Historic moment for PA Media editorial staff in their push for NUJ recognition
Editorial staff at PA Media (formerly the Press Association) have made a significant step forward in their bid for NUJ recognition.
Journalists in the content division at PA have in recent years worked towards introducing collective bargaining in their workplace, with the aim of securing better and fairer pay and conditions for all staff, having formed an NUJ chapel in 2021.
The PA NUJ chapel took their bid for statutory recognition of their proposed bargaining unit to the Central Arbitration Committee (CAC) after PA management refused to recognise the union voluntarily in July 2023.
The CAC recently accepted the application and found that, on the balance of probabilities, a majority of workers in the proposed bargaining unit would be likely to support the chapel’s application for the NUJ to be recognised for the purpose of collective bargaining - the full acceptance decision is published online here.
This is the first time in PA’s history that staff have come as close to achieving union recognition within the workplace.
A PA chapel spokesperson said:
“This is a momentous occasion and we are delighted all the hard work has paid off to enable us to reach this critical point in our journey towards a fairer workplace. We believe union recognition and the establishment of a recognised bargaining unit is the only way for hundreds of PA editorial staff working across the UK to have a real say on pay and other important issues.
“While the CAC finding this is a very welcome step, the hard work has just begun and we will need everyone’s support to get over the next hurdle.”
The next stage of the process will see delegates from the chapel and PA management meet to negotiate an agreement on the scope of the proposed bargaining unit. Over the coming days and weeks, the chapel will be launching a ‘Real Say, Better Pay’ campaign to highlight the benefits of collective bargaining and union membership.
If you work in editorial at PA you can join the union at www.nuj.org.uk/join
To contact the chapel in confidence please email [email protected] and we will put you in touch.