Enforcing labour rights and improving working conditions for journalists remain challenging in South East Europe and Turkey, as concluded in the Labour Rights Expert Group meeting of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) on 26 October in Zagreb. The meeting is partly funded by the UNESCO as part of the project “Building trust in the media in South East Europe and Turkey” that enables labour rights experts from the region to exchange views with their colleagues. Erisa Zykaj, journalist and representative from the Association of Professional Journalists of Albania (APJA) said that the enforcement of labour rights is yet to…

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 Media, Arts and Entertainment sector has seen significant changes in the structure of the labour market and in the organisation of work both within and outside the framework of the traditional employment relationships – with an established trend towards various forms of atypical working arrangements. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), the International Federation of Actors (FIA), UNI MEI and the International Federation of Musicians (FIM) have today launched a handbook on ”The Future of Work in the Arts, Media & Entertainment Sector”, outlining conclusions and recommendations addressing atypical work in the Media, Arts and Entertainment sector. The launch…

Journalists and media workers from South East Europe and Turkey are able to share best practices, illuminate present challenges in labour rights and benefit from legal expertise after joining European Labour Rights Experts Group. “If journalists’ working conditions are poor, how can media be the driver for sustainable and peaceful development in the region? By promoting these exchanges, UNESCO and the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) aim for a collective upgrade of media professionals’ rights, for the benefit of publics and democracy,” commented Mehmet Koksal, project officer from EFJ. Under the EU-funded project “Building Trust in media in South East…

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…

The final conference of Creative Skills Europe, the European Skills Council on Employment and Training in the Audiovisual and Live Performance sectors, will take place in Brussels, Belgium, on Monday 6th of June 2016. Closing a phase of activities that included three meetings in Tallinn (April 2015), Prague (January 2016), and Madrid (March 2016) the conference will present the final publication of the project, as well as recommendations for future actions and co-operations in the field of skills development for the audiovisual and live performance sectors in Europe. More than 50 participants from across Europe are expected to this event.…

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…

Despite the travel difficulties to Brussels following the attacks of 22 March 2016, members of the Labour Rights Expert Group (LAREG) of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) continued their meeting in Brussels to discuss the evolution of labour conditions for journalists and media workers in Europe. Thanks to a new EFJ project entitled Building Trust in media in South East Europe and Turkey financially supported by UNESCO and the EU, the LAREG meeting provided a unique opportunity to exchange views between EU and non-EU participants from South Eastern Europe of the EFJ members and discuss recent developments in the media sector…

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…

On 26-27 January, FIA (Actors’ Unions), FIM (musicians), UNI-Europa (media, entertainment & art) and the EFJ organised a workshop in Ljubljana and discussed how to better protect those categories of workers who do not enjoy any social and legal  protection. MEP Tanja Fajon gave a video key note speech reminding participants that all EU Member States are committed to provide social security for all workers, and that we all have to defend the European social model. She referred to the EP report on social protection for all including self-employed workers. The report asks the European Commission and Member States to…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) together with the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI) will organise a four-day workshop on “Project Management for Trade Union Representatives” from 23 to 26 February 2016 in Zagreb, Croatia. The workshop is hosted by the EFJ member, the Croatia Journalists’ Association. The workshop targets at project officers or managers at your union and association who implement projects funded by the EU with the overall aim to improve their skills and capacities in project managements and developing projects for the future to carry out their programmes. Aims : – To provide an introduction to projects…

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,…

How has Wikileaks changed investigative reporting? The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) represented by its President Mogens Blicher Bjerregård will participate in the  the Fourth Journalism Symposium on “Investigative Journalism in age of Wikileaks” in Geneva on 28 October. The conference will feature famous investigative journalist Angelo Mincuzzi who was one of the journalists reported on the scandal of the HSBC banks last year. Detailed programme is: 10h30 : Press conference  With Hervé Falciani, former employee of the HSBC bank and Angelo Mincuzzi, investigative journalist at Il Sole-24 Ore 12h : Welcome & registration 13h30 : Symposium opening By Christian Campiche,…