5 November 2010
Updates on the BBC pension strike are here
http://www.nuj.org.uk/innerPagenuj.html?docid=1796
2 November 2010
Public meeting: Support NUJ and FBU strikers
A public meeting in south London on the eve of the BBC and FBU strikes will be addressed by leading members of the unions involved:
- Jeremy Dear, general secretary of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ)
- Becky Branford, BBC NUJ member
- Ian Leahair, from the national executive of the Fire Brigades Union (FBU)
Salvation Army Hall, Princess Street, Elephant and Castle, SE1 6HH, at 7pm on Thursday 4 November.
The meeting has been organised by local campaign group Southwark Save Our Services.
More details on NUJ website, what you can do to help.
Background to the BBC dispute
2 November 2010
The NUJLeft offers its full support to London firefighters and tube staff who are on strike this week and in the coming months.
The attacks on these workers will lead to loss of pay and jobs, worse working conditions, and undermine the safety of our public services.
28 October 2010
Latest news is that NUJ members at the BBC have rejected the latest management offer on pensions by 70%.
Reps will now meet to decide the next moves.
Update on strike days here, see leaflets below for the NO case
5 October 2010
An NUJ member fighting deportation will tell his story to east London trades unionists tonight – just two days before his case goes before a High Court judge.
Investigative journalist Charles Atangana, who fled to the UK six years ago after being detained and beaten in Cameroon, is seeking a judicial review of the Home Office decision to send him back.
Journalists and other trade unionists are being urged to demonstrate in his support at 9.45am this Thursday, October 7, at the Royal Courts of Justice, Strand, London, WC2A 2LL.
There will also be a solidarity vigil for Charles on the same day in Manchester, outside the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal in Moseley Street, Manchester, at 12 (Thursday, October 7th – the day of Charles’ High Court case.)
5 October 2010
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.
14 September 2010
NUJ General Secretary Jeremy Dear (second from left) leads a delegation to the Ukrainian Embassy, London, in 2008 on the anniversary of the murder of journalist Gyorgy Gongadze. (Marc Vallée, 2008)
Campaigners in the UK will mark the 10th anniversary of the abduction and be-heading of Ukrainian internet journalist Gyorgy Gongadze this week by demanding answers about the investigation into his death.
A delegation from the National Union of Journalists will visit the Ukrainian embassy at 60 Holland Park, London, W11 3SJ, at 11am on Thursday September 16.
13 August 2010
NUJ General Secretary Jeremy Dear addresses supporters of Charles at bail hearing (Keith Sellick)
Journalist Charles Atangana, who is being threatened with deportation back to Cameroon, won his bail hearing yesterday. Charles was being held in Dover Immigration Removal Centre while his case was being heard in a tribunal in central London.
A lively band of supporters, including NUJ and Unison members, were outside the tribunal in support of Charles. The news arrived of him winning bail in the afternoon. Now the campaign has won its first step but there is still a long way to go for Charles to win his asylum case.
Charles was arrested and tortured in Cameroon, a country where journalists and political activists who oppose the government are ill-treated and sometimes killed. he fled to the UK and lived in Scotland before being detained and threatened with deportation.
11 August 2010
- NUJ general secretary Jeremy Dear has a comment is free piece in the Guardian in support for Charles and outlining the case (see post below for more details).
And the TUC is also supporting Charles, pointing out that unions must fight for freedom of expression as it is central to the freedom to organise. And that fight must be international.
26 July 2010
Staff at the BBC have reacted angrily to the bosses’ attempt to cut their pensions. The NUJ, Bectu and three other unions are organsing meetings to discuss joint action against the robbery. BBC announced that it wanted to cap pensionable pay at 1% from April 2011 and revalue pensions at a lower level.
Meanwhile, it was revealed that top managers at the corporation have a pension slush fund that gaurantees them big payouts while cutting those of staff.
NUJ general secretary, Jeremy Dear said:“It’s almost as if BBC management are trying to goad staff, with their blatant hypocrisy and greed.”