NUJ slams sham redundancy exercise at Iran International
The chapel at the London-based broadcaster says the redundancy exercise was a pretext to force out their rep who has led the recognition campaign at the channel.
© Private
The National Union of Journalists has condemned the targeting of NUJ members and chapel reps at London-based broadcaster Iran International in a redundancy exercise it believes to be a pretext to force out the union's chapel rep who has led the recognition campaign at the channel.
The Iran International chapel met this week to offer solidarity and support to their affected colleagues and unanimously agreed a statement calling on the company to reconsider its decision and to acknowledge that trade union rights are human rights.
The statement (in full below) said:
"Iranian journalists living outside the country have always been a reflection of the voices of those who in the past decades have had their rights violated by the Islamic Republic of Iran, and whose fundamental right to live in a free and fair society has been encroached upon.
"These journalists have been at the forefront in reflecting the voices of those whose rights to unionise have been unapologetically violated by the Iranian government. Currently journalists working at Iran International face similar treatment by the collective management."
Michelle Stanistreet, NUJ general secretary, said:
"The solidarity and support of NUJ members throughout the union are with our colleagues at Iran International who have worked so hard to secure an independent voice at work through their recognition application, putting up with absolutely unacceptable pressure and victimisation as a consequence.
"The twists and turns of the legal process have been surreal and unprecedented – with the company signing not one but two secret deals with the British Association of Journalists (BAJ) in a desperate effort to thwart and block NUJ recognition.
"We will do all we can to support our colleagues who have lost their livelihoods in this awful way – but make no mistake the NUJ and its chapel is not bowed, it remains strong and this week reaffirmed its commitment to securing recognition."
Paul Siegert, NUJ national broadcasting organiser, said:
"These redundancies were trumped up and clearly aimed at victimising and removing our chapel's FoC. The whole redundancy process was a sham with the company refusing to answer many of our questions and promising to send us documents that never even existed.
"Our legal team is mounting a robust response and we will be lodging an interim relief claim with the tribunal, and will take all steps to stamp out such victimisation of trade union activities."
The NUJ secured the backing of the entire trade union movement with its motion to TUC Congress last month, calling for a campaign for reformed workers' rights that would disbar the kind of secret, behind-closed doors recognition deal that BAJ struck with Iran International in July.
Iran International chapel resolution in English
We the members of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) at Iran International Television hereby declare our support of colleagues who in recent days have been fired on the pretext of redundancies.
We the journalists of Iran International, while declaring our solidarity with these colleagues, emphasise our legal right to membership of the trade union that we have chosen. The inclusion of four members of the NUJ in the restructuring process which has resulted in the dismissal of three of them is very worrying in the current situation.
It is no secret that Iran International continually faces staffing shortages, with manpower insufficient to produce 24-hour news coverage. Conversely, the network is currently in the process of recruiting additional staff for the expansion of news coverage and the in-house production of news programmes. In such conditions, the dismissal of our colleagues with the justification of redundancies is very concerning.
In addition, in recent weeks and months union members have come under pressure by the employer of the company, Volant Media. An unjust accusation made against an elected union representative, leading to his resignation from the chapel committee is another example of this pressure. Against the efforts to attain recognition of the NUJ chapel at Iran International, the adjudication of which has now been referred to the Central Arbitration Committee (CAC), the union has heard various excuses from the collective management.
The secretive signing of a recognition agreement with the British Association of Journalists (BAJ) is another example of management efforts to work against the NUJ at Iran International. The recognition agreement with BAJ was then unilaterally cancelled by the BAJ.
This process was marked by recent claims and motions from Volant Media that they had signed a second agreement with the BAJ. This was a move which in the employer's view would block the pursuit of the NUJ chapel to achieve recognition. However, in correspondence between the NUJ and the BAJ it has been determined that there is no second agreement.
Unfortunately, during this period, in efforts to withhold recognition of the NUJ at Iran International, Volant Media has continued to threaten and intimidate our colleagues.
It is no secret that one of the colleagues affected, and eventually dismissed in the process of restructuring, was a member of the executive committee of the NUJ chapel at Iran International, and was the Father of the Chapel. He played a key role in negotiations for the chapel's recognition and has been a regular figure in its activities over the last three years. Unfortunately, it seems that his dismissal, as well as the dismissal of two other colleagues, was a manoeuvre to encumber the legal process of NUJ chapel recognition.
Given the urgent need for experienced staff across all areas of Iran International it is evident that this was nothing more than an intended impediment in the process for chapel recognition, and a violation of its members' rights.
Iranian journalists living outside the country have always been a reflection of the voices of those who in the past decades have had their rights violated by the Islamic Republic of Iran, and whose fundamental right to live in a free and fair society has been encroached upon. These journalists have been at the forefront in reflecting the voices of those whose rights to unionise have been unapologetically violated by the Iranian government. Currently journalists working at Iran International face similar treatment by the collective management.
We urge the management of Iran International to reconsider their hasty and unjust decision to dismiss these colleagues and that they return them to their working conditions.
Trade union rights are inalienable human rights.
