66% of Czech journalists are not unionised
Journalists’ unions in the Czech Republic should improve their recruitment policy. That’s one of the main conclusions of the EFJ-OSNPM survey on journalists’ working conditions in the Czech Republic.
In the framework of the EFJ/IFJ Regional Development Fund, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), the Union of Journalists and Media Workers of the Czech Republic (OSNPM) and the Austrian union GPA-djp organised a survey to investigate the working conditions of Czech journalists and media workers.
The online survey was launched on 19 May 2015. Around 2,500 journalists and media workers were invited to participate to the survey. Ricardo Gutiérrez, EFJ General Secretary, and OSNPM leadership analysed together the findings of the survey during a round table conference, in Prague, on 19 August.
Here are the main findings:
- 69% of respondents work in the private sector;
- 37% are freelancers;
- 67% work overtime without any compensation;
- 35% said publishers do not respect labour and social rights;
- 66% are not member of a journalists’ union or association;
- 81% consider that the protection of journalists’ rights through collective agreements is “very important” or “important”;
- 54% consider that ethics is the most important professional concern.
Zdeněk Kučera, chairman of the OSNPM, said that the union in the future should focus on journalists who are working without permanent and long-term contracts. The union will also prepare an action plan to recruit new members, to modernise the image of the organisation and to use social network in its communications. “We must expand public awareness of the activities of our organisation, using all available means of communications. We should also focus on unsolved labour disputes, legal and social issues facing journalists,” said Kučera.
OSNPM will join the EFJ in the coming months.
(Picture credit: OSNPM)
