In the past years, the media industry has undergone drastic changes due to the emergence of new technologies in the way news are produced and consumed as well as the structural changes driven by the economic crisis. Journalists’ organisations themselves also undergo changes to renew their commitment and strategies to counter new challenges. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) launched a handbook within the framework of a project, ‘‘Rights and Jobs in Journalism: Building Strong Unions in Europe’’, showcasing best practices of journalists’ organisations undertaken to tackle new challenges. The handbook was launched in a final conference held in Zagreb…

Building Stronger Unions in Europe

In the framework of the project “Rights and Jobs in Journalism”, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) will organise the final conference on 25 October in Zagreb, Croatia. The workshop is funded by the European Commission (DG Employment). Agenda 25 October The conference will bring together EFJ members and experts to highlight good practices identified during the four workshops and develop further strategies to reinforce the rights of journalists’ and capacity of unions. A handbook consisting of case studies and best practices examples from EFJ members will be launched at this occasion. EU initiatives on employment and authors’ rights Presentation of handbook Building alliances to…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), joining its affiliate in Ireland the National Union of Journalists, is welcoming the decision of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) to challenge Ireland’s failure to treat freelance workers in accordance with the rights enshrined in the organisation’s convention. Following a complaint by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) the Irish government faces questions at the ILO assembly in Geneva about the treatment of freelance workers, who are denied the right to be collectively represented by unions as a result of the actions of the former Competition Authority in Ireland. The complaint was lodged…

In the framework of the two-years project “Rights and Jobs in Journalism”, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) organised on 30 May its last workshop focusing on “Authors’ rights enforcement: Fair contracts for quality journalism” in Brussels. Twenty EFJ members coming from 16 European countries attended the workshop and exchanged best practices on the protection of authors’ rights and way to ensure fair contracts for journalists.  Participants had the opportunity to discuss practical tools in two working groups. The first one, focused on the question of how to secure fair contracts for European journalists, raising the problem of what a fair remuneration might be. In the Netherlands…

In the framework of the project “Rights and Jobs in Journalism”, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) will organise a one-day workshop on Authors’ rights enforcement: Fair Contracts for Quality Journalism on 30 May in Brussels, Belgium. The workshop is funded by the European Commission (DG Employment). It will be linked to the European creators’ conference on 31 May, also held in Brussels at the same venue. Website of the Creators Conference can be found HERE. Agenda 30 May, EFJ seminar The workshop will discuss and offer practice tools and exchanges on the following themes: EU main trends and challenges…

In the framework of the two-year project “Rights and Jobs in Journalism”, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) together with its affiliate, the Slovene Association of Journalists, will organise a workshop “Collective bargaining and freelancers : collective bargaining for all” in Ljubljana, 17-18 March. This upcoming workshop will focus on the need to better protect freelance journalists through collective agreements. while the need of cooperation between freelances and employed journalists continues to grow, best practice from affiliates about common campaigns/activities between staff and freelances shall be show-cased. REGISTRATION Please submit your registration form online before 29 January 2016. Your participation will be confirmed by the…

On 19 November, the EFJ organised its biannual Freelance Experts’ Group (FREG) meeting, in which participants from 8 European countries discussed EFJ activities, national developments regarding freelance activities and ideas for the  future working programme to be adopted by next year’s EFJ General Meeting. Below is a snap shot of the main topics debated by the participants. EFJ issues & activities Results of the survey “Mapping Freelance Journalists” : Please click HERE for more information. The Rights and Jobs in Journalism EFJ project debriefing : The Dublin Freelance conference on atypical workers, which was organised in September 2015 by the National union of…

The EFJ has created a short survey aiming to collect latest information among EFJ affiliates to provide an overview of the current recruitment strategy, development of services and youth in journalists’ unions. This will help the EFJ map out the situation in our membership better its services for members in this area in the future. 19 members have already responded. Some of them have also shared their best practices in a workshop on recruitment in Copenhagen in May. You can find out the top 10 tips on recruitment and organising in the EFJ membership.  If you have not responded yet,…

In Portugal the EFJ affiliate, the Sindicato dos Jornalistas‘s newly elected board initiated a freelance campaign starting with a survey about the situation of freelance journalists in Portugal, something which had not been conducted since 2001. In Portugal, trade unions still regard freelances as a new and sometimes unaccepted work form. The union had asked its members registered as freelancers (almost 10% of the total membership) to answer an online questionnaire. The main results which were recently discussed within the membership (see picture above), are the following: Age: average age is 41; Gender: 61.3% are men; 38;7% are female Employment…

As the media industry grows more freelances, so the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) in the UK and Ireland is trying to ascertain how to attract freelances into membership. The main question is: What services and benefits could the union offer to freelances that are not covered in our ’10 Reasons’ leaflet ? As everyone agrees, the priority for freelances in the current climate is to find work – work that pays! One of our members has suggested a Freelance Salon, an event with speakers who will discuss how to go beyond the traditional pitch to editors and navigate new…

In the framework of the project “Rights and Jobs in Journalism”, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) together with the Spanish journalists’ union (FSC-CCOO) will organise a one-day workshop on “Labour Rights for Journalists” on 24 September in Albacete, Spain.   Agenda The workshop will discuss and offer practice tools and exchanges on the following themes: Defending journalists’ rights in the changing working relations and conditions Industrial actions and collective bargaining: Organising and mobilising membership Protection for the vulnerable media workers – young, freelance, female journalists Download the agenda. Practical information Workshop Venue: Hotel Europa (SAN ANTONIO, 39 Albacete , ALBACETE , 02001, España) Transport…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) has published a special edition newsletter focusing on recruitment news in the framework of the EU funded project Rights and Jobs in Journalism. The newsletter highlights key trends, tips and best practices in recruitment and union services shared by the EFJ affiliates in the workshop held by the Danish Journalists’ Union (DJ) on 11 – 12 May in Copenhagen, Denmark. See the special edition HERE More information (including videos) will be published soon on our website https://europeanjournalists.org/rights-and-jobs-in-journalism-building-stronger-unions-in-europe/ 

Top 10 tips on recruitment and serving membership Membership makes unions stronger. How do unions reach out and engage youth while developing services that cater for the needs of a wide range of membership? This was the theme of the EFJ workshop on “Let’s organise, invest in youth and services” attended by 30 union leaders and recruitment officers from the EFJ affiliates on 10 – 11 May in Copenhagen, Denmark. Participants raised the need to adapt recruitment strategies and services to respond to the changing landscape and labour market in journalism and media. Here are the top 10 tips and…

“Why do they leave journalism?” – This is the question asked to 38 former journalists by journalism student Hélène Brédart in a project initiated at the Université de Liège and reproduced by Jean-François Dumont of the Belgian Association of Professional Journalists (AJP, member of EFJ). The results of the project published in the latest edition of the monthly Journalistes by the AJP show that the deteriorating working conditions and practices in journalism make are major reason why journalists left the profession. The most frequently mentioned reasons for journalists to leave their job are: • Increasing workload: The digital development and restructuring measures are putting…