With solidarity
Kind regards
Members of the NUJ at Iran International Television
Iran International chapel resolution in Farsi
ما اعضای اتحادیه ی ملی روزنامه نگاران بریتانیا و ایرلند در تلویزیون ایران اینترنشنال بدینوسیله، حمایت خود از همکارانی که در روزهای اخیر به بهانه ی تعدیل نیرو اخراج شده اند را اعلام می داریم.
ما روزنامه نگاران ایران اینترنشنال ضمن اعلام همبستگی با این همکاران، بر حق قانونیمان برای عضویت و فعالیت در اتحادیهی صنفیای که خود انتخاب کرده ایم، تاکید میکنیم.
قرار دادن چهار عضو اتحادیه ی روزنامه نگاران بریتانیا و ایرلند(NUJ) در فرآیند تعدیل نیرو، که در نهایت منجر به اخراج سه نفر از آنان شد، در شرایط فعلی بسیار نگران کننده است.
بر کسی پوشیده نیست که ایران اینترنشنال همواره برای تامین نیروی کافی جهت تولید برنامه های خبری بیست و چهار ساعته با کمبود نیرو مواجه است. از سویی دیگر این شبکه در حال استخدام نیرو برای گسترش پوشش خبری و تولید برنامههای فراخبر ی خود است. در چنین شرایطی اخراج همکاران ما با توجیه تعدیل نیروی کار بسیار قابل تامل است.
همچنین اعضای اتحادیه در هفته ها و ماه های گذشته از سوی ولنت مدیا بعنوان شرکت کارفرما تحت فشار فراینده ای ق رار گرفته اند.
در روند به رسمیت شناسی چپل ایراناینترنشنال، که تصمیمگیری دربارهآن اکنون به کمیته مرکزی حکمیت در امور استخدامی(CAC) ارجاع داده شده، شاهد بهانهتراشیهای گوناگونی از سوی مدیریت مجموعه بوده ایم. اتهام زنیهای غیرمنصفانه به یک نماینده منتخب که منجر به استعفای او از کمیته چپل شد، نمونه دیگری از این فشارهاست.
امضای مخفیانه توافق شناسایی انجمن روزنامه نگاران بریتانیا(BAJ)،نمونه دیگر قابل مثال است که با لغو یکطرفه توافق از سوی این انجمن همراه شد. روندی که با ادعاها و تحرکات تازه ای از طرف ولت مدیا رقم خورد، تا جاییکه مدعی شد قرارداد دومی را با این اتحادیه به امضا رسانده است. حرکتی که از نظر کارفرما باید مانع از درخواست ان یو جی برای به رسمیت شناخته شدن چپلش باشد. این درحالیست که در تماس کتبی ان یو جی با بج مشخص شد، قرارداد دومی در کار نی ست.
متاسفانه در این مدت ولنت مدیا برای رسیدن به هدفش که به رسمیت نشناختن اتحادیهی روزنامه نگاران بریتانیا و ایرلند در تلویزیون ایران اینترنشنال است، حتی از تهدید و ارعاب همکاران ما هم فروگذار نکرده است .
ر کسی پوشیده نیست که یکی از همکارانی که در پروس ه تعدیل نیرو قرار گرفته و در نهایت اخراج شد، عضو کمیتهی اجرایی چپلNUJ در ایران اینترنشنال و پدر آن است. او در مذاکرات به رسمیت شناسی چپل نقشی کلیدی ایفا کرده و در تمام فعالیت های آن در سه سال گذشته، حضوری مستمر داشته است. متاسفانه چنین به نظر می رسد که اخراج او و دو همکار دیگر، حربه ای برای سنگ اندازی در راه فرآیند قانونی به رسمیت شناسی چپل بود ه و با توجه به نیاز مبرم تمام بخش های ایران اینترنشنال به نیروی با تجربه، چیزی جز سنگ اندازی در راه این فرآیند و نقض حق قانونی اعضا نیست.
روزنامه نگاران ایرانی ساکن خارج از کشور در همه ی شرایط انعکاس صدای بر حق کسانی بوده اند که حکومت جمهوری اسلامی ایران در چند ده ی گذشته، حقوق بنیادین آنان را نقض وعرصه زیستن در جامعه ای آزاد و عادلانه را بر آنان تنگ تر کردهاست. این روزنامه نگاران در صف مقدم بازتاب صدای آنانیبودهاند که حکومت ایران از هیچ اقدامی برای نقض حقوق صنفی آنان دریغ نکردهاست. اکنون روزنامه نگاران شاغل در ایران اینترنشنال با رفتاری مشابه از سوی مدیرت مجموعه روبرو هستند.
ما مصرانه از مدیریت ایران اینترنشنال می خواهیم در تصمیم عجولانه و ناعادلانه خود مبنی بر اخراج این همکاران تجدید نظر کرده و شرایط بازگشت به کار آنها را فراهم کند.
حقوق صنفی، حقوق مسلم بشر است.
به امید همبستگی بیشتر
با احترام؛ اعضای اتحادیه ی ملی روزنامه نگاران بریتانیا و ایرلند در تلویزیون ایران اینترنشنال.