A meeting and social, May 14

Our next branch meeting will be on Tuesday 14 May at 7.30pm in the conservatory in the Prince Arthur pub, Dean Street, Brighton BN13EG Google map.

Agenda

1. Intro and apologies
2. Election of new members
3. Secretary's report including BBC dispute, Defend Our NHS campaign, Stop March for England
4. Treasurer's report
5. Election of new treasurer
6. Other reports including trades council
7. Future meetings and activities
8. Guest speaker(s): Brighton bin workers on their dispute and wildcat strike
9. Any other business
10. Branch social

We hope you can make it!

Next branch meeting on Tuesday 5 March

Our next branch meeting will be on Tuesday 5 March at 7.30pm in the 'lounge' at the Iron Duke, Waterloo Street, Brighton.

Agenda

1. Welcome & apologies
2. Election of new members
3. The fight for jobs at the BBC - Following last month's one-day strike, Paul Sawtell and Paul Siegert from BBC Sussex NUJ will report on the ongoing dispute
4. Defend the NHS - why we're supporting Thursday's public meeting with Caroline Lucas
5. Future meetings - please bring your ideas!
6. Communications
7. Treasurer's report
8. Other reports (including Argus, trades council)
9. AOB

We hope you can make it. The meetings are alway a nice informal opportunity for members to meet, catch up on NUJ news and bring ideas for branch activity.

Thanks to everyone who come to the Christmas party at the Mesmerist in December. It was great to see so many members out and about, and lots of people said how much they enjoyed the talk and social, particularly people who considered themselves 'lapsed' or 'out of the loop'.

We will be organising another social event soon, so if anyone would like to get involved, get in touch with Phil Mellows, Branch Secretary on nujbrighton@gmail.com

BBC on 24-hour strike

BBC Sussex picket line. Photo by Melita Dennett

On 18 February 2012, there was a 24-hour strike at the BBC. Full story as it unfolds at http://www.nuj.org.uk/innerPagenuj.html?docid=2815.

Michelle Stanistreet, said:

"NUJ members across the BBC are taking action to defend jobs and quality journalism at the corporation. They are angry and frustrated at the poor decisions being taken at the top of the BBC - decisions that are leading to journalists being forced out of their jobs and quality journalism and programming compromised.

"Instead of making sure that the redeployment process works properly in all areas of the BBC, managers are prepared to waste public money on needless redundancies and sacrifice the livelihoods of experienced and talented journalists, at the same time as advertising other jobs externally. It's particularly disappointing that the BBC has failed to engage meaningfully in attempts to resolve this dispute - an abdication ofresponsibility for a public service broadcaster."

NUJ members across the BBC - in Scotland, in BBC South, the Asian Network, Newsbeat, News, Five Live, the Big Screens, the World Service and English Regions - remain at risk of compulsory redundancy.

BBC jobs have been externally advertised while experienced and skilled staff, who face losing their livelihood, have not even been considered.

The NUJ has put forward constructive proposals to the BBC to resolve this dispute. The BBC has been asked for a moratorium on all job cuts for a six month period, to allow for talks and negotiation with the new Director General. So far the BBC has not responded to this request.

What you can do to help
- Visit your local picket line to show solidarity.
- Send messages of support by emailing: campaigns@nuj.org.uk
- Tweet your messages of support with the hashtag  #BBCStrike
- Email the BBC Trust to tell them you support the strike to stop the cuts: trust.enquiries@bbc.co.uk or if you would like to make a general comments or ask a question about the BBC you can call 03700 100 222; textphone 03700 100 212
- Ask your local MP to sign the BBC redundancies early day motion

Brighton Branch Xmas Party!

Yes, it's that time of the year again. This year the Brighton Branch Xmas party is Upstairs at the Mesmerist on Tuesday 18 December at 7pm.

There will be a short meeting first to deal with branch business, then we have comedian Geoff Westby and a talk by Phil Mellows on The Politics of Drinking!

As the nation argues about minimum pricing, Phil Mellows, pub trade journalist and author of the Politics of Drinking blog, talks about the myth of binge drinking and the role the media plays in distorting the debate.

There's a free bar until the tab runs out (so get there early) and food. All welcome.

The pub is at 1-3 Prince Albert Street, Brighton, BN1 1HE. Contact: 01273 328542. See you there.

Brighton Branch marches with the TUC against austerity

On Saturday 20 October, a Brighton and Mid-Sussex Branch contingent travelled up to London on the Trades Council chartered train to take part in the TUC's 'A future that works' anti-austerity march. Here is a photo of the NUJ group - including our General Secretary Michelle Stanistreet - which was near the back of the march, along with the 'entertainment unions'. It was a great show of solidarity and a big thank you to the Trades Council for organising the trip.

From the Newcastle DM

Brighton Branch secretary Phil Mellows puts motion 122 at the NUJ Delegate Meeting, Newcastle

Brighton Branch sent Phil Mellows and Fred Pipes to the NUJ Delegate Meeting, Newcastle, 5-7 October 2012. Our one motion, 122, in the Ethics section, was passed unanimously, after being moved by Phil. The other big news from the conference was that austerity measures to increase subscriptions by 5% and only hold the DM every two years were passed, but only after a close card vote, and both photographers and 60+ will get their own Councils. Full report to follow.

