You would have thought they might have learnt after the recent Law 360 experience in New York… but obviously not
This alert from the NUJ is dated 4 October, apologies for being somewhat slow with it
The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) has today received notification from LexisNexis and LexisNexis Risk Solutions (formerly RBI) of its intention to terminate long-standing recognition agreements with the union.
The NUJ strongly condemns the decision, urging a reversal of the ill-judged attempt to remove collective bargaining rights from journalists and editorial workers.
Michelle Stanistreet, NUJ general secretary, said:
“The decision to unilaterally derecognise the NUJ and scrap two longstanding collective bargaining agreements without any discussion or engagement is a contemptuous and arrogant move on the part of the company.
“Trade union rights are human rights. For a company that prides itself on its legal expertise and services, and delivering content aimed at HR and industrial relations professionals, exposing their own naked hostility to trade union organisation and contempt for collective bargaining is a pretty bad look.
“If the company’s management believes this is the end of NUJ engagement and organisation at the business, they are also woefully misguided. In claiming the mantle as one of the first UK employers to derecognise a union in the early days of a new Labour government, they must surely also be aware of the imminent legislative changes to workers’ rights – reform that will make it easier to gain a collective voice at work.
“It’s also of note that this blatant union-busting move comes after a period of animated organising and recruitment at The Lancet, also owned by RELX. It’s not cynical to see this decision to scrap our chapels’ recognition agreements as a knee-jerk attempt by the company to stifle their employees’ appetite for independent trade union recognition and protection. I have no doubt this backwards and ultimately futile move will only harden our members’ resolve to defend their rights and provide a boost to the NUJ’s recruitment and organising efforts.”
The last time we can find NUJ members at LN going on strike is 2011 after they were offered a measly 2.2% payrise. I wonder if they have received any significant payrises in the interim
Journalists at business information company LexisNexis are to take three days of strike action in protest at a 2.2 per cent pay offer.
The National Union of Journalists claims to have nearly 100 members at the publisher and they are set to walk out on the 19,25 and 26 of August.
NUJ chapel rep at LexisNexis Sylvia Courtnage said: ‘It is clear that members understand the need to demonstrate to the company the depth of feeling. Many have had to take on extra work over recent months, yet there seems to have been little tangible reward for our efforts.”
Another NUJ chapel official, Dan Meredith, said: “Our members are highly committed, professional individuals. For us, taking strike action is a last resort and something we have tried extremely hard to avoid. We urge the company to enter into meaningful negotiations to resolve this dispute.”
NUJ general secretary Michelle Stanistreet said that the action had come about as a result of ‘several years of paltry pay rises”.
She said that NUJ members are now ‘determined to get a rise that truly reflects their loyalty, commitment and sheer hard work”.
https://pressgazette.co.uk/media_business/nuj-members-at-lexisnexis-opt-for-three-day-strike/
