We all need the union when the axe falls
Been promoted to the desk? Well done. It doesn’t mean you don’t need the union any more, as LAWRENCE SHAW explains
A FEW YEARS ago when I was a chapel officer I was approached by a recently promoted colleague. “I won’t be coming to the union meeting tonight,” he said. “Why’s that?” “Because I’m management now.”
The member had the mistaken impression that his promotion from reporter to the newsdesk meant he was now on the side of the bosses as he had some day-to-day supervisory duties of staff.
He was, of course, wrong. I told him so. And he agreed. All was forgiven. But since then I have seen this happen too many times in other workplaces.
The notion of our members being thrust up the career ladder to better-paid positions is something we should celebrate. After all, the union exists, at the most basic level, to assist members in securing the best pay for their work and skills.
But we all need to be wary of letting things go to our heads. Journalists should be the last people to fall victim to believing that their job titles turn them into superior beings who no longer need the support of a union. We are supposed to be able to see through the spin and the hype, and understand the truth.
The reality is that, excluding majority shareholders and board members, journalists at every level of every organisation from managing editor to trainee should be members of the NUJ.
Senior journalists are as vulnerable to cutbacks as the hacks lower down the chain — if not more so as recent culls have shown. It is in the interests of all, editors and senior journalists who claim to care about their products to support strong collective organisation and be part of the union to defeat cuts, even if they are not always part of collective pay rounds.
The NUJ represents a large number of senior journalists and PRs in personal cases, sometimes winning large payouts on their behalf. Due to the nature of confidential agreements, we can’t usually publicise how much we are winning, but the union is winning hundreds of thousands a year for members being treated unfairly.
Whatever rung of the ladder you are on, the old maxim rings true: “Got a boss? Get a union.” With the axe falling everywhere, you might find you can’t afford not to.
Lawrence Shaw is an NUJ Assistant Organiser