NUJ president Pierre Vicary opens DM2023
NUJ president Pierre Vicary opened this year's Delegate Meeting with a one-minute silence to mark International Workers' Memorial Day.
Pierre Vicary
In his warm address to members Vicary welcomed delegates to the TUC stating “It’s great we are able to meet in person”. Delegates cheered and applauded, pleased to be at the TUC’s congress centre in London.
The coronavirus pandemic and lockdown restrictions meant Vicary had chaired many meetings of the union’s National Executive Council online. He highlighted that he was in fact the only president to be elected at an online Delegate Meeting in 2021.
Reflecting on Russian’s invasion to Ukraine in February last year, Vicary said "as it happened, I was the on-duty BBC World Service reporter that night so I was in the studio to announce the start of the largest military conflict in Europe since the end of the Second World War.”
Galloping inflation and a huge rise in food costs had placed pressure on NUJ members and had been well considered when outlining the proposal for an increase in members’ subscriptions in a motion to DM.
Vicary thanked his predecessor Sian Jones, Natasha Hirst, current vice president, Séamus Dooley, NUJ general secretary and Michelle Stanistreet, NUJ general secretary. He extended his personal thanks to all NUJ members and said during his 55 career as a journalist, he had been “very honoured to be the NUJ president.”
