Work Life Shift; NUJ News Recovery Plan; #forgottenfreelancers campaign; Remote Work Wiki.
We had our first National Union of Journalists branch meeting on Zoom this week. London Freelance. 77 members – many of whom haven’t been to a meeting before as they don’t live in London etc. so this is definitely something to continue post-corona. People seem to prefer audio-only for evening meets as it’s less intrusive, radio background while they cook or do other stuff. It works well.
Pamela Morton, Freelance National Organiser and Michelle Stanistreet, General Secretary, gave us a quick update on what’s been happening with the #forgottenfreelance campaign to help workers who fall through the cracks.
There was no support for freelancers initially, so getting the Self-employed Income Support Scheme (SEISS) up and running was a result. It went live on Wednesday – check if you’re eligible here. Then they realised there are horrendous gaps – two million workers fall through the cracks so they’re pushing for a meeting with Treasury to see what we can do. They’ve been hearing from sole traders, limited company directors, casuals paid by the PAYE system for shift work who haven’t been furloughed by the companies they work for, newly self-employed and those earning over 50k.
I’m one of them as a sole director – see the #ForgottenLTD threads on Twitter, so I’ve been applying for grants and Universal Credit.
Many journalists are facing great hardship and say they’ll be feeling the impact for years to come and are considering leaving the industry. Read more.
