How to run a successful strike, get maximum support and publicity and keep the picket line happy

Transcription

1 How to run a successful strike, get maximum support and publicity and keep the picket line happy Newsquest reps Andrew Brassleay, Becky Middleton and Mark Chandler have put together a guide on how to plan action and keep it going, based on their experience of holding a 12-day strike on their newspaper titles in London and the south-east.

2 Introduction When the chapel at Newsquest south London voted to go on a 12-day strike over cuts and poor pay in June 2015 it was a declaration of intent. They had had enough. They were sick of the year-on-year culls of staff and colleagues not being paid even the London living wage, despite Gracia Martore, the CEO of Gannett, Newsquest s American parent company, pocketing 7.5m a year a sum equal to the salaries of 454 reporters. On day 10, the management said it would come back to the negotiating table. Eventually a deal was done, the London living wage was agreed and a pay rise for staff was won. What had happened in those days in between was an inspiring campaign that connected with the local community and attracted local and national politicians of all hues to the journalists cause. Tory MPs visited the picket line and signed an early day motion in Parliament condemning Newsquest s plans. A cross-party alliance in the London Assembly tabled an emergency motion in favour of the strikers. NUJ members and local people bombarded the Newsquest management with letters of support for the journalists. That is why I asked the strike leaders, Andrew Brassleay, Becky Middleton and Mark Chandler, the team organising the action, to put together this pamphlet to offer tips and give advice to others planning similar campaigns. It is also an opportunity for me to be able to thank them and their colleagues again for putting up such a brave and valiant fight that inspired many of us throughout the NUJ and the broader trade union movement. Michelle Stanistreet NUJ, general secretary

3 Before industrial action Get started now. As in right now. Companies drawing up redundancies or deciding not to give pay rises will usually make their decisions months in advance and prepare (and therefore budget) accordingly. You should too. If you have to make a standing start when notice is given, you ll have a harder job of engaging with new and existing members and getting a campaign going in time for it to be effective. There is a danger of thinking of the union as only being something to turn to during pay claims and job cuts, whereas there is far more that can be done all year round. There are plenty of steps you can take now to get your chapel active. Encourage your members to get involved in the union Find roles that suit individuals Apart from F/MoC, there are plenty of roles open to people that may suit their interests, or level of responsibility they wish to take. Deputies, health and safety, campaigns, equalities, training, secretary, finance, and social reps can help carry the load and act as points of communication to cover the union s spread around the office. They can also liaise with new and existing members who do not know the F/MoC that well. The more visible the union is in the workplace, the freer people will feel about discussing it. Get your reps on training courses The NUJ offers a free officers course for NUJ reps. It s in three stages which last two days. By law, reps are allowed reasonable time off to take part in training which will affect their roles. The courses are a huge help in understanding what tasks you can do in your role as a rep, make you more effective in negotiations and build and maintain your chapel. There is also a health and safety course for H&S reps. Visit nuj.org.uk/work/ training/ Do surveys Surveying members (and non-members) engages the office with the union and unearths issues such as training and equipment needs members may have. Health and safety surveys, particularly on workloads and stress, can also be a way of holding the company to account on the pressures it places on its staff. Do them regularly, either every quarterly, every six months or annually. Gaining evidence that workloads are increasing or employees going off ill with stress is useful when raising issues with the company. As a last resort, it is also a way to bring the governmentappointed Health and Safety Executive staff to inspect the office s conditions and force the company to make changes by law. Speak to your NUJ officer about putting such measures in place. Get funds for social events This is particularly handy if you sense danger coming or need to boost the membership or promote solidarity. Other NUJ branches will have cash and you can arrange a fundraising, social event. Speak to your NUJ officer to find out which branch you should speak to and how you should approach it. Come up with ideas that will also benefit the company Devising ideas that are equally beneficial to your members and the company will help the company to appreciate that engaging with the union can also be positive for them. Carefully done, and ensuring that editorial integrity is not compromised, web-hit bonuses and ad-lead schemes can put more money in your members pockets and make money for the

