EFJ contributes to European Commission social pillar consultation

On 31st December 2016 the consultation of the European Commission on the European pillar of social rights ended. The EFJ has submitted its response focusing on the need for equal treatment for all workers independent of their employment contract. The consultation of the Commission follows a process of the European Commission that took off following the State of the Union speech of President Juncker in 2015. The public consultation contains a series of questions on the social situation and EU social “acquis”, the future of work and welfare systems and the European Pillar of Social Rights. The most pressing priorities as defined the…

What’s your recruitment strategy? Share with us!

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,…

Freelance Survey in Portugal

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…

Recruiting freelance journalists: example from NUJ, Great Britain

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…

Labour Rights for Journalists

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…

Special edition newsletter focusing on recruitment news

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/ 

Membership makes unions stronger

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?

“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…

Let’s organise, invest in youth and skills

In the framework of the project “Rights and Jobs in Journalism”, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) together with the Danish Journalists’ Union will organise a two-day workshop on “Let’s organise, invest in youth and skills” on 11 – 12 May in Copenhagen, Denmark.   Agenda The workshop will discuss and offer practice tools and exchanges on the following themes: Job losses vs job growth: What is the trend in jobs and skills in journalism? Five steps to restore sustainable jobs in European media Recruitment strategies: How to reach out to the youth and new types of workers? Creating Europe’s…

Rights&Jobs

EFJ kicks off “Rights and jobs in journalism” project

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) kicked off a two-year project “Rights and jobs in journalism” in a preparatory meeting held in Brussels with project partners. The project’s steering committee and representatives from four partner organisations (Trade Union of Croatian Journalists, Slovenian Association of Journalists, Federacion de servicios a la ciudadania de CC.OO, Danish Union of Journalists) discussed what measures can be taken to improve the capacity of unions in protecting the professional rights of journalists and reaching out to new members. Louise Theil, the recruitment officer of the Danish Journalists’ Union presented its recruitment strategy to the participants and…