Chapels urged to press for information on equal pay
When a woman journalist in Bristol found she was being paid £4,000 a year less than a male colleague of similar experience doing the same job, she asked for a rise. But the editor told her: “You’ve just won union recognition here and if you want a union this is what you get.”
Susie Weldon, Bristol, said women in full-time work earn 17 per cent less than men; for part-timers the gap is 36 per cent.
To put this right a new Equal Pay Act is needed, the union’s Equality Officer Lena Calvert told ADM. It should give statutory rights to information on rates of pay in a company.
ADM also agreed that chapels should also seek this information and pressure employers to grant equal pay.
The conference welcomed the success of a member who had fought to close the pay gap and won. Fleur Cushman of the Racing Post had discovered an £8,000-a-year discrepancy between her salary and that of an equivalent male colleague. After a seven-month legal battle she won the right to equality — and £26,000 back pay.
“It was a gruelling fight,” said President Michelle Stanistreet, “and not everyone is as determined as Fleur Cushman. But in every media organisation you will find women doing the same job as men for less money and the union must do more to expose it.”
‘Work experience’ culture hits the old
The low-pay, work experience culture in the media discriminates against older journalists, said Ann Coltart of the Equality Council. “When young people are willing to work for little or nothing to get into the job, they disadvantage the older workers who lose their jobs.” ADM agreed to “emphasise the new anti-age discrimination laws in recruitment campaigns aimed at younger journalists”.
It also agreed to a plea from Nic Mitchell, Teesside, to campaign against the “degrading and patronising language” still used by some journalists writing about older people.
Hidden disabilities should be declared
Hidden disabilities are a serious issue for the media industry, Stephen Brookes of the Disabled Members Council said. He listed RSI; back pain; chronic fatigue syndrome; post-traumatic stress disorder; partial-sightedness; and epilepsy.
Those who have them suffered discrimination and needed better treatment by employers, he said, citing broadcasters who would not allow people with epilepsy on the air.
John Coghlan of the NEC stressed how important it is that people with hidden disabilities declare them to employers. “The majority of unfair dismissal cases brought by people with hidden disabilities fail because they had not declared them, so the employer could not have been expected to treat them accordingly,” he said.
ADM agreed to encourage members to declare their conditions.
Guidelines on race reporting
Lionel Morrison, Black Members Council, recalled the “rivers of blood” speech of Enoch Powell in 1968 that had “made the lives of black people hell”. He was calling for the union to circulate its guidelines on race reporting, immigration and asylum.
Tim Lezard, NEC, said that “as journalists, we have the responsibility to report accurately. If we do not, the consequences for others can be catastrophic.”
There is a racial divide in Britain in the use of stop and search laws, said Manuela da Costa-Fernandes of the Black Members Council. Asian people got the worst treatment. Only one in 400 searches of Asian people resulted in an arrest, she said. The NUJ should campaign to bring such searches to an end.
The union is to make a donation of £3,000 to Trade Unions for Refugees, a Manchester-based group that helps asylum seekers join and win support from UK unions. Delegates rejected a plea for remission by the NEC. Peter Murray said there were many organisations working for asylum seekers and it was invidious to single one out.