Reminder: Birmingham & Coventry NUJ July Branch Meeting

Wednesday 10th July
Carrs Lane Church Centre
Carrs Lane
Birmingham
B4 7SX
6:00 pm for 6:30 start

Topics in this message:

 NUJ Consults Members on BBC's New Pay Offer
 £25 million Handouts to BBC Senior Managers in the Last Three Years
 Early Day Motion 324: Reform Of Civil Legal Aid
 Les Reid Scoops Double as Midlands Media Awards Handed Out
 Cara Simpson - Midlands Media Feature Writer of the Year
 NUJ Informed - News from NUJ National Executive

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NUJ Consults Members on BBC's New Pay Offer
The union has announced it will be consulting NUJ members at the BBC in response to a revised offer from the corporation on pay, redundancy consultation and anti-social hours payments (UPA). The offer comes during the unions' existing ballot for industrial action at the BBC. There will now be a consultative ballot of all BBC NUJ members and the NUJ will be holding local workplace meetings to discuss the revised offer with members. The new ballot will close on Friday 26 July.

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£25 million Handouts to BBC Senior Managers in the Last Three Years
The BBC's redundancy payouts have been called "deeply worrying" after a Government watchdog found it spent £25 million on handouts to senior managers over the last three years. A National Audit Office (NAO) report into severance pay at the corporation found that it "breached its own policy... too often and without good reason" by offering packages that were in excess of contractual entitlement. It said the payouts had "put public trust at risk".
Read more: <>  Press Gazette, 01/07/13

Sue Harris, NUJ Broadcast organiser commenting on above, said: "We welcome the NAO's strong condemnation of the BBC's previous practices around excessive senior management severance payments. The NUJ has been questioning and challenging this practice for many years. The NUJ was pleased when the BBC and Tony Hall adopted the NUJ's proposal that redundancy and severance payments should be capped at £150,000. It is good to know that the new Director General intends to address the problem of excessive management pay-outs and differential treatment from ordinary members of staff."

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Midlands Media Awards

Les Reid Scoops Double
Coventry Telegraph journalist (and NUJ member) Les Reid added to his growing haul of awards last night as the 2013 Midlands Media Awards were handed out. Les, who last month won the Columnist of the Year prize at the Regional Press Awards, walked away with two more awards from last night's ceremony at Villa Park.

The political specialist retained both the awards he won at the same event last year - Journalist of the Year and Daily News Reporter of the Year - as well as being shortlisted for two other prizes. Among his entries was a story about the alleged bullying of a journalist at a local BBC Radio Station who took his own life, which prompted an internal inquiry and became a major national story.
Read more: <>   HoldTheFrontPage.co.uk

Cara Simpson - Feature Writer of the Year
Demonstrated a high standard of writing, and insight into the lives of people in war torn Sierra Leone bought their plight home to readers in Coventry and Warwickshire.

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Early Day Motion 324: Reform Of Civil Legal Aid
That this House believes access to justice is a hallmark of a civilised society; further believes that the Government's proposed reforms to civil legal aid will severely limit the ability for many to access the justice system; is deeply concerned by plans to introduce a residence test for civil legal aid, which will remove legal support for many vulnerable groups including victims of human trafficking and domestic violence; notes that the residence test will also prevent many cases being brought against the Government when it is accused of wrongdoing abroad; further notes that the majority of individuals held in immigration detention will be left without support to challenge their continued detention; regrets the effect the proposed reforms to judicial review will have on the ability of individuals to hold public bodies to account; further believes that the proposals relating to prison law will effectively mean that justice stops at the prison gate; and calls on the Government to abandon its proposed reforms of civil legal aid immediately.

Sponsors: Teather, Sarah/ Durkan, Mark / Edwards, Jonathan / Llwyd, Elfyn / Ritchie, Margaret / Williams, Hywel   -   <>  House of Commons: 01.07.2013


Put your MP to work demand they sign EDM 324
You can contact your MP for free, through: WriteToThem.Com
http://www.writetothem.com/

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News from NUJ National Executive
NUJ Informed is aimed at sharing information about union activities and highlight some of the work done for our members. Regular editions of NUJ Informed will be published after NEC meetings and provide an opportunity to promote the union's work. The latest edition has been sent to all NUJ representatives and is attached to this email.

Please feel free to forward NUJ Informed to members in your area or you can print the newsletter (it works in black and white or in colour) and give it out in your workplace and/or at your next chapel or branch meeting. Why not also give a copy to someone you know who isn't already a member and ask them to join the NUJ?

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