Agency future must be ours, says union
THE NUJ is calling on management at the finance news agencies Thomson and Reuters to get into urgent talks with the union, following the final go-ahead for their £8.7 billion merger by regulators in Europe, Canada and the USA.
Management at both companies had been saying that uncertainties around the regulators’ decisions were preventing them from engaging in meaningful consultation with unions. What is effectively a takeover of Reuters by Thomson of Canada will be finalised in April.
Journalists at Reuters had been about to vote on industrial action to force managers to discuss the implications for staff. They were worried at a company plan to impose changes to journalists’ career structures. Reuters agreed to put back the proposals and the strike ballot was called off in February.
The NUJ’s National Organiser for Newspapers and Agencies, Barry Fitzpatrick, said: “We’re pleased that Reuters management saw sense and suspended the implementation of these changes. But members, both in Reuters and Thomson, still have concerns.
“They want to know the implications for jobs, work roles and career progression. In particular, they are looking for a commitment that any redundancies will be voluntary.
“The companies need their employees’ support to make this new venture a success, so the sooner they meet with their recognised unions the better.”
THE NUJ and French journalists’ union SNJ-CGT have launched a joint legal action against Bloomberg News in Paris.
The unions claim that the company has underpaid staff and broken the collective agreement that covers the pay and working conditions of French journalists in France.
The case is that Bloomberg has failed to properly apply two bonus schemes. In one, the company introduced a “13th month” bonus as required under the agreement, but only by cutting journalists’ base salaries. In the second, the company calculated a seniority bonus using only the minimum wage, rather than journalists’ full salaries.