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news
Landmark victory in battle for interns pay
T
he union has won its first victory in the campaign for cashback for interns. Former intern Keri Hudson was awarded £1024.98 in damages – £913.22 in national minimum wage back pay and £111.76 in holiday pay – from TPG Web Publishing at an employment tribunal in central London. The tribunal found Ms Hudson had a right to be paid for intern work which she had carried out over two months at TPG’s My Village website last year. The tribunal heard that despite the fact she worked each day from 10am to 6pm and had been personally responsible for, and in
charge of a team of writers, for training and delegating tasks, collecting briefs, scheduling articles and even for hiring new interns, the company had told her she was not eligible for any pay because they considered her an intern. In her evidence Ms Hudson said she had been asked when the site was taken over by TPG Web Publishing Ltd if she would stay on and work for the new company. She was assured her pay would be fixed. After five more weeks she was informed she would not now be receiving a payment for the work she carried out – she resigned and took out a grievance. The tribunal found she was a worker in law even though she didn’t have a written contract and was therefore entitled to be paid at least the national minimum wage and holiday pay. Roy Mincoff, NUJ legal officer, said: “This sends a clear message to media companies that if they treat interns like cheap labour, the NUJ will take you through the courts. If in reality interns are workers, they are entitled to the national minimum wage and holiday pay and NUJ will fight for these rights to be enforced.” The union encourages other interns who believe they should have been paid to contact legal@nuj.org.uk
in brief...
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If in reality interns are workers they are entitled to the national minimum wage and holiday pay
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Looking towards a co-operative future
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s traditional business models in journalism flounder, can cooperatives and other notfor-profit set-ups offer both readers and journalists a brighter alternative? This was the main theme of a recent conference run by the NUJ in conjunction
with Co-operatives UK and the media department of Goldsmith’s College. Local media could be ripe for the co-operative model, Dave Boyle of Cooperatives UK, the umbrella body for co-ops, told the conference. A ‘second wave’ of co-operatives is already
developing, incorporating ‘community assets’ such as pubs and football clubs. Why not news too? As the big local media companies – hamstrung by huge debts and unrealistic profit expectations – increasingly retreat, cooperative ventures could fill the void.
The conference heard from NUJ members seeking to get their own co-operative projects established, such as the Port Talbot Magnet in South Wales. Elsewhere in the UK, the long-established West Highland Free Press thrives along co-operative lines.
Eyes down for Johnston journalists
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ohnston Press group has resorted to offering its journalists the chance to play free games of online bingo. However, the regional press group has barred them from winning the top prizes. The company – which has made 230 editorial staff redundant in the past year and had previously frozen salaries for nearly two years – is
telling its staff that they can now play 40 free games of Johnston’s online bingo, proclaiming that this ‘staff offer is even better’ than the 30 free games available to the group’s newspaper readers. Jenny Lennox, NUJ negotiator for publishing, commented: “It seems that the real lottery for journalists at Johnston’s is whether or not they will still have a job in a year’s time.”
Pakistani reporter found dead Saleem Shahzad, a Pakistani journalist working for Asia Times, has been killed 80 miles from Islamabad. He was a prominent journalist who investigated links between the military and al-Qaida. The body of the correspondent was found days after he disappeared on his way to a television interview in Islamabad. Detention over politkovskaya Russian authorities have detained the main suspect in the killing of the investigative journalist and Kremlin critic Anna Politkovskaya. Rustam Makhmudov, the man accused of shooting Politkovskaya in 2006, was detained in the province of Chechnya. NUJ launches new pride website The NUJ has launched a new website for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender members following a decision by the union’s delegate conference to endorse the project. The NUJ Pride website is the new forum which celebrates and supports the union’s LGBT members and those who support them. www.nujpride.org.uk Baby p reporting is criticised Journalists have been criticised over their coverage of child protection issues in a report ordered following the death of Baby P. The report by Professor Eileen Monro claimed that ‘one-dimensional’ reporting could potentially make the child protection system less safe for children. Reader’s digest loses second boss David Titmuss, the chief executive of Reader’s Digest UK, has left the company after just six months in the role. His departure means that Reader’s Digest UK has lost two chief executives in 10 months. Former chief executive Chris Spratling left in July 2010 after engineering a management buyout backed by Jon Moulton’s private equity company Better Capital. theJournalist | 5
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