The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) is a trade union supporting journalists and media workers in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The NUJ was founded in 1907 and has 20,693 members. It is a member of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), Trades Union Congress (TUC) affiliated, and a former member of the General Federation of Trade Unions (GFTU).
Contents
Structure
There is a range of National Councils beneath the NEC, covering different sections and areas of activity. There is a Sector Council for each of the NUJ's "industrial" sectors:
Broadcasting and Digital Media
Freelance
Magazine, Journals & Books
Newspapers & Agencies (NAIC)
Public Relations & Communications.
The Photographers' Council, while not an industrial council, functions in the same way to campaign on issues relevant to the union's photographer, photojournalist and videographer members.
There are also National Executive Councils, covering all sectors, for Ireland and Scotland. The Irish Executive Council, which has a higher degree of autonomy, covers Northern Ireland as well as the Republic. Since 2016, in response to Brexit, the Union's Continental European Council further expanded the NUJ's remit to include NUJ members working in Continental Europe, in particular for NUJ branches in Paris, Brussels and the Netherlands, to campaign on issues of common interest.
The union's structure is democratic, and its supreme decision-making body is its Delegate Meeting, a gathering of elected delegates from all branches across the UK, Ireland and Europe. Between Delegate Meetings, decisions lie with the NUJ's National Executive Council, a committee of 27 people, elected annually by members. The NEC is chaired by a President, elected, along with a Vice-President and Treasurer, at the Delegate Meeting.
The General Secretary (GS) is elected every five years by a national ballot of all members and is held to account and responsible to the National Executive Council (NEC). The current GS is Laura Davison. The General Secretary is responsible for the day-to-day running of the union and directing its staff. However, important decisions such as authorising industrial action must be taken by the NEC.
Leadership
General Secretaries
1907 (1907): William Watts
1918 (1918): Harry Richardson
1936 (1936): Clement Bundock Tim Gopsill and Greg Neale, Journalists: 100 Years of the NUJ
1952 (1952): Jim Bradley
1969 (1969): Ken Morgan
1977 (1977): Ken Ashton
1985 (1985): Harry Conroy
1990 (1990): Steve Turner
1992 (1992): John Foster
2001 (2001): Jeremy Dear
2011 (2011): Michelle Stanistreet
2024 (2024): Laura Davison
Presidents
Presidents of the NUJ:
Publications
The NUJ publishes a magazine called The Journalist.