The NUJ Left will be holding an annual general meeting on Saturday 4 June at the St Aloysius social club, 20 Phoenix Road, London NW1 1TA. The meeting will start at noon and finish at 4pm.

Leaflet for meeting

The provisional agenda is:

1) NUJ disputes.

2) 30 June, the day the civil service union, PCS, and education unions have proposed for  co-ordinated strike action over cuts and pensions.

3) Union matters.

4) Election for post of deputy general secretary of the NUJ. We will hopefully be running a hustings for this post. If any prospective candidate would like to address the meeting them please contact the NUJ Left.

5) AOB, elections for NUJ committee.

There will be a pooled fare where people in London help subsidise travel costs of those from outside London. NUJ members wanting to attend the meeting can join on the door (Joining fee £6, equivalent to six months subs for the NUJ Left).

A map of the venue and directions can be found here

More details will posted nearer the time and the agenda finalised.

The National Union of Journalists is preparing for its delegate meeting in April and to elect a new general secretary. The NUJLeft will be meeting to discuss these issues along with reports from members about their disputes and struggles.

1) The election of an NUJ general secretary NUJ general secretary Jeremy Dear (pictured) is standing down from the post this year. This is an opportunity for left activists to discuss election candidates.

2) NUJ delegate meeting in April The delegate meeting of the NUJ is the highest democratic body in the union. We will be discussing motions, candidates for election to the union’s bodies and having an NUJLeft meeting at conference.

3) International and national reports Speakers from NUJLeft who have witnessed the North African revolutions plus report backs from union struggles in the UK such as the BBC pensions.

Saturday 12 March, 12-4pm, The Cock Tavern 23 Phoenix Road, London NW1 1HB (between St Pancras and Euston Station)

All NUJ members who wish to attend must be up to date with subs (min £6 for six months membership). New members are welcomed. There will be a pooled fare for those coming from outside London.

There will be an NUJ Left Meeting on 12 March at the The Cock Tavern, 23 Phoenix Road, London NW1 1HB (between King’s Cross Euston and St Pancras stations).

Agenda

1) The election for general secretary of the union

2) Motions and election for April’s DM

3) NUJ Left arrangements for DM

4) AOB

The meeting is from 12 noon to 4pm. NUJ members wishing to attend can join the NUJ Left on the day. There will be a small charge plus a pooled fare.

Pete Murray, NUJ President and BBC rep, will be speaking on the BBC dispute this Saturday in London.

NUJ members at the BBC voted nine to one recently to strike over the BBC’s attack on their pensions. They have been joined by Bectu and Unite members in a concerted campaign against the proposals. The threat of strike action forced the BBC into making a last-ditch offer last Friday, which the three unions have taken back to their members. Pete will be updating the meeting on the latest.

Read the rest of this entry »

The national NUJ Left meeting on 6 March discussed two key issues facing the union: the crisis at the BBC and the growth of the BNP/EDL. Other subjects discussed were union democracy, solidarity with Russian workers and building the NUJ Left.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Chilcott Inquiry has focused people’s attention on the war against Iraq.

This week legal advisers at the Foreign Office said they believed the war to be illegal but their advice was ignored. Friday is the day when Tony Blair gives evidence.

The Stop the War coalition is having a London wide public meeting Wednesday night and organising activities both Thursday, Brown’s Afghanistan war conference. and Friday morning, when Blair will be turning up to give evidence at the Chilcott Inquiry. Here are the details

Read the rest of this entry »

The Southport ADM has given the NUJ a strong platform to build a sustained campaign for action to resist a further assault on jobs, pay and the conditions under which we have to work. Here, Alan Gibson gives the highs and the lows of the conference and identifies some of the key issues in the coming year.

Read the rest of this entry »

About 30 NUJ activists met in central London on 17 October. The meeting was timely, coming as it was in the run-up to protests against the BNP’s Nick Griffin appearing on Question Time and when media workers are fighting for jobs and quali

During the day. activists discussed strategies for defending jobs and quality in the media, solidarity work, the war in Afghanistan, fascism in the media and the coming ADM.

Read the rest of this entry »

The strategy of denying a platform to fascists will be one of the key issues discussed at the NUJ Left conference later this month.

Weyman Bennett, joint secretary of Unite Against Fascism, will lead the debate on the subject brought again into focus following the BBC’s decision to invite BNP leader Nick Griffin onto Question Time.

The NUJ Left conference will debate our response to the far right and our industrial tactics

Read the rest of this entry »

NUJ Left is calling for mass action to support local authority press officers who refuse to work with BNP members if any are elected as councillors in this week’s elections.

Union guidelines already call on every member not to sensationalise the activities of racist organisations, including the BNP, and to challenge and expose their views.

Read the rest of this entry »