4 company. This approach may make managers keener to get round the table than otherwise, especially when trouble does hit. During your discussions with the company, keep a paper trail whenever you can and send anything you feel potentially useful to your own personal address. You never know what may be of use at a later date Keep an updated list of members, with addresses and job titles. A company is legally obligated to know the number of people in your chapel and their job titles on an industrial ballot and a failure to do this accurately may cause your action to be postponed. If you have these organised, then when the need to discuss industrial action occurs, you ll be able to make a swifter, more accurate response. What to do when the company s announcement is made So, the company has announced a pay freeze, job cuts, office closure or any number of things that will adversely affect your members. As soon as this has happens you should consider the following. Ensure you have a copy of the company s proposals and that you take time to understand their ramifications. Does the company really need to do this? Investigate the company s latest financial figures. If it is making a huge profit, then why are these measures being put in place? Demand answers from the company. If they are not forthcoming within a set deadline, that should form part of the dispute. Even if the company does have good reasons, you should still seek a way through that would prevent damage to your members. If you ve had survey results before showing pressures on working conditions that the company s plans will exacerbate, highlight this to the company and the chapel and speak to the union s HQ about how this can form part of your defence. If you believe the chapel should make a stand, speak to them and outline what the options are and what your stance is. Guage the mood, but tell them more can be done if everyone works together to try to prevent the company s new measures. Once you feel that everyone has the information required and you are clear in your thoughts about the kind of action you believe is necessary to be effective (work to rule, strikes, letters to advertisers, political campaign etc) hold a vote to see if the chapel is broadly in favour of exploring the idea of industrial action If the chapel is in favour, make a list of all the demands you and the chapel are seeking from the management. If you have any ongoing issues, such as pay or health and safety, throw them in to the mix too. But always focus on which areas you seek to prioritise in the event of a negotiation. Chances are you will need a quick turnaround once the ballot decided and the company is informed. [The rules will change under the new, draconian legislation on trade unions going through parliament. The NUJ will be sending out advice when it becomes law]. If there are any non-members, include them. Tell them about the situation and what the chapel intends to do about it. In a lot of instances, people have not joined due to lack of finances, they do not know what unions do, or perhaps they have never been asked to join. This should encourage them to sign up to the NUJ. Alternatively, if you have other reps who know the individuals better, you could ask them to discuss the matter with them first.

5 During your discussions with the company, keep a paper trail whenever you can and send anything you feel potentially useful to your own personal address. You never know what may be of use at a later date

6 If there are any non-members, include them. Tell them about the situation and what the chapel intends to do about it. In a lot of instances, people have not joined due to lack of finances, they do not know what unions do, or perhaps they have never been asked to join.

7 Redundancy consultation meetings will probably taking place while all these are going on. Where possible delay these as much as possible to give you more time. Legally, if you have a valid reason (i.e. your NUJ officer can t make the specified date) you can stall talks by five working days, buying you precious time and extending the process. After the vote: building up to a strike Once a vote in favour of action has taken place, the law states that the company must have one week s notice before it can take place. [This could change to two weeks]. Now that you know the action will likely go ahead unless a deal being reached beforehand, use this time to do as much as you can to make your campaign as effective as possible. Funding Your team s morale will be greatly boosted if their wage loss for going on strike is made up by donations. Speak to the NUJ about getting other branches and members to contribute. Set up a bank account for your chapel (and elect a finance rep or treasurer) well in advance to ensure money is transferred as smoothly as possible. Plan the campaign Start to design leaflets and other paraphernalia ready to pass on to readers, community figures and advertisers. An effective leaflet (A5 is a good size for handing out to passers-by) should contain the following information as a minimum: the name of your paper, preferably with its masthead the key areas of your campaign that you believe the general public will be most concerned about in the smaller text, give details of which papers are being affected, how many jobs are going and the number of past rounds of redundancies all that stuff. provide management s contact details so people know where to complain. Ask your local MPs to join the fight and add their names and contact details. if your campaign has a Twitter handle, add that too. Put together a list of important community figures you wish to make aware of your campaign. Local MPs, councillors, story contacts, business leaders, spiritual leaders and so forth could all help. Put together a CV of your newspaper(s) details such as what year it began, major stories it has covered, successful campaigns and awards it has gained. These details can be sent to community figures as part of a package about why the local paper matters to the community. If you intend to send letters to the paper s advertisers, get this ready now. Ask for volunteers willing to write down all the addresses they can find of advertisers. Make sure you have a clear mandate from the chapel before doing this and that a clear majority is happy with this tactic. But if members want convincing, tell them that if the paper is losing quality, the advertisers should be perfectly entitled to know, especially if they have not had a drop in price for their adverts. Any letters sent out once industrial action starts should be sent out from the NUJ rather than the chapel. You can also choose to stagger the letters release i.e. you could send 50 letters to start with and a further 10 each day that way, if management wants you to stop sending them, this is a bargaining tool.