Fred (Alan) was interviewed by one of the student delegates, Leela Prasad - you can read his verbatim ramblings here: http://nujadm.org.uk/2012/interview-with-alan-pipes/ . You can find other interviews on that website too, along with news and analysis as reported by the journalism students.

View from our table. General Secretary Michelle Stanistreet is speaking. The gap behind president Donnacha DeLong is where a giant NUJ logo was - it fell off on the first day of the conference!

Join the TUC Demo October 20th

No to Austerity! March Together! Organise to Strike Together! 

The NUJ Branch will be reserving a block of seats on the train to the demo as described in the following Trades Council announcement:

The TUC have called a demonstration for ‘A Future That Works’ in central London on 20th October. This has the potential to see many hundreds of thousands on the streets - a huge show of anger against the government. The Brighton Trade Union Council with the support of most of our city’s union branches has booked a train so we can all travel up and back together. 

Book a seat today and join us! 

We have seen 350,000 public sector jobs lost, 4 years of pay freeze, NHS privatisation, 1 million youth unemployed, university fees tripled, benefits slashed, EMA cut... and only 15% of the cuts have been made so far. All this as the deficit and the coffers of the super-rich keep expanding! Our movement shook the government on 30th November when 2 million workers were on strike against the pensions robbery. In Brighton the strike was solid and 10,000 demonstrated.

Brighton Trades Council is against ALL cuts, ALL austerity, and believes that if strike action had continued and been escalated it could have forced the government to retreat. This demonstration needs to be as big as possible, not just to show the government we won’t put up with cuts, but also to be a chance to organise our workplaces, colleges, communities and towns to reject austerity.

Join the joint union train! Hundreds of subsidised seats available! If you are a union member your branch or region is probably already involved so contact them for a seat. If you do not belong to a union you can book seats direct with the Trades Council.

Email Phil at BrightonTradesCouncil@gmail.com

Train from Brighton approx 10am, return from Victoria approx 5pm.
Book a seat for full details.

Next Branch meeting: 1 October

The Iron Duke, 1 October, 7.30pm.

Draft agenda: 

• Matters arising from last meeting 
• Election of new members 
• Chapel and other reports 
• NUJ Delegates Meeting - motions and issues 
• TUC demo October 20 
• Children of unemployed Christmas party appeal 
• Future meetings and events (inc Christmas party)

http://www.irondukebrighton.co.uk

More details about DM and a full agenda can be found on the NUJ site, http://www.nuj.org.uk/innerPagenuj.html?docid=2474. You'll find a document containing the background to the NUJ recovery plan. We'd also advise reading the alternative proposals put forward by the FT chapter that can be found here: http://ftnujchapel.wordpress.com/2012/07/31/nuj-alternative-recovery-plan/.

TUC events

We're sure you've been following the announcements on the NUJ's main website, but we'd like to remind you about a few events taking place in Brighton next week as part of TUC Congress.

First and foremost is the NUJ social evening on Tuesday 11th September, which we've helped to organise. It'd be great to see as many people there as possible and guests/possible recruits are more than welcome.

NUJ social evening
Come join the NUJ on the last night of TUC Congress for a few drinks and friendly banter.

Donnacha DeLong, NUJ President, and Ewa Jasiewicz, Unite organiser and NUJ freelance member, will kick things off with a short discussion about building the NUJ and then chill out, have a few drinks and network. Journalists, broadcasters, bloggers, Tweeters, PRs, publishers, web designers and comradely trade unionists welcome, you don't have to be an NUJ member (yet) to come along.

Time: 7pm, Tuesday 11 September.
Venue: Upstairs at the Mesmerist - 1-3 Prince Albert Street, Brighton, BN1 1HE.

The night before, on Monday 10th September, there will also be a fringe meeting around the Leveson inquiry:

Speakers: Michelle Stanistreet NUJ, Mark Serwotka PCS, Tony Burke Unite, John Hendy QC, Helen Goodman MP, Des Freedman CCMR, Granville Williams CPBF, Owen Jones, author of Chavs: The Demonization of the Working Class.
Title: The press post Leveson: how a unionised workplace can deliver ethical journalism
Time: Monday 10 September, 17.30
Venue: Brighton Centre, the Restaurant.

Refreshments provided.
More details here

The NUJ is also supporting two fringe events held by the Trade Union Co-ordinating Group

Title: Fighting Austerity - Co-ordinated Action
Chair: Michelle Stanistreet
Speakers: Matt Wrack (FBU), Mark Serwotka (PCS), Bob Crow (RMT), Kathy Turner (UCU), John McDonnell MP
Time: Monday 10 September, 12.30 to 2pm
Venue: Meeting Room 3, Second Floor, Brighton Conference Centre

Title: Work Under Attack! - Health, Safety and Violence Against the Workforce
Chair: Bob Monks (URTU)
Speakers: Ronnie Draper (BFAWU), Hilda Palmer (Hazards), Jerry Glazier (NUT), Steve Gillan (POA)
Time: Tuesday 11 September, 5.30pm to 7pm
Venue: Meeting Room 3, Second Floor, Brighton Conference Centre

GFTU and IER Sunday Night Special at the Ship Hotel
The Institute of Employment Rights: Days of Action, Protesting Against Austerity: with the United Campaign for the Repeal of anti-trade union laws
Chair: Carolyn Jones
Speakers: Keith Ewing, IER President, John Hendy QC, IER Chairman, Len McCluskey, UNITE

As ever, we hope to see as many of you there as possible.

