In the UK and France, freelance journalists stand up for their rights to fairer, better and faster pay

Both in France and the UK, freelance media workers have joined forces to tackle the unlawful working practices of media owners. They demand the end of payment on publication, to be paid for all their work, not just on the basis of what has been published, only after it has been published. They also expect to receive payments promptly, instead of enduring huge delays and being left out of pocket. Media workers are under pressure from employers who are cutting editorial budgets, slashing jobs and undermining trade union organisations. Many journalists have been forced into what we call “fake freelance”…

Belgium enforces largely opposed €50 security check fee to cover the EU

The Belgian government passed a bill  or “Taxe Michel” forcing media workers (journalists and technicians), residing in Belgium or Belgian, to pay a mandatory €50 fee for the security screening document it delivers to authorize access to EU events. It debuted at last October’s EU Summit. The Belgian Union of Journalists (AJP) opposed the law 6 months ago to no avail. About 1000 journalists, either Belgian or residing in Belgium, will be forced to pay the fee. Belgium has now started billing journalists or their employers and the European Federation of Journalist joins the AJP ‘s recommendation to refuse to…

Sweden: Freelance journalists successfully obtain fee rise

The freelance section of the Swedish Union of Journalists (SJ) obtained a fee rise agreement with several big Swedish newspaper publishers. Agreements were reached thanks to a joint effort of individual freelance journalists, the Swedish Freelance Section of the Swedish Union of Journalists, Frilans Riks, and the local trade union branches at the publishing companies. The SJ issued its recommended new fees for freelance journalists last November to come into effect in 2019. Two Morning papers: Sydsvenska Dagbladet and Helsingborgs Dagblad will be implementing a two percent yearly increase, the first raise since a substential raise in 2015. Sweden’s biggest…