Belarus: criminal complaint against obstruction of journalists’ work

The Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ) on Friday demanded the opening of a criminal investigation against those who detained at least 47 journalists on Thursday 27 August to prevent them from covering the protests against disputed President Lukashenko in Belarus. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) fully supports the legal proceedings initiated by its affiliate BAJ. The legal action is launched on the basis of article 198 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus (“Obstruction of the legitimate professional activities of a journalist”). BAJ asked the chairman of the Investigative Committee of the Republic of Belarus to initiate…

The EFJ will join the global climate strike this Friday

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) will join the global climate strike this Friday in Brussels to put pressure on world leaders to deliver urgent solutions to the worsening climate crisis. Demonstrations will take place around the world between September 20 and 27 to coincide with the United Nation’s climate summit in New York, where heads of governments must take concrete action to deliver on the promises of the Paris Agreement. That includes the commitment to a “just transition” – moving to a carbon neutral economy in a way that’s fair to people working in industries that will be required to…

Labour Rights Expert Group meeting

Special guest: Ludovic Voet, ETUC Confederal Secretary responsible for sustainable development and climate change, migration, youth policy, non-standard work and the platform economy, education and training, and equality and non-discrimination, plus organising.  

14th Congress of the European Trade Union Confederation

The EFJ GS will attend the 14th Congress of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), in Vienna. The ETUC Congress will take place from Tuesday 21 to Friday 24 May 2019 at Wien Messe in Vienna, Austria. Taking part are over 600 national trade union delegates including the General Secretaries and/or Presidents of some 90 national trade union organisations from 38 European countries, 10 European sectoral trade union federations and special guests from Europe and beyond, including Antonio Costa, Prime Minister of Portugal, Alexander Van der Bellen, President of Austria, Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission, Enrico Letta, Dean…

ETUC Executive Committee Meeting

The next ETUC Executive Committee meeting, which will be held on Tuesday 26 — Wednesday 27 Mars 2019 at the: ITUH Building, Bld du Roi Albert II, 5 – 1210 Brussels. The EFJ will be represented by Ricardo Gutiérrez and/or Mehmet Koksal.

Trade unions support Action for Climate

Seven European trade unions, including the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), are supporting the global day of protest being staged by young people against climate change on Friday: ETUC, EFJ, EFBWW, EPSU, EFFAT, ETF and IndustriAll (representing workers in energy intensive industries). Greta Thunberg, the 16-year-old Swedish school student who started the ‘Friday’s for Future’ movement, has called for her peers around the world to join her to demonstrate outside national parliaments or local government buildings. Some 727 protests are scheduled across Europe, including another major demonstration in Brussels which will begin outside International Trade Union House. A banner reading ‘No…

Whistleblowing directive: EFJ regrets that protection for public disclosure is subject to restrictive conditions

On Monday 11 March, the European Parliament, the Commission and the Council of the European Union reached a political agreement on the protection of whistleblowers against reprisals. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) welcomes the significant improvements compared to the directive proposal, but regrets the intent of limiting protection for those reporting to the public, in particular through the media. From the very beginning the issue of the reporting channels has been the main point of discord during the negotiations. What procedure whistleblowers should follow to be granted protection? The European institutions came to a decision on Monday evening. Whistleblowers…

EU Whistleblowing Directive: protection for companies or for whistleblowers?

As the EU’s flagship whistleblowing Directive reaches the final stage of negotiations between national Governments and the European Parliament, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joins the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) to warn that the EU risks ending up with a Directive that protects companies more than it protects whistleblowers! “Some member states are insisting that whistleblowers must first go through an internal reporting procedure,” said Esther Lynch, Confederal Secretary of the ETUC. “This is not in the interests of those exposing wrong-doing or the public. It would give companies every opportunity to cover up their wrong-doing and to…