Party chairman Eric Pickles for trying to get rid of local authority newspapers.  There was no evidence that they were diverting advertising revenue from existing titles – and most publications were printed on Newspaper Society presses.  The NEC will be campaigning to defend quality journalism in council newspapers.  Conference also commended the work done by the quality in publishing campaign.

Order Paper Nos 15 & 16 (Training, Health & Safety and Copyright)

Conference reiterated its support for high quality training for journalists and decided that the NEC would only endorse courses that are delivered by qualified, unionised members and take steps to ensure that publically-funded courses did not undermine them. Brum & Cov motion on poor training on handling heavy equipment such as camera bags was passed.  The NEC will be surveying photographic members and was empowered to take legal action against sloppy employers.

Stress in the workplace was a major cause of sickness and poor productivity.  So the NEC will be campaigning for the government to prioritise the well-being of the UK’s workforce and share good practice to safeguard the mental health of members.

The government is looking to further relax copyright protection for creators along US lines.  This includes the legal fiction that there are so-called “orphan works”.  Union policy is now to campaign for better rights for creators such as writers, photographers, authors, film makers and playwrights.

Order Paper No 17 (Membership)

The NEC will examine whether the current rule that requires someone to earn at least 50% of their income from journalism as a condition of membership is realistic.  It will present its report three months before the next conference.  Measures to make it easier to recruit student journalists were passed.  Similar measures were adopted for recruiting internet-based journalists. Conference agreed to measures speeding new members into membership and to give branches better information on those who are planning to leave or be lapsed.

Abuse by members to NUJ staff had been a problem for years, especially at Annual Delegate Meetings (ADMs).  NUJ rules are to be changed to make this a serious disciplinary offence.

The Editor of The Journalist was also encouraged to visit more branches.  Conference regretted that the union’s newspaper had forced London Freelance Branch to pay for an advert to promote its “Cashback for Interns” campaign.  Since the current Editor had appointed a new advertising agency, revenues have tripled.  Conference welcomed plans to upgrade the NUJ website and implement a new publishing system.  This should include a greater presence for The Journalist.

The new President will be Donnacha Delong and Michelle Stanistreet is the new general secretary.

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