Europas Gewerkschaften in Offensive für die Freien

von Michael Hirschler, Deutscher Journalisten-Verband, hir@djv.de Die polnische Regierung hat im Rest von Europa eigentlich keinen so guten Ruf, weil sie unabhängige Medien und auch die Justiz unter Druck setzt. Doch bei der Sozialpolitik hat sie dem Rest von Europa wohl einen Schritt voraus: seit dem 1. Januar 2017 gibt es dort den gesetzlichen Mindestlohn für Selbständige und diejenigen, die mit freiem Dienstvertrag tätig sind. Mindestlohn für Freie? Davon träumen viele der Selbständigen im Rest von Europa und selbst diejenigen in wirtschaftlich starken Ländern wie Deutschland. Denn Menschen, die ohne offizielles Arbeitsverhältnis beschäftigt werden, werden bei den Themen faire Bezahlung…

The EFJ delegation (on the right) including General Secretary Ricardo Gutierrez, President Mogens Blicher Bjerrregård, Director Renate Schroeder met with the European Commission First Vice-President Frans Timmermans and his cabinet. © EFJ

EC First Vice-President backs journalists to promote quality journalism and reinstall journalism as a public good

(Brussels, 28 November 2014) The First Vice-President of the European Commission, Mr. Frans Timmermans, has told a delegation from the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) that sustaining quality journalism and putting Europe’s media freedom back on track will be high on his agenda. Mr Timmermans, the First Vice-President who is also the EU Commissioner in charge of Better Regulation, Inter-Institutional Relations, Rule of Law and Charter of Fundamental Rights highlighted that the financial crisis in the European media industry is affecting journalists’ rights, jobs and journalism as a public good. “Preserving reliable and quality information is an existential question for…

77 % of journalists in Macedonia work under constant risk of being fired

“In Macedonia, only 1 % of journalists consider their jobs to be absolutely secure while 77 % believe that they are under constant risk of being fired. Raising the issue and the consequences of the insecure or precarious work in the media industry is more than necessary”, shows a new survey published today (24/11/2014) in Skopje by the SSNM (Independent Union of Journalists and Media Workers, an EFJ affiliate). The study based on 104 in-depth interviews with local journalists has been presented by SSNM President Tamara Chausidis during a conference on “Precarious Work in the Media Industry” attended by SSNM…

South-east Europe Media Forum (SEEMF) 2014

The EFJ has been invited to contribute to the last South-east Europe Media Forum (SEEMF) 2014 held on 16-18 October 2014 in Skopje. The event was organized by the South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), the Media Program South East Europe of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) and the Central European Initiative (CEI) in partnership with UNESCO, the European Commission, International Academy – International Media Center (IA-IMC) and South East and Central Europe PR Organisation (SECEPRO) and in cooperation with the South East European Network for the Professionalization of Media (SEENPM), Macedonian Institute for Media, Association of Journalists of Macedonia (AJM/ZNM), the…

German Government to Propose Law to Limit the Right to Strike

Every worker is entitled to the right to strike which is guaranteed by the EU Charter on Fundamental Rights and the constitutions in many EU countries. However, Germany will challenge this right by proposing a new law to limit the right to strike. According to the proposal, only the union with the most members in a company should have the right to negotiate with the employers and carry out strike actions. This would mean that larger unions will have a monopoly of power, making the smaller unions practically superfluous. The EFJ affiliates in Germany, DJV and dju.in Verdi, are joining…

Finnish Union Reaches Agreement after Tough Negotiations

The Journalists’ Union of Finland has concluded a new collective agreement for around 4500 journalists and media workers in the print media and news agencies in the country. ‘‘I congratulate our affiliate on the successful negotiation of the new collective agreement under the challenging environment,’’ said Ricardo Gutierrez, EFJ General Secretary. The new agreement reached on 1 October will cover journalists working for online news website and media which was challenged by the employers. Although the union has made a small victory for the salary of journalists by achieving a moderate increase of 1.34% after 26 months, the union has…

TGS-EFJ Kicks Off First Capacity Building Workshop

(26-27.04.2014) The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and its affiliate in Turkey, the Journalists Union of Turkey (TGS for Türkiye Gazeteciler Sendikasi), organised the first workshop for a two-year project called “Press Freedom and Empowering the Journalists Trade Union Movement in Turkey”. The project is funded by the EIDHR (European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights) of the European Commission. The workshop covered the issues on union capacity-building, recruitment strategies, legal assistance and the TGS-EFJ campaign for the freedom of imprisoned journalists. The workshop also discussed the preparation of a major international conference for 2016. Renate Schroeder (EFJ Director) and Mehmet Koksal…

Members of Labour Rights Expert Group

Elected members of the Labour Rights Expert Group (LAREG) in 2014 are Chair     Philippe Leruth     Renate Gensch     Rainer Reichert     Yannis Kotsifos     Seamus Dooley     Franco Siddi     Marta Barcenilla     Nathalie Weber     Michelle Stanistreet  

Managing change in journalism: innovation and trade unions in the news industry

(2011) The media industry is undergoing a revolutionary change. Only few actors attempt to untangle the changing relationship and deal with some important questions raised over the quality of journalism and the increasingly volatile working conditions faced by journalists. The report Managing Change in Journalism published by the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) attempts to answer these questions through a thorough analysis of a drastically changing media environment. Download the report