About 30 NUJ activists met in central London on 17 October. The meeting was timely, coming as it was in the run-up to protests against the BNP’s Nick Griffin appearing on Question Time and when media workers are fighting for jobs and quali

During the day. activists discussed strategies for defending jobs and quality in the media, solidarity work, the war in Afghanistan, fascism in the media and the coming ADM.

In the morning session, there were two speakers from the recent successful Tower Hamlets College strike in London. Both speakers pointed to the support the strike had received from fellow trade unionists in the London borough and from the local community. The strike was against provisions for teaching English to people who do not have it as a first language (ESOL), which would have hit the borough particularly hard as it is one of the most ethnically diverse boroughs in London. The Tower Hamlets speakers also emphasised that striking indefinitely galvanised workers at the college far greater than more limited action would have. This had led to a big increase in membership and many new faces becoming involved with the union and the running of the strike.
NUJ member and labour historian Sheila Cohen gave a potted history of industrial struggles and recessions over the past 150 years and drew out a few lessons for today such as workers actions tended to develop more when the economy is moving out of recession.
From the floor, there were discussions about solidarity, types of action the union should be taking and how to organise.

BNP debate
The afternoon kicked off with a session on the NUJ and the issue of the BBC inviting Nick Griffin onto Question Time. The NEC’s Pete Murray put forward a motion that condemned the Question Time decision and supported protests. There was adebate about what attitude should journalists take towards the BNP. Most agreed that there was a difference between journalists reporting facts on the BNP, which after all is part of the job, and allowing the BNP airtime to broadcast its views uncritically. Generally, those present believed that the NUJ as union and its paper The Journalist should educate members in the reality of the BNP and provide information about them. A majority also supported demonstrations and protests against the BNP where they appear in the media.

Afghanistan
Lindsay German from Stop the War Coalition spoke on war in Afghanistan. That war and the one in Iraq have seen thousands of deaths of innocent people. Journalists have been killed and wounded, obstructed from reporting (unless they have been embedded with the coalition forces), lied to or fed false information about the wars and the process leading to them. Meanwhile, the state has used more repressive laws against protests in this country, which again has undermined the ability of journalists and photographers to go about their work. A motion was passed calling for troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan now and to affiliate the NUJ Left to STW.

Postal dispute
Jane Loftus of the Communications Workers Union (CWU) addressed the meeting. She explained the issues that postal workers were striking over. NUJ members agreed that the postal strike was crucial an reported on their own solidarity work including collections, twining chapels/branches with postal workers and helping setting up solidarity committees. A collection was held at the meeting for the postal workers.

Annual delegate meeting
There was a brief discussion about motions going to ADM in November with those present opposing the move to hold a conference in 18 months time, particularly during a period of huge change for the industry. Other motions discussed included union fees, allowing group chapels to send a delegate to conference, a photographers’ organiser, and NUJ support for local campaigns.
The meeting also elected a new NUJ Left steering committee.

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Tags: National Union of Journalists, NUJ, NUJ Left