Brighton & MidSussex NUJ branch committee

Agenda for next Branch meeting, July 10, 2012

The NUJ summer party has been booked for Tuesday, July 10. It will be held at the Brunswick Pub in Holland Road, Hove (www.thebrunswick.net) starting at 7.30pm. But before the festivities begin, there will be a Branch meeting to discuss the following:

 AGENDA

1. Welcome and apologies 
2. New members 
3. NUJ financial crisis
4. Election of delegates to DM (Newcastle, October 5-7). We are allowed two delegates. Please think about whether you'd like to go. Fred Pipes has already expressed an interest. 
5. Secretary/treasurer's report 
6. Other reports 
7. AOB

NUJ summer party

Dear members

With summer sort of here, the NUJ summer party has been booked for Tuesday, July 10. It will be held at the Brunswick Pub in Holland Road, Hove (www.thebrunswick.net) starting at 7.30pm.

We will be having our regular branch meet first and then a general social. We will also be able to provide a FREE drink so it would be great to see lots of members for a friendly get together with fellow NUJers. And why not bring along a friend if they are interested in joining?

Agenda for Branch meeting: May 23, 2012

Brighton & Mid-Sussex NUJ

Branch meeting: May 23, 2012
The Iron Duke, Waterloo Street, 7.30pm

AGENDA

Welcome

Apologies

New members

Treasurer’s report

Report from last meeting (on website)

Matters arising:  
       Branch email list
       Stop March For England - thanks

Correspondence:
       Request for support for World Pride 2012

Motions for Delegate Meeting
       Please send motions in advance to nujbrighton@gmail.com

Chapel/freelance reports

Other reports

Any other business

Branch meeting: Wednesday 23rd May

Branch meeting: Wednesday 23rd May, The Iron Duke, Brighton, 7.30pm

Our next branch meeting will take place at the Iron Duke pub in Brighton. The Iron Duke is easy to find, just off the seafront near to Brunswick Square - we'll be in the function room behind the main bar. The main item on the agenda will be branch motions for the NUJ Delegates Meeting in September.

Submissions for other items of discussion are welcomed via nujbrighton@gmail.com and more will be taken on the night. A full agenda will be published on the website soon.

What we want more than agenda points, though, is for more members to come along to these regular meetings. As we discussed with NUJ General Secretary Michelle Stanistreet last time, these are challenging times for UK journalists – and the more active members we have the greater the role we can play in helping to shape the future of the industry in our area.

What we need are ideas, suggestions and thoughts about future events that will make our branch even stronger and a better resource for you, its members.

See you next Wednesday.

Book launch

Brighton Branch former officer Susanna Quinn launches her debut novel. She writes:

Dear Brighton NUJ,

You are invited to the following event at Brighton Waterstones: A Summer Evening in Japan

Enjoy a complimentary glass of wine, quizzes, reading recommendations and Japanese-inspired fun, to celebrate the launch of mystery-thriller, Glass Geishas. A great night out for book groups and book lovers.

14th June, 19.30 - 21.00 at Brighton Waterstones, Clock Tower, Brighton.

We have a limited number of spaces for journalists (around 15, depending on other guest numbers), but when they're gone, they're gone!

Su xx
Susanna Quinn
The Writing Company
www.bookgroupbooks.com

Annual General Meeting
Wednesday, April 18

At its 2012 AGM Brighton & Mid-Sussex branch was lucky enough to have general secretary Michelle Stanistreet speaking on The Leveson Inquiry – what does it mean for journalists.

Michelle talked about the impact the NUJ is having on the inquiry, provoking an interesting discussion the role the union can take in promoting ethical journalism and in defending journalists from the pressures they are put under by ruthless, bullying newspaper managements.

The conclusions are clear: journalism needs the NUJ Code of Conduct, and journalists need the NUJ, organised into strong chapels.

AGM
In the business part of the meeting, following reports on branch activity over the past year, the following were elected as officers:

Chair – Adam Powley
Secretary – Phil Mellows
Treasurer – Amy Riley
Trades Council delegates – Phil Mellows and Ollie Wilson
In addition, Adam Oxford will take a temporary ad-hoc role in updating the branch membership list and improving communications.

Following a request through Brighton & Hove Trades Council the branch agreed to make a £25 donation to towards the campaign against the racist March for England.

NEXT MEETING
The next full branch meeting will take place on Wednesday May 23, 7.30pm (venue tbc).
Main item on the agenda will be branch motions for the NUJ Delegates Meeting in September.
If you have a motion please send it to nujbrighton@gmail.com by May 23.