NUJ Socialist Party members
At the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) national delegates’ meeting (DM – a biennial conference), 25-27 April, the issues of Gaza and NUJ members’ subscriptions saw the most heated debates.
A majority of the DM voted for a Dublin branch motion condemning the targeting and killing of journalists and media workers in Gaza, the occupied territories and Lebanon.
Motion 102 from the London Magazine branch noted a November 2024 letter from over 230 members of the media, including 101 BBC journalists, that criticised the BBC, Sky and ITV reporting of the Gaza horrors.
Some BBC delegates, with backing from the right wing of the National Executive Council (NEC), successfully moved to bring the motion back to standing orders, claiming the motion broke NUJ rules. London Magazine members agreed to remove the contentious paragraph but BBC London branch still opposed the motion. They falsely claimed that the London Magazine motion was an attack on the integrity and work of BBC journalists.
Moving the motion, London Magazine branch chair and Socialist Party member Niall Mulholland emphasised that in fact the motion was an act of solidarity with BBC journalists trying to do their job and follow the NUJ’s Code of Conduct, in the context of senior management pressure and editorial decisions. Niall quoted from the open letter: “The BBC did not make clear when Israel is a perpetrator or relay the historical context of events before 7 October 2023.” An oppositional amendment was passed but a significant minority supported 102.
Building the union
The NUJ leadership suffered a blow when a motion calling for an increase in subs was defeated. Delegates spoke about how the subs levels (high in comparison to many unions) are a barrier to recruitment, especially for younger journalists. Despite rows at previous DMs and the holding of a special online conference on the issue, the leadership still insists on raising subs that hit less-well-paid members hardest.
Membership has fallen since the DM two years ago. A drive on workplace recruitment on the basis of a campaigning, democratic union is the way to resolve the union’s financial problems.
Niall successfully moved a London Magazine motion condemning the Starmer government’s ending of winter fuel payments for many pensioners, including retired NUJ members.
NEC member Anton McCabe spoke on continuing foot-dragging by the British state regarding an investigation into the killing of Belfast lawyer, Pat Finucane, by loyalist paramilitaries in 1989, with British state collusion. NUJ colleagues of Northern Ireland journalist Martin O’Hagan, killed in 2001 by loyalist paramilitaries with alleged police involvement, are still campaigning for a full investigation and justice.
A supporter of Militant Left (CWI in Ireland), Anton has been elected to the NEC for many years. Although ‘retiring’ from that body, he will continue to be a left voice in the union.