8 Seek discussions with management Keep the dialogue open. Be careful of certain management tactics designed to cause confusion and division in the ranks, such as last-minute, rushed deals before your strike takes place. Maintaining solidarity on the picket line Keeping everyone united and engaged with your dispute, especially during a long campaign, is vital to ensure goals are maintained. The following points can help keep everyone together. Make sure everyone is prepared for all types of weather. Get volunteers to leaflet in different areas, meet politicians on their home turf or fix up fundraising events for the evening. Mix things up to stop people getting bored and keep the momentum up. A social rep can help arrange lunchtime activities. If there s anywhere close by for a barbecue, or just getting pizza orders in, little things like this can keep discussions going. Hold regular chapel meetings on the picket line. These are especially important if management is attempting divide and conquer tactics. You ll need to reassure the team about your plan and keep everyone together by going over the common goals that need to be achieved or addressed. Invite other people to join you on the picket line. Support from politicians, other unions, journalists and NUJ members or officers can give everyone a morale boost and shows that you re not fighting alone. Keep up your social media presence throughout the strike. You ll be amazed by the number of supportive messages you will get on a website like Twitter it helps to keep spread your message. Journalists don t need telling, but regular trips to the pub are a must to help people wind down, discuss next steps and just keep up their spirits. Community engagement Tweet and share photos of strikers at local landmarks taking our placards into local football grounds proved particularly effective. Hand out leaflets outside libraries and town halls. Make your placards relevant to the reader show them the cuts will make a difference to the service they receive. Get the support of other journalists and bloggers. Do you have any local celebrities who can offer their support? Supply pictures and regular updates from the picket line, especially keep in contact with the NUJ campaign team so it can disseminate and update the story each day on its website. Political support Get your messages out to councillors, MPs, London Assembly members (if applicable), unions and others early on in the dispute. Provide them with a brief outline of the problems and, most importantly, give them a few people to write to or phone. Try to have a sit-down meeting with at least one MP before the dispute starts. If you have a sympathetic one, they may agree to cajole more reticent politicians into taking action. Make sure you re aiming for cross-party support. This may involve tweaking your message depending on which political party

9 Keep up your social media presence throughout the strike. You ll be amazed by the number of supportive messages you will get on a website like Twitter it helps to keep spread your message.

10 Make sure you re aiming for cross-party support. This may involve tweaking your message depending on which political party you are contacting. If your local MP is a Conservative, that doesn t necessarily mean they won t support your action

11 you are contacting. If your local MP is a Conservative, that doesn t necessarily mean they won t support your action. The local newspaper should be regarded as a valued pillar of the community which promotes businesses, and helps democracy work. If your MP wishes to be seen to be actively involved in the community, s/he should adopt your cause. Try to keep politicians involved while industrial action is taking place. This could be as simple as a photo opportunity with strikers or a tweeted picture of a supportive letter they have written. More useful are items they can put forward for debate, be it at party, council or parliamentary level. Newsquest colleagues secured an Early Day Motion in Parliament. Consider sending a delegation of strikers to meet various politicians. The Newsquest strikers, along with the NUJ general secretary, spent an afternoon meeting every party at City Hall to secure their support. Take a union HQ official to all meetings with management. Keep the tone civil and point out that you want to resolve this situation as much as the company does. At the end of the day, you re going to have to work with these people again Afterwards It s important to monitor the company and what it has promised in negotiations. Schedule dates for a review and keep records of everything that happens in the months after any changes are made. Good luck! Negotiations You ve been called in by the company for talks. Here are some ideas to get the most out of them. Never accept the first offer. Chances are the company will have at least one fall-back option. If you don t ask, you don t get. Negotiations with management are essentially a game of poker. Try to control your body language (relaxed is usually better the NUJ s stage 3 training will help with this). Be creative. If redundancies are being made, is there a way to bump up people s pay-offs? Can money for training be included in the package? Could a pay rise be back dated? If staff numbers are being cut, is there a way to at least get in some part-time staff?

12 It is also an opportunity for me to be able to thank them and their colleagues again for putting up such a brave and valiant fight that inspired many of us throughout the NUJ and the broader trade union movement. Michelle Stanistreet NUJ, general secretary Published on behalf of the National Union of Journalists