Bristol journalists win key recognition battle
NUJ members at two Bristol papers are celebrating after scoring a major victory for union rights.
Journalists at the Northcliffe-owned Evening Post and Western Daily Press voted 2:1 in favour of extending NUJ negotiating rights to cover all the company’s editorial staff.
Despite a fierce campaign by senior managers to prevent the NUJ from securing bargaining rights editorial staff voted 74-37 in favour of NUJ recognition in a ballot organised by the Central Arbitration Committee. NUJ General Secretary Jeremy Dear said: “I offer my congratulations to members at Bristol for the magnificent work and campaigning they have done to secure this fantastic result. It shows that even in the face of a concerted campaign by senior managers journalists can see that their interests are best protected by having a strong and active union presence.
“With poor pay and long hours all too often the norm for too many journalists staff in Bristol have given themselves the means to begin negotiating to improve their terms and conditions. The NUJ will be fully committed to providing support to the chapel to help them achieve real benefits for editorial staff”.