The council invites sector reps to an in-person meeting on 9 November focused on pay, artificial intelligence and organising.
Although inflation has come down from its highs in recent years, prices have not fallen and the cost of living continues to bite. Media groups have been among the most nakedly aggressive employers regarding pay for staff, while often rewarding CEOs and shareholders very generously. However, in recent years, some of our chapels have won pay awards at or above inflation and have forced businesses to pay journalists their worth, not what they think they can get away with.
In 2023, the FT and the Guardian chapels won deals worth on average of about 6.5 per cent and Reuters bargained their pay up to 4.52 per cent. This year, PA are discussing pay for the first time on the back of their successful bid for union recognition.
We know that employers always compare notes in order to keep pay rises to a minimum. That is why the NUJ's Newspapers and Agencies Industrial Council is putting pay at the top of the agenda for this year's reps summit.
The event will take place in person between 11am and 4pm on Saturday November 9 at the Priory rooms in Birmingham https://www.theprioryrooms.co.uk/
Details of speakers will follow, but we can reveal that our agenda will focus on:
- pay (including approaches to data, company accounts and inflation figures)
- the abuses and uses of AI in the media
- how to build for a fight over pay and rights in the workplace.
Panels will include external speakers alongside chapel reps with a focus on encouraging debate in the room. We have also invited union members from Amazon to speak about their experiences of organising a fight back locally.
Book your place
The union will cover the costs of travel for the day and catering will be provided. Please email [email protected] to book your place and [email protected] to arrange travel for the day.
We look forward to getting NUJ reps and officials together at this key event.
