Benefits

• The BAJ has a good track record. It has helped hundreds of members to obtain better deals over a variety of problems.

• The BAJ has £50,000 legal expenses insurance which covers various personal problems, including RSI (Repetitive Strain Injury).

• The BAJ has a team of barristers who handle employment problems and the recovery of fees for members.

• The BAJ provides free legal representation for freelances in claims for unpaid fees in the Small Claims Court. Other unions do not do this for their freelances.

• The BAJ has a copyright solicitor.

• The BAJ has a 24-hour Legal Helpline which deals with work AND personal problems.

• The BAJ has a Tax Helpline which deals with tax queries.

• The BAJ is small and personal - its General Secretary is always available to members.

• The BAJ is moderate and non-political. It does not waste time or members' money on political games.

• The BAJ believes in reasonable and resolute representation, not senseless confrontation.

• The BAJ issues UK Press Cards to journalists which are recognised by all Police forces.

• The BAJ's subs are much lower than any other journalists' union.

• The BAJ wants a genuine partnership with employers. It was advocating this long before it became TUC and Labour Party policy.

• The BAJ is against strikes. It favours no-strike agreements provided employers accept legally binding arbitration to settle problems.

• The BAJ is a democratic union. Its members are entitled to have a ballot at any time to challenge the decisions of the biennial conference or the National Executive Committee.

• The BAJ is ever-watchful to defend and promote Press Freedom, Freedom of Information and Press ethics.

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• Click here for a membership form


  

Victory roll

Stories from some of the many members the BAJ helps each year

Newspaper journalist

"I had to put into writing my deep appreciation and that of my family, for your tireless support.
"I have, as the former FOC of the BAJ at a national newspaper, always vigorously promoted the virtues of our union. I now have the very real experience of the value of being a member.
"Membership of the BAJ is, in my view, the only safeguard any journalist can have in times of trouble.
"Most never think it will happen to them. But it can. And there is no greater comfort than knowing that, if the unexpected happens, you have BAJ behind you.
"Nowhere else can you find such care for the individual."
BAJ fought and won this journalist's unfair dismissal case and he was eventually awarded £54,485 compensation by an Employment Tribunal.

Magazine journalist

After being made redundant from a large magazine publisher in December 2000, one member was represented at an Employment Tribunal by the BAJ. She was awarded £55,290 for unfair dismissal on top of £21,000 which had already been paid.
Our member was told over the phone that she had lost her job while she was off sick, and the company failed to follow any legal consultation or selection procedures for redundancy. The award came after the company failed to follow an order by the Tribunal to re-engage her.
"Perhaps the top bananas at the company might look at their track record of 'letting people go' and reconsider their tactics. This case cost them dear. I can't thank the BAJ enough".

Freelance journalist

"I want to say how impressed I have been by the way the BAJ has gone in to bat for me in my first year of membership. It collected nearly £5,000 worth of disputed fees which I might otherwise have been able to recoup only, with considerable delay, through the Small Claims Court.
"I cannot thank [General Secretary] Steve Turner and BAJ enough or recommend it highly enough to other journalists who want the security of knowledge that their professional body is not just a toothless (news)paper tiger, but will actually show some claws when there's a clause, or cause, worth fighting for."

Contract Journalist

"I had worked as the editor of a monthly design magazine for five years. My status was freelance but it was a full-time job - I had no time to write for other titles. I loved my job - then a new managing director arrived. It took him two minutes to fire me.
"Having been an NUJ member for years, I asked them if there was any way I could claim recompense. They said nope, I was a freelance and there was nothing they could do for me.
"I rang the BAJ who said I was classified as a worker under the Working Time Regulations and I should have received holiday money. They applied for a hearing at an employment tribunal and the company finally settled out of court for £7,500.
"I shall be eternally grateful to the BAJ and am now one of its keenest proselytizers."

Casual Journalist

"I had subbed a monthly sports magazine for five months as a freelance when I was told my services were no longer needed. I sent in an invoice for outstanding monies due to me but the editor would not pay it.
"Time to call BAJ. It was only £700 but they took the case to court and won. The editor would still not pay. So they sent in the bailiffs. I secured a cheque for £700 plus £49 interest.
"BAJ subs are worth their weight in legal protection!"

British Association of Journalists, 89 Fleet Street, London EC4Y 1DH
t 020 7353 3003 | f 020 7353